Telemakos sees the flurry of spears and arrows graze and on occasion pierce the thick skin of the aquatic behemoth. He is not confident that it really is working.
“We need it keep it busy! Give it something to eat! The supplies drenched by the storm! All that dried meat soaked in rainwater that’s starting to smell, throw it over board! Come on! Follow Master Tarruk’s lead!”
He finds pretty hard to move himself to get to the spoiled food, so he tries to organize the mercenaries and crew that is not able to fight “Master Jason, grab that bag! Pass it over, to that lady… I’m sorry I forgot your name, Miss… Olivia! There it is! Pass it over, throw it overboard!”
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Emerion questioned the effectiveness of such a plan. The beast may only be tempted to come after them more or in the future if it was given food. Better to kill it and remove the threat, anyways it could be used towards adding to their supplies. Such a large amount of meat could not be wasted after all. He makes a note of the hobgoblins actions as well, wasteful and cowardly. None the less he focuses on his next spell, one that was quickly becoming a favored tactic it seemed. He went through the motions and whispered the words. The unseen stars sent another pair to him, they streaked across the water to strike the sea monster.
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"" Kahnjar roars unlatching his whip and raising it menacingly with a loud pointing towards the waterlogged supplies the hobgoblin points to the slaves. "Start throwing or the next thing in the water is one of you worthless runts instead of a donkey."
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Seeing that his first arrow found the bulk of the beast but bounced right off again, Penance swears something very colorful and violent in Orcish, then looks up at the night sky. Hunting for Abadar's stars, the constellation called the Key..."A little help here?" he whispers.
Acknowledge whom you serve.
"...Ah, c'mon, really? Now?" The god, or at least what Penance takes to be the voice of his god, is silent. Hells. Alright. "In Abadar's gold-plated name, get your scaley hide back to the depths you swam up from!" Penance bellows across the choppy waters, and looses another arrow. This time the shaft glitters gold as it flies over the waves. It strikes the primitive animal in its head, piercing deep, nearly to the feathering. The creature continues towards the ship, ignoring the pain it must feel.
A little more wide-eyed than usual, but rather expected considering the behemoth they find themselves facing, Corridan grabs a spear and immediately throws it at the massive creature. As the spear lands harmlessly in the water, the tailor's only reaction is a shrug. "I suppose it was worth a try," he quips.
Devram stares at the beast as it takes several spears to the side and turns towards them. "Row! Captain, get them rowing!" The Aldori levels his crossbow and fires again. His bolt streaks to join Penance's in the beast's face, though it doesn't pierce as deeply. The great mammal leaves a wake of blackish red blood now, as it surges forward on powerful thrusts of its tail.
As the larboard side throws their spears, Iliante reloads his crossbow with practiced ease. When the starboard side throws, he levels his crossbow and takes a breath. When the starboard sides sits and clears his line of fire, he slowly exhales and releases another bolt toward the creature. His bolt hits the behemoth, but glances harmlessly of a particularly thick bit of its hide.
Telemakos sees the flurry of spears and arrows graze that on occasion pierce the thick skin of the aquatic behemoth. He is not confident that it really is working. “We need it keep it busy! Give it something to eat! The supplies drenched by the storm! All that dried meat soaked in rainwater that’s starting to smell, throw it over board! Come on! Follow Master Tarruk’s lead!”
He finds pretty hard to move himself to get to the spoiled food, so he tries to organize the mercenaries and crew that is not able to fight “Master Jason, grab that bag! Pass it over, to that lady… I’m sorry I forgot your name, Miss… Olivia! There it is! Pass it over, throw it overboard!” The sailors look around confused as to whether they should row, or start dumping supplies.
Emerion questioned the effectiveness of such a plan. The beast may only be tempted to come after them more or in the future if it was given food. Better to kill it and remove the threat, anyways it could be used towards adding to their supplies. Such a large amount of meat could not be wasted after all. He makes a note of the hobgoblins actions as well, wasteful and cowardly. None the less he focuses on his next spell, one that was quickly becoming a favored tactic it seemed. He went through the motions and whispered the words. The unseen stars sent another pair to him, they streaked across the water to strike the sea monster. The stars burn two smoking holes in its skin amongst the projectiles now littering it's upper body.
Khanjar roars unlatching his whip and raising it menacingly with a loud CRACK! pointing towards the waterlogged supplies the hobgoblin points to the slaves. "Start throwing or the next thing in the water is one of you worthless runts instead of a hog." The sailors at least within reach of Khanjar decide he is more scary than Captain Hagebak at the moment, and a few of them lug a create of waterlogged supplies into the drink.
The monster continues to charge forward through the water, ignoring the drowning pig and the crate of supplies. It bites onto the boat like a giant submarine sandwich, tearing a big chunk out of the top of the hull and nearly dislodging one of the sailors who was sitting there. The beast dives below the waves after biting the ship, preparing to swim under it.
The remainder of the sailors decide the giant monster is the more immanent threat, and begin rowing like they want to live. The ship begins to accelerate away from the submerged beast.
Captain Hagebak readies his spear again, waiting for the beast to surface.
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Hit
Round 3
"Hells' black bells!" Penance roars as the giant beast rips a chunk out of their ship, the vibration traveling the length of the boat and shuddering up through his feet. The half-orc plants one boot on a slave's rowing bench and nocks another arrow, scanning the waves for any sign of the enormous leviathan.
"Just stick your head up, you ugly scumbucket... Abadar left you a message..."
Another gold-burning arrow streaks across the waves for its target!
Adjusting his lenses with one hand he begins to recast the spell with the other. It's ability to strike without fail the main reason he favored it.
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Round 3
Damn. Iliante drops his crossbow starts moving toward the bow drawing his revolver along the way. "Make a hole coming through." He screams the commonplace order aboard ship for the 1000th time.
He stops and draws a bead on the creature waiting for it to surface but not if it has swum beyond his kill range of 40-ft.
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Devram grabs the slaver and yells at him. He turns back to watch for the monster and readies his crossbow.
Telemakos scratches his head Oh for all that's sacred we really are going to try and kill that thing... sailors are out of their mind!
Fumbling with his rifle, Telemakos manages to put the butt of the weapon against his shoulder and aim at the aquatic colossus. Now if just these blasted sailors would move out of the way...
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As the beast rushed foward through the water towards the ship, it was met with an explosive hail of gunfire from the Aspis agents. Adding his own weapon into the mix, Kahnjar leveled his revolver and sighed down the beast as he left a huge wake behind it. With a loud the hobgoblin pulled the trigger.
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Shinjuko grabs one of the unattended spears from a nearby sailor, pitching it with unpracticed hands towards the seaspawned abomination that rises up to greet them. The weapon sails gracefully through the air, though does not manage to inflict any wound of consequence on the thick hide of her foe. The peal of gunfire along the front length of the ship forces a frown on her face—such awful racket, these guns. Realizing the futility of future such attempts, she again rests her forehand on the grip of her tachi. Should the beast persist, she might find an opportunity to put her blade to work.
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With his options limited due to the circumstances, Corridan grabs another spear and throws it at the beast, the result being the same as his previous throw.
"Hells' black bells!" Penance roars as the giant beast rips a chunk out of their ship, the vibration traveling the length of the boat and shuddering up through his feet. The half-orc plants one boot on a slave's rowing bench and nocks another arrow, scanning the waves for any sign of the enormous leviathan. "Just stick your head up, you ugly scumbucket... Abadar left you a message..."
Adjusting his lenses with one hand, Emerion readies himself to recast his spell of magical missiles. It's ability to strike home without fail is proving to be highly valuable so far, he thinks as he holds the words to the incantation ready in his mind. He holds his hands aloft, prepared to invoke the somatic gestures of his spell.
Damn. Iliante drops his crossbow, and starts moving toward the bow drawing his revolver along the way. "Make a hole coming through." He screams the commonplace order aboard ship for the 1000th time. He stops and draws a bead on the submerged creature waiting for it to surface. C'mon baby, just a little closer.
Devram grabs the slaver and yells at him. "Get them rowing, now!" He turns back to watch for the monster and readies his crossbow.
Telemakos scratches his head. Oh for all that's sacred, we really are going to try and kill that thing... sailors are out of their minds! Fumbling with his rifle, Telemakos manages to put the butt of the weapon against his shoulder and aim at the aquatic colossus. Now if just these blasted sailors would move out of the way...
Khanjar shoves Devram off with a glare. He pulls out his revolver, and sights down the beast, preparing his to add his own shot when it surfaces.
Shinjuko grabs one of the unattended spears from a nearby sailor, readying to throw it.
With his options limited due to the circumstances, Corridan grabs another spear.
The zeuglodon swims under the ship, and resurfaces on the other side thrusting its body up from the waves in a massive explosion of water. The Agents spring into action, attacking. It lunges at Shinkjuko as she throws her spear. The other Aspis Agents unleash their bolts, bullets, spell and spears. The magical missiles and the firearm rounds puncture straight through its thick hide, adding more rents to the holes already there. The beast is bleeding heavily, raining down red upon the sailors and mercenaries as it clamps down on the young samurai. The ship tilts violently to one side as the beast rests its weight on the gunwale. There is a sickening crunch as Shinjuko's entire body is subsumed in one bite. The monster thrashes weakly, confusedly, before tossing her now broken and unconscious form over the side of the ship and into the sea. The prehistoric creature bites down again, this time at the sailor being smashed directly under its bulk. The upper half of the sailor's torso is shorn clean through as the beast flops sideways and rolls back into the water. The sailor's still seated legs are whipped after her torso into the waves by the glistening red ropes of her own intestines. The pirates around her blanch, screaming in abject terror.
The crew needs no further command. Pure adrenaline fuels them as they row as hard as they can. The ship continues to pick up momentum, slicing through the choppy surf and sending great gouts of misty spray over the prow to soak everyone aboard. Shinkjuko's body can be seen rapidly sinking through the clear water, trailing an ever expanding cloud of red. Thoughts of the Gold Agent's mentioning the abundance of sharks in these waters flash into the other Agent's brains.
Captain Hagebak roars like a raging lion. He heaves his magical harpoon again, but the ship is bucking badly against the waves. A gush of water slaps him right in face as he throws, and he misses completely. is his only contribution to the situation.
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For a half a second, Penance is in shock. He can't say he's forged much of a connection with the Tian woman, but the sheer brutality of the attack on her has him frozen, hand halfway back into his quiver of arrows.
He can heal her... maybe. If she's still alive. If he can get to her. If Abadar lets him. That's a lot of 'ifs', and a lot of crowded ship between him and the limp-rag body of Shinjuko as it drops beneath the waves.
He scans the deck-- too many, too many people. No way to... get to her...
Teeth gritted, Penance jerks into action once more.
Not remotely close-- his arrow falls to the waves well short of the monster, and Penance snarls. He starts shoving his way towards the other end of the ship. If he has to, he'll swim to her.
The horror of what just happened to Shinjuko and to the poor sailor is startling, yet Telemakos seems to stay lucid enough to react properly. Or maybe he just didn’t fully accept yet what has happened, and it will hit him later like a crushing rock.
Anyway, for the moment the gnome stares in disbelief at the mangled body of the sailor and of his fellow agent Oh Gods oh Gods… nothing to do for the poor guy anymore, but maybe I can help save Miss Shinjuko!
“Concentrate fire on the beast! apparently We can kill it… I knew that!” he screams to the crew, ignoring the fact that was giving the opposite command a few seconds ago.
Ok, ok. Concentrate. This is hard, but you remember the language… a few words in a guttural tongue full of throaty sounds, then a portal opens above the waves, regurgitating even more water in the sea. One of the waves seems to have a shape and movement slightly dissonant with the current – and it also emanates a soft luminous hue.
"" Telemakos orders to the elemental just summoned Oh I hope I used the right verbs… was it લાવવા, or rather સેવ ? Why can’t these things learn Taldan like civilized beings?
These waters are foreign to the Elemental, but every wave is its to ride. The planar being surfs through the sea, quickly getting to Shinjuko. That guy is rude. He calls me here, gives me orders... and he is so ignorant! It is સેવ, not લાવવા! Every waveling knows that! Bah... better do this fast and go home it thinks while doing its job.
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Emerion witnessed the beast brutality, having grown up in the Mawangi jungle the scene was nothing new. He had seen worst and knew what had to be done, losing focus and giving in to fear only made things worse. A lesson learned long ago in his case, one he did not intend to repeat. Recasting the spell for the third and likely final time this day he summons another pair of stars, they would find their way to the beast flesh.
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For a half a second, Penance is in shock. He can't say he's forged much of a connection with the Tian woman, but the sheer brutality of the attack on her has him frozen, hand halfway back into his quiver of arrows.
He can heal her... maybe. If she's still alive. If he can get to her. If Abadar lets him. That's a lot of 'ifs', and a lot of crowded ship between him and the limp-rag body of Shinjuko as it drops beneath the waves. He scans the deck-- too many, too many people. No way to... get to her...
Teeth gritted, Penance jerks into action once more. Not remotely close-- his arrow falls to the waves well short of the monster, and Penance snarls. He starts shoving his way towards the other end of the ship. If he has to, he'll swim to her.
The horror of what just happened to Shinjuko and to the poor sailor is startling, yet Telemakos seems to stay lucid enough to react properly. Or maybe he just didn’t fully accept yet what has happened, and it will hit him later like a crushing rock.
Anyway, for the moment the gnome stares in disbelief at the mangled body of the sailor and of his fellow agent. Oh Gods oh Gods… nothing to do for the poor guy anymore, but maybe I can help save Miss Shinjuko!
“Concentrate fire on the beast! apparently We can kill it… I knew that!” he screams to the crew, ignoring the fact that was giving the opposite command a few seconds ago.
Ok, ok. Concentrate. This is hard, but you remember the language… a few words in a guttural tongue full of throaty sounds, then a portal opens above the waves, regurgitating even more water in the sea. One of the waves seems to have a shape and movement slightly dissonant with the current – and it also emanates a soft luminous hue.
"જાઓ અને ડૂબવું એજન્ટ સેવ! શ્વાસ તેના મુક્ત છે! બંધ કરો જહાજ તેના લાવો!" Telemakos orders to the elemental just summoned. Oh I hope I used the right verbs… was it લાવવા, or rather સેવ ? Why can’t these things learn Taldan like civilized beings?
These waters are foreign to the Elemental, but every wave is its to ride. The planar being surfs through the sea, quickly getting to Shinjuko. That guy is rude. He calls me here, gives me orders... and he is so ignorant! It is સેવ, not લાવવા! Every waveling knows that! Bah... better do this fast and go home, it thinks while doing its job. The elemental manages to grab Shinjuko and lift her to the surface of the water, holding her head above the waves.
Emerion witnesses the beast brutality, having grown up in the Mawangi jungle the scene was nothing new. He had seen worse and knew what had to be done. Losing focus and giving in to fear only made things worse. It was a lesson learned long ago in his case, one he did not intend to repeat. Recasting the spell for the third and likely final time this day he summons another pair of stars. The missiles fly straight and true, slamming into the beast's forehead and collapsing its skull. The creature's brain matter joins a huge cloud of blood in evacuating the Zueglodon's corpse, staining the water around it.
It takes a moment for the crew to catch on, but momentarily they stop rowing and start cheering. Emerion is soon lifted up on the shoulders of the crew and mercenaries around him, being jostled and touched by more dirty hands than he can ever recall in the past.
Hagebak roars at the crew, "Quit yer damned yellin', and get rowin'! Hard to port, we got an Agent in the waves. Bring her the f%#! about! NOW!"
After being put down, fixing his person, and repeated castings of his cleaning spell. He stays out of the way now that his work is done, he was of little help in rescues and healing. Still he makes his way to the Captain.
"If it is not to much trouble considering the sudden lost of supplies. Do you think we would be able to strip the beast of anything useful. Perhaps meat, bone, or oil if it's blubber is akin to a whales."
"Gods below" Kahnjar rumbles at the sight of the carnage around him. "Unholy Fething Hells" sliding his hand down to his chest Kahnjar blinks trying to wipe the sight from memory. "I've seen the jungle take a man before, but nothing like this." Breathing out raggedy the hobgoblin feels himself shaking. "Get it together you bastard! Your no slave to be ruled by fear."
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Regaining his composure Kahnjar nods to the ship’s Captain. "Put us along side of the beast. It tried to make a meal out of us. I mean to do the same."
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The Aldori braces himself against the side of the boat, breathing hard, but soon lifts his head. "Disgusting thing. If we're going to find more monstrous things here, let's get some solid ground under our feet."
Hagebak looks to the bloodied creature floating in the water and then to the overcrowded ship. "Unless ye've got a magical a~$%%!@~ to stuff the bugger in, we aint got no room fer it. That thing must weigh ten tons, how're you plannin' on getting it out of the water? I suppose you can try ter cut some pieces off of it..." the captain turns to the crew, muttering under his breath in skald and orders them to pull up alongside the dead zueglodon.
Penance reaches down and hauls Shinjuko's limp form up into the boat as the water elemental brings her close to the ship's side.
"Gods-be-damned, that's a lot of blood," he mumbles beneath his breath. The half-orc's big, callused hands rest as gently as he can on the woman's mangled torso, seeking out the gaping wounds the beast's claws had left.
There's a pulse. Blood still trickles weakly from the wounds. It's enough, at least.
He focuses, draws forth the golden heat that burns in his veins. Abadar seems pleased with his having acknowledged him, at least-- there's no argument, this time, just-- power, life, flowing from his hands to his colleague's battered body.
"Shinjuko, you still with us?" he rasps, feeling worn out now that the fervor of the god is ebbing.
Despite being more than a little shaken up by what he has just witnessed, Corridan is bolstered by the creature's death and manages to shake off any lingering effects. The tailor moves closer to Shinjuko and the paladin healing her, managing to take a good enough look of her wounds as they start to close courtesy of Penance's divine gifts.
"That...," he says softly, cracks in his considerable self-control apparent in his voice, "...that was close. Very close."
"Is she going to survive this?"
Shinjuko's eyes snap open. The crimson draining from her steams with frigid vapors, though thankfully ceases to flow as Penance's divine plea is met with agreement. She had been accepted her fate. Death in the service of one's charge was a fitting end. It had likely seemed strange, the unflinching form of the young samurai-ko as she offered no resistance to an attack that could not be avoided. The wonder that now dawns on her face is in that she yet draws breath. A cursory glance reveals the lower half of a sailor that had not been so lucky. With some difficulty, she leans up on her elbows and frowns down at the ruin of her garments.
In a calm and measured tone not consistent with the amount of gratitude she owes Penance, even if the words convey such, she speaks, "It would seem my service has not yet ended. You have my deepest gratitude, Penance-sama. I only hope I can return such a favor to you in the months to come." Rising to her height fully, despite a very apparent struggle to do so given her recent near-death, she offers the half-orc a deep bow that she holds for several seconds. Finally, offering a reassuring smile to the concerned look on the faces of the other Agents, she musters a poor attempt at humor to dispel the unnerving feeling of having so many eyes on her at once. "Let us make landfall soon, for I do not believe the sea agrees with me."
The scorn and reprimand of Noriki no meiyo thunders in the back of her mind, unheard by others. She wills it away, ignoring the bile of the ancestral amalgam housed within the ancient blade. She would not die here. She would do her duty. She would make her father proud.
To Corridan's tense question, Penance only growls, wordlessly. She'd better...
But Shinjuko opens her eyes, sits up.
The half-orc rocks back on his heels with a huff of breath, a little nod at her courteous, solemn words. Heavy stuff, this. Life and death. He's got to be-- man enough for it, he reckons.
"I'm betting you'll get the chance," he says, and stands with a roll of his neck to get out the tension. He looks with a wince at the slaughtered sailor-- another one lost.
Nothing he can do for him now, though.
"Telemakos... quick thinkin', getting that water-being into things. Dunno if we'd have gotten to Shinjuko otherwise," he says with a throat clearing.
A moment's hesitation, then he nods at Nimlaidas. "And well-struck for the final blow. Gods knows someone needed to kill that thing."
The Bounty pulls up next to the corpse of the Zueglodon, arresting its progress in drifting towards the shore. It bobs in the surf, knocking against the hull of the ship with each wave. Hagebak motions to it, "Go ahead and harvest."
Telemakos is a bit annoyed at Shinjuko only thanking Penance Oh so what he healed her? Any first-year novice at any temple on Golarion can do that!
He is a bit surprised then when it is the half-orc himself thanking him for his help “Ouff, well… yes I suppose I was of some help… thank you, Master Penance, for your kind words… I am just glad Miss Shinjuko turned out to be ok!”
From starboard, meanwhile, a guttural request in a weird language comes to the gnome’s ears:
“"
“Yes, yes, you did fine, you can go! I thought Water elementals were relaxed and patient… you can go. You are dismissed… swim away!” Telemakos waves his hand, bored, towards the elemental.
“"
Oh for the love of… “I said you can… oh, oh of course, sorry. I mean !” he realizes he’s been speaking in Common. “"
The elemental vortexes irritated, then returns to his native Plane.
When seeing other members of the crew getting closer to the dead beast and trying to harvest some-thing of use from its carcass, Telemakos offers the help of an unseen servant.
At the railing, Khanjar grips the wood with white knuckles. He doubted that he would ever forget a sight of butchery as egregious as the one that had just unfurled in front of him. None the less the enterprising hobgoblin, moves to the side and grabs a rope from his pack before tying it off to the rail. Anyone know a thing about harvesting a whale? The man rumbled. I sure as hell's don't
Glancing down at the small gnome, Kahnjar smiled with a toothy grin. Good thinking, but you got to be more fierce with the execution. Fear is the only thing people understand. Fear and pain.
Emerion makes his way along side the beast, yet again called upon to harvest a body. He would need to remember to request someone with the proper skills, how such a basic necessity was overlooked was beyond him. They were going into a wild and untamed land yet not a single hunter or woodsmen among all those brought along, utterly inexcusable. He thoughts keep rolling in as he removes his dagger for work once more.
"The hell's goin' on back there?" Penance rumbles, looking from Shinjuko to the other end of the ship. He strides that direction to see what everyone's doing. "Why aren't we moving? Let's get this thing into land again!"
"The hell's goin' on back there?" Penance rumbles, looking from Shinjuko to the other end of the ship. He strides that direction to see what everyone's doing. "Why aren't we moving? Let's get this thing into land again!"
The Aldori grimaces at they draw near the dead beast. "Ugh, that thing smells atrocious!" He moves as far away as he can in the longboat. "If you're doing something with it, do it fast. We need to get moving. And I'm not smelling like that in the morning."
....These masses must be anchored to two or more solid and diametrically opposed points or else the web collapses upon itself and disappears....
"I am in agreement with the others, Mr. Nimlaidas," Corridan remarks as he notes the other man's intentions concering the great sea beast's carcass. "Obviously, these are not waters we would like to remain for too long, especially now that the creature's blood is turning them not only crimson, but also probably rather tempting to other predators swimming about."
"I say we should use the distraction such a... hearty meal might provide and make our way to the shore as soon as possible."
I agree. Kahnjar rumbles. Lets make to shore before we get attacked by something else out here. While we are on the water we are vulnerable. Better to take a defensive position.
<< | | | >>
Under pressure from the group, Emerion quickly harvests enough food for himself to last a day. Then Captain Hagebak gets the crew rowing again. They are bone weary, and many are showing signs of faltering. However, there are still about twelve miles to go to reach the landing spot requested by the Agents. Mere moments after they leave the corpse of the whale-thing, looking back they can see its shorward drift arrested by the tugging motions of sharks striking the corpse. As they move out of the range of vision in the darkness, its body appears to have become the sight of a feeding frenzy, with the water frothing and the huge dead animal bobbing rapidly up and down in the waves.
The Bounty makes relatively good time with the weather remaining good. Though the crew is exhausted, sheer desperation and a desire to make landfall drives them onwards. Several of the slaves are rocking back and forth crying, singing softly to themselves. They sing hymns to Sarenrae, praying for her protection and forgiveness for whatever sins caused they to be forced into such a desperate situation. The pirate crew look equally uncomfortable, but fear of Khanjar and Hagebak keep them quiet. The mercenaries are the only ones who seem relatively unfazed. They are all veterans of several battles, and have been to hell and back enough that the only thing left in their eyes is cold death.
After several more tense hours in the overloaded ship, the sun begins to rise over The Island . It is eerie, with the huge towering wall of the hungry mists rising up as far as they can see to the east. At first, the dawn is reddish and obscured, until the red disk of the sun surmounts the top of the misty wall. Then in a sudden burst of light the clear tropical waters and lush green of the jungle are brilliantly illuminated in a single instant.
Off to the southwest, on their righthand side, they can see hills rising up out of the marshy jungle. The lumpy masses are thickly coated in greenery, though further south they appear to raise in altitude, forming a small range. The higher hills in that direction show more brown and grey, indicating a sparser vegetation.
Several miles further down shore, they can see a cape which appears to form a small natural harbor shielded at least on one side. Hagebak points to it, and says "Thar she is. Our new home! Put some f$~!ing arse into it. I've got a mighty hankerin' fer shore."
The last two hours are painful, as the sight of their landing slowly, ever so slowly grows larger in their field of vision. As they are closing the final stretch, they can see a mountain rising up from the jungle a few miles inland. It rests alone amongst the hills. It's top is jagged, missing. The mountain must have once been an active volcano, though there is no smoke rising from it to indicate that it still is. Finally, their thirteen hour journey is complete. The crew aims the Bounty for the sandy shore and rows her hard and fast in, beaching the ship, and anchoring it in place. Hagebak gives orders to drag her as far up the strand as they can, and set about making camp. The mercenaries, glad for something to do immediately set up rope lines. Before more than a hundred strong backs bend in time to the beats of the fat mwangi drummer, and manage to drag the bounty most of the way up onto the beach.
Emerion looks around while ordering his servants to unload his things. Finding the Captain and others he clears his throat slightly, if only to get the last bits of foul stench out of his system.
"I suggest we set up camp, we are in no shape to move on. Doing so will leave us in a weakened state prime for attack. If we should set up camp, a watch and guard should be awake at all times. A two or three shift detail would work well."
He keeps looking out for any hidden danger or natural danger. After all their were no small amount of plants and insects that could kill or poison a man in the mwangi and other places. He did not expect that to change here. It was never lost on him how such incidental things could bring down the mightiest of beast and warriors.
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Iliante pays his respects to his sensei regretting that he had not been fast enough to personally fish her out the water.
As the ship approaches the shore, Iliante stows his non-water resistant gear in his haversack. He drops over the side into waist deep water. While the command crew is deciding what to do, he sticks his head below water and looks for any surprises. He'll take his time, since the decisions might take time, too.
The tropical lagoon is full of coral growths, white sand, and diverse forms of small aquatic life. Iliante doesn't see anything dangerous around here at the moment though. The water in the cove ranges from 10-15 feet deep (above the top of the coral), then it drops off at a shelf several hundred feet out.