| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
WoooooooooooooooooooooHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crang grins from ear to ear, bouncing around behind the boat.
After scaring the shark, Greblak stands tall and hangs on as the ship starts to move. Trying very hard not to show how scared he is
Is we supposed to be movin like dis?
With a final heave, Buz is hauled aboard, bruised and covered in small cuts. Behind the ship, Crang surfs like a pro while using his axe as surfboard, creating some pretty impressive moves. Ank-hore, on the other hand, is having a sudden religious experience as he begins to breathe more water than air, leading to a sudden vision as the sky begins to turn into the sea...
Whosi notes the rope tied to the shark is starting to slowly unravel, the strain causing the hemp fibers to break. However, the good/bad news is that your ride has attracted the attention of something even bigger. The shape is almost as long as the ship and seems to be mostly ignoring the ship, but is angling toward your tower...
Buz, still dripping and spitting salty water, grabs both of his guns, and tries to determine what the bigger shape is. Regardless of what it is, he takes a good shot at it with his brand new pistol, you know, just to be sure.
heave too gobbies; gets all dem onboard; weez goin somewhere.
ooh great hungry maw of da sea; take us gobbies to treasure be it trees; mines or booty.
when you boys gets dem onboard; gits some more ropes and gits here ta help; you and you; come here give me some help.
WhOOOHIIII; lets go
dad nappit rope is a breakin; gets me another one; come up here and play cowpoke.
ooh; wazzatt...better part of valor.
whoosi hides and watches from his hidey spot what is happening.
Stealth
fyi all
am back home from the hospital now after two days, have a brand new baby who is doing fine and wife is doing good -- val
Ank-hore's eyes go wide to a casual observer it looks as if he might be dead. Thoughts going through his twisted mind as his goddess talks to him. He is the chosen of Lady Last Breath, he has a message to deliver. "BEWARE THE ISLAND OF DEATH. THAT WHICH IS NOT TO BE UNLEASHED LIES THERE. BEWARE THE GOBLIN WITH TWO FACES." His brain is ready to explode with all that information.
A wave hits him waking him from his trance when pulled on board he in a state of shock he keeps reciting "b'wearz Island call'd death, thoze not bee unleeched lay tharz. Real Ugly Goblin tooo faces."
Arriving back on the boat, Crang looks around at the crew and captains: Who goin' next?
"Crang, gits up here quick; I gots a beast roped and a bigger one is chasing; takes a looksie"
comes a voice from nowhere up near the ship prow.
thanks; I took the week off from work so we can work out a schedule and get rested; all is well; both are sleepin :)
** spoiler omitted **
Buz will reload and shoot at the bigger beast again. Dun't hit da shark! It's draggin we away from bigger shark! Kill bigger shark!
Crang gathers his axes and heads towards the prow.
Runs up to the bow of the ship when he hears Whosi.
Scaredyfish be pulling us? Heehee
Greblak looks around to see if there is anything he can do to prevent the scaredyfish from escaping
Seeing no immediant threat; Whosi pops up.
"how youse boyz like me chariot"
"Gimme dat rope"
preparing rope for another lasso...dreaming of strapping two boards on Greblak's feet.
"Greeeeblaaak, tink on dis; we puts two boards er one wide one; ta your feet; yea grab the rope in front of da frayed part; den pull yurself along it ta tie a new rope; or secure one or gits me rope back; nah when it breaks; you go real fast; so point da board tips up; yea should fly along da water top all super fun like; wanna trys it or ya yeller chicken livers heheee"
"I canna lasso him new till he pulls his head or sometin up outta da water."
looks sideways at Greblak....
"Dadnabbit; you lazy greenies down der; Shipmaster Gobby; get dem boys ta shorten dat sail; den we goes faster; aail slowin us down; jeeper; I canna be brainen it all out fer all you greenies" Whoosi yells, then quieter, "well, actually I kin aint dat right Carl, short sail releive pressure on rope"
Looking down at the fish, Crang furrows his brow.
Gobbos go dat?
Crang points in the direction the beast is dragging us.
The larger shape glides through the water, gaining rapidly on the smaller shark. Buz's bullets fly true, but they're not enough to distract the bigger creature from prey. Sudden the creature flies half out of the water, coming down on the tethered shark from above!
You catch a momentary glimpse of this! Shaped like giant fish, but with massive toothed jaws, it dives back into the water, only to have the area erupt with a spray of hot red blood! The water churns and bubbles for a moment and the ship stops as its momentum fades. All of the sudden, the rope goes tight again and the ship jerks forward, but the strain of the rope causes the wood of the bow to groan! The bow itself is threatening to tear free from the ship!
Onboard, the sudden jolt of the ship starting after stopping causes a ripple through the deck. Everyone make a DC 12 Acrobatics check or fall prone!
acrobatics
Acrobatics check:
Greblak manages to keep his feet as he turns to Whosi
Ship be not strong enuf, Me be not strong enuf! That reaaaaaaal big toothfish! We not want it pullin us like dis!
Now Buz is definitely rooting for the shark that was probably going to eat him. Go sharkie go!
Splurg
Spots
Spots shakes his head at Splrug as he falls down.
Acrobatics
The sudden surfacing of the huge toothy fish-reptile leaves no doubt as to the winner of the fight and the reason for the sudden burst of speed: the shark is chum, bits still stuck in the reptile's mouth, including the bit with the rope still tied!
Once again the ship shudders to a stop as the reptile disappears back under the water. However, your relief turns to panic as the bowsprit jerks and the entire ship begins to tilt forward! Apparently your ride has decided to head for the depths and take you with it!
The ship's hull groans and the mast begins to tilt toward the water. Splintering sounds crack like thunder as the bow begins to separate from the ship, but not fast enough! Goblins begin sliding down the deck, toward the murky waters below!
"Ack Spots bite the rope! Bite the rope, make the big fish stop!!"
Crang and Spots are among the first to dive at the straining rope as the ship begins to submerge. They reach the rope at the same time, but as they lunge to sever the rope, something even stranger happens.
At Splurg's side, the scimitar begins to glow crimson red, brighter than a fire, and in response, runes begin to glow on the deck of the ship, spreading outward like fire. They make soft popping sounds which are followed by the sound of wood straining and ropes snapping. The Accursed begins to...change.
The mast snaps down to deck, melting into the wood of the decking, narrowly missing several goblins.
The bow twists and turns, becoming spiral like a unicorn's horn.
The rigging and netting from the mast fly out to the sides of the ship and stiffen, becoming as hard as stone.
Crang and Spots see the bow below them seem to part, wood and nails tearing apart to form a wickedly tooth maw at the front of the ship.
The runes on the decking change from red to teal, and glow softly, illuminating the scene as they begin to bubble and froth. As the ship slips below the waves, the bubble coalesce almost instantly to form a bubble of air round the ship that extends about ten feet.
On the side of the ship, the name Accursed seems to glow with its own inner fire, scaring away curious fish that come too close.
The shifting does accomplish one thing: the rope tethering you to the shark-beast has broken in the change, leaving you alone and confused under the waves...
...wat
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Confused, Crang chooses to grab what is left of the rope and chop it, just to be sure.
Splrug pulls out his scimitar gaping... in a whisper "Wut you do... " Spots backs away from the sharpie whimpering...
Splrug pulls out his scimitar gaping... in a whisper "Wut you do... " Spots backs away from the sharpie whimpering...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Greblak looks around at their new situation, then carefully and methodically goes below decks to the hold, finds a pile of old burlap sacks, and hides under them.
After a few moments of not-dying, goblins begin to come out of hiding. The ship appears safe, though Splurg cautions this might not be the case for long. So far the ship appears to be holding steady, upright, about forty feet beneath the surface. Fish swim by, as does a curious sea turtle. Anyone looking over the edge of the ship can see the wreckage of the Chelish ship about 50 feet down, lying on its edge on the top of s ridge of ocean floor.
perception
how we go on? no whoosh!
Ank-hore gets up from his vision and looks around at the scene he is facing. Perception
Ank-hore hears that we need to go in a hurry he wonders if the lady of the last breath might help her faithful servant. Ank-hore moves to the front of the ship and calls for a surge of water to help move the ship.
Ank-hore's prayers seem to be answered. The movement is slow at first, but the ship begins to move, sliding through the water with a graceful motion. The shipwreck below begins to fall behind as the ship begins to move forward into the cold black sea.
As Splurg looks around he gets an idea...
Nature
"Storm not so bad underwater... maybe..."
Still baffled by the fact that the ship is actually undewater, Buz really, really thinks hard to figure out how to navigate this new version of the Accursed. There are no landmarks on the bottom of the sea, so it will be much more difficult to know where to go. But they have their treasure island to reach, and by the Four Barghests he's not going to back down now.
So he takes all the time he needs to reorganize the crew, and then, maybe, understand where the hell they need to go.
Crang drinks some beer, after a few minutes he runs around the deck.
Finally, he stands on the edge of the ship and urinates into the distance.
Then he watches, to see if anything interesting happens.
Confusion reigns aboard the sudden be-sodden ship. Buz, Splurg and Ank-hore put their heads together and between them, realize that they should be able to navigate by a combination of the sun and moon's position above them as well as by the currents that flow around the ship. After much discussion, some light scuffles and a bloody nose, a course is laid out toward the edge of the Eternal Hurricane.
Crang meanwhile, contributes to the ocean with his impressive urine stream.
As the ship begins to move through the waters toward their destination, all of the crew begin to feel a sense of anticipation fall over them. Even the normally slapstick goblin crew seem to feel it, too and their attendance to their normal sailor duties improves. Something big is coming. Something momentous. May the gods have mercy on the world.
Sorry about not posting, been in neonatal intensive care unit with my little one for four days; we just got home couple hours ago; am catching up.
------------
acrobatics
I cut the rope with my dagger.
The larger shape glides through the water, gaining rapidly on the smaller shark. Buz's bullets fly true, but they're not enough to distract the bigger creature from prey. Sudden the creature flies half out of the water, coming down on the tethered shark from above!
You catch a momentary glimpse of this! Shaped like giant fish, but with massive toothed jaws, it dives back into the water, only to have the area erupt with a spray of hot red blood! The water churns and bubbles for a moment and the ship stops as its momentum fades. All of the sudden, the rope goes tight again and the ship jerks forward, but the strain of the rope causes the wood of the bow to groan! The bow itself is threatening to tear free from the ship!
Onboard, the sudden jolt of the ship starting after stopping causes a ripple through the deck. Everyone make a DC 12 Acrobatics check or fall prone!
"WOT WOT. we sailz on de bottom now; ooh"
Whoosi looks over the rail to spot any sunken ships or treasure
perception
I had made a good sailor astro roll and pointed it out...
Chapter Three: The Island of Death
After a day and a half of strange underwater twilight, involving many attempts by Crang to refill the ocean and several plaintive prayers to Lady Lastbreath to keep the ship moving forward before the deadline literally appears, land is sighted in the distance. However, the last six hours before that are a mass of fearful glances upward, as the ocean above seems to be boiling with angry waves and flashes of lightning: you are passing through the Eternal Hurricane. With the death of Aroden, the Eye of Abednego was drawn into creation, making this area of sea nearly suicidal for anyone save the few poor souls who devoted their life to sailing it. Given how the seas roil and bubble above you, you have no doubt that sailing through it would have been less than pleasant. Sailing under it, however, is strangely easy.
With the sighting of rocky land jutting straight toward the surface, the anticipation of the last few days almost explodes. Goblins run back and forth, leaping forth to catch a glimpse of the underwater mountains that rise straight toward the surface. Splurg's sword begins to glow and with a sudden upward heave, the ship breaks the surface of the water into a strange scene. Ahead of you are rocky cliff-faces that rise nearly straight up into the sky above, to be lost in the low hanging storm clouds that swirl above angrily. Behind you is about a quarter mile of calm seas, then a wall of wind and lightning that swirls around the island. It seems as if you've found a calm spot in the otherwise Eternal Storm.
Looking around, you can see no easy way to access the island, until a perceptive gob begins to jump up and down, pointing vigorously at a small spot about 500 yards to the starboard side of the ship: there a rocky cove rests, inset into the stone so as to be almost perfectly camoflauged amongst the stone. As you approach, you can see a simple pier made of old weathered wood, possibly taken from wrecked ships, has been constructed. At the head of the pier, a rocky path, almost road like, begins to wend its way upward into the interior of the island. On either side of the path, set every 20 feet or so, is a pike driven into the ground with an old weathered skull atop it. From what you see, the skulls seem to be from different races, even some you don't recognize. Etched into the stone is a crude sign, written in six foot high letters in Common:
There is no escape. Even death cannot save you.
Aaargh! Ritings! Don't look at daa ritins!
Crang keeps his eyes shielded, and begins collecting unusual skulls.
Need more saks!
He orders some sailors to find sacks to put skulls in.
"whot dribble be this; weez lookin fer loot n supples; I dont wear no S cape and no right minded gobbie would; capes just git caught in tings and choke yea good;
dis be easy climb all; I be looking around, yea come running if der trouble...i mean i holler theirs treasure more n I kin carry.
Whoose climbs up the path in stealth mode and takes a look around
Climb if needed
Stealth
dart; system didnt save my character updates...