"I suspect we won't be able to leave before dawn regardless of when the boat is ready. We should travel incognito - I actually will see if I can purchase some well-made light armor to wear for the trip across the lake."
"Now, we'll need to determine how to use our remaining coin. I propose we break down to 2000 in coin, and leave 6000 in notes. Each of us will carry 500 in coin and 1500 in notes. That way we don't have all the coin concentrated in one person should we lose anyone."
Urashu nods, “Understood, Sir. Do we have other preparations to make now?”
"Unless we have enough for a mithral shirt, we should just get some wooden or studded leathers and a trunk for my armors." Kallant offers.
"I've already got a mithral shirt, so I won't have any issues in disguising my allegiance," Melii says.
Morvan looks down at his armor, adorned with symbols of Asmodeus and the Order of the Gate. "A trunk for my armor as well, I think. You are right about the type of armor as well. Let's see what we can find."
Melii looks at the imp. "Yes, we have his contact information should we require it. His name is Matthew Niva. Here is the address for the warehouse."
It is still quite dark outside as you hear a banging on the villa door. Opening it up, you see a young man, who informs you that your ship is ready, and will be departing within the hour. You gather your supplies and inform Saren that you're leaving (he merely grunts and waves his hand tiredly at you in the pre-dawn gloom), before hustling down to the dock.
The sun, while not fully risen, is up enough for you to see your ship. It is very sleek looking, with two large ash grey triangular sails and a dark hull. It's surprisingly large, at least 130 feet long, and 30 feet wide at it's center. You can see the crew, over a score of people, around on the ship, performing the various and sundry tasks required of such a vessel.
The man that guided you towards the ship bows slightly as a half-elven woman sways up to you.
"Captain, your passengers," he says, before running off. The half-elf nods to the boy and glances at you appraisingly. She is deeply tanned, with large, light brown eyes and gently pointed ears. Her face has a number of scars on it, thin narrow streaks of white through her otherwise dark skin. She has a delicate golden chain that runs from a ring in her left nostril to a ring in her ear, bisected by another chain from a ring in her eyebrow. She is wearing the loose, billowy clothing often associated with sailors in warmer climes, and has a saber on one hip, and some other strange device on the other.
"Allo," she says, her accent strange, "I am Captain Briande. I have been sailing for longer than you've been alive. Don't argue with me, and if I tell you to do something, you do it. We depart in fifteen minutes. Any questions?"
"Where do we put our belongings? We'd like to chain the trunk to the mast."
She whistles piercingly and a man hurriedly hops off the ship and runs over. She gestures to the trunk.
"Chain it to the mast," the man nods without hesitation and heaves it up onto his shoulder, surprising you slightly, as he's not particularly large. He picks up the chain with a bare foot (and apparently dexterous toes), transfers it to his other hand, and scampers off to the ship to do as ordered.
"Fourteen minutes. Soba will show you to your berth once you board," she jerks her head to the overburdened man currently swaying comically as he attempts to walk up the plank onto the ship.
Morvan watches the sailor as he moves, curious what magic is at play amongst the crew - for that is what it had to be, to be able to carry a waterproof trunk with his plate armor and Kallant's Hellknight plate - neither of which was light.
Turning back to the Captain, he says, "In that case, we thank you for transporting us. Do you know how long the voyage will take?"
The Captain shrugs.
"Best time would be about three days. Worst time would be about two weeks. I hate this lake.
Kizziar remains quiet, looking for any magical or good auras on the ship and telepathically informing the others of whatever he notices.
Urashu keeps his face impassive at the display, buy starts turning the scene over in his mind. That was... odd. He looks around, trying to spot any magic, inwardly cursing himself for not having studied seriously when he was first at the academy.
Kallant wearing his new studded leather looks around the boat looking how to defend it and live on it. He tries to stay out of crew’s way.
”This lake has difficulties in sailing?” Morvan asked, eyebrow raised.
"Not for the larger ships, no. But for little ones like this, you have to be careful near the coast. Merrows, Skrag, Skum all sorts of bad critters. And you also have to be careful near the center, 'cause of that stupid island. It's constantly surrounded by storms. So there's this ring of relatively safe sailing, that you have to be careful not to get pushed out of. If we can manage to stay in that ring, we'll be fine, and you'll get there in three days. If not..." she shrugs, "Who knows?"
"Well, then let us all hope for a smooth voyage. We'll stay out of your way as best we can, Captain." Morvan motions for the others to board the ship, then heads up the gangplank.
You board the ship and do your best to stay out of the way of the crew. For the most part, this is not difficult, as this crew is uncommonly disciplined, to the point of indifference to all else.
The benefits of such are noticeable however, as things start going south almost as soon as you set off.
The first thing that happens is that a strong wind from the east comes in. Along with the wind is a strange black sand. Asking Captain Briande about it yields mostly curses, but you eventually learn that it's a rare, probably supernatural occurrence. Not unheard of though, and more irritating than anything else. It only delays you minorly.
The second thing that happens though is worse. The sand causes enough static in the air that random bolts of lightning dart between thicker clumps. While not large enough to be truly dangerous, they do cause a shock, and a lingering numbness. Enough that one of the crew accidentally loosed a rope while making adjustments to the mainsail, causing a tear that took time to repair. Between the time it took to repair the sail and get back on course, you loose almost two days, and are pushed dangerously close to the Isle of Terror.
Which is probably the reason that you get attacked. Just as the sun disappears, on the 5th day, you hear a terrible, grating roar. Rising up above the water is a large, serpentine head, though even in the moonlight you can tell that what little flesh is still attached is desiccated and on the verge of sloughing off. Most of the crew screams and panics, and the monster darts down, snapping one up with it's jaws, silencing his screams.
Soba, the man who carried your chest back at the docks, screams in confusion. The beast swipes at him with oversized talons.
Incredibly, he is still alive, though you're not sure how, as there is a hole large enough to see through in his abdomen. The Captain gasps in horror.
Kizziar launches himself off the deck and circles above the creature, shouting "I smite you in the name of Hell, foul beast!" at the top of his lungs as he pokes at it with his stinger
Staring at the massive beast rising out of the water, Morvan shouts, "Captain, we need to get away, quickly!" He then issues a prayer to Asmodeus for the fight, before asking for greater strength and creating a duplicate.
Now that was something you didn't see every day! Melii involuntarily steps back, drawing her bow with shaking hands. She is too afraid to concentrate on casting a psychic spell, so she fires off a shot almost on instinct, not sure if it will even have any effect on the monster.
Kallant pulls out his longbow and fires an arrow wondering if it will make a difference.
Urashu remains calm as the monster surfaces, but is furiously reviewing information he studied about monster lore.
“Morvan, this is a brine dragon ravener. Undead, but I think the island arcane energy forced it. We can reverse it, but I don’t know how. And it’s bad news, we need to get out of here! Everyone spread out; it’s bile is extremely acidic so prepare for that if you can. ”
Urashu is drawing his gun as he speaks, and the weapon is quickly crackling electric energy. He points at the gun and fires, but instead of shooting a bullet, the gun discharges a snowball that hurtles at the monster.
Those crewmembers who still retain a semblance of discipline attempt to pull the ship around and flee the beast, while the rest scream and flee to the cargo hold.
she shouts before pulling out her gun and firing from both barrels.
Smoke and flame shoot from the gun, but she also drops it from blastburn. She scowls and snatches it back up.
Soba cocks his head at the Captain, then grins malevolently and pulls a ring off his finger. With a roar he transforms, his limbs twisting sickeningly as he turns into some bestial creature.
"Archer!" the Captain shouts at Kallant tossing him a large key, "In my berth is a chest of potions. Bring them!"
The monster roars and, as predicted, spits up a stream of acid.
Kizziar, Urashu, and 1 crew member get caught in the stream.
Morvan nods to Urashu as he casts a spell to protect himself from acid damage.
He then calls on his divine favor to grant him enhanced combat prowess.
He then moves closer.
Kallant takes the key to the captain's berth to collect the potions.
Badly injured by the corrosive torrent despite his agility and resistance to acid, Kizziar turns invisible and flies upward, attempting to get out of range of the monster's attacks.
Melii moves as far as she can to be away from the other Hellknight and the ship's crew. She fires off another shot at the dragon.