The fresh sea air feels good upon your senses as the ship you are on, Freedom's Blessing, continues it journey to the north west. You think back over the last few days, of your rank in the militia being officially stripped, and told to set sail to a land unknown.
A mysterious island had been spotted 10 leagues of the North West coast of Cross, and both the Realania and Tyrene governments were trying to stake claim. You however have been given the task of surveying the island as a "private" citizen of Realania, with nothing but your store bought weapons and a month's worth of food and supplies.
You begin to see the island appear upon the horizon. It will still be a day's sail before you arrive, but already you can see the dark clouds hanging overhead of the island. Clods of ash created by the single mountain upon the island, an active volcano.
Bjorn paces about the deck, seemingly inpatient with sea travel. He spots the island off in the distance and then continues his pacing. I can't stand being cooped up on this Praetor forsaken boat! I would give anything for land beneath my feet, or for the very least a woman upon my lap!
Grumbling to himself, he finally stops his pacing and stands at railings of the boat to watch the slow approach of the island.
Knee length, dark burgundy hair blowing in the seabreeze, Lorelei steps up to the railing of the deck as she tries to catch sight of her island destination.
Finally, there is our island. I so hate being cooped up on a ship. I always worry about the boat sinking in a storm or some other disaster.
Lorelei eyes the human male that paces near her spot by the railing.
I suppose I am not the only one eager to get off this ship.
Blink grinned as she felt the breeze running past her. True, she didn't especially need to be on deck - her elemental affinity meant she would feel the breeze just as much below, a true blessing on hot summer nights - but there was something about a true sea breeze that invigorated.
"Maybe they should have sent an Ifrit," Blink murmured under her breath, smile failing as she saw the active volcano. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Still, it would be a more interesting diversion than scout duty, or escorting some snooty official from Tyrene to the opposite border.
She'd been told she could strengthen her ability to teleport if she worked at it. When lava was an issue, it was definitely going to be time to practice. She glanced over at the pacing human and smiled. "Remember Bjorn, you wear the deck out you get to replace it." That had been what her father had always said on the rare occasions they travelled by sea.
Bjorn whirls around to Blink with a sneer upon his face. He grabs his testicles and makes a rude gesture towards Blink before during back to look out over the ships railing.
Coming up from below deck, his dark blue skin seeming to absorb the sunlight, Struug had found the ocean breeze slightly disconcerting. Being from a swampy region, he had become accustomed to the stale air. Ignoring the human pacing on deck, the Dunaux climbed some of the rigging to see over the rail. A volcano? Well if I burn up in the lava at least I won't have to deal with the nightmares.
Looking at the Sylph, I wonder what it's like to have wind blowing through your hair? he thought. <Worried about a fiery death?> he asked telepathically.
"Something like that," Blink said calmly as she unbuttoned her jacket, "Although it's more the ash. I don't like how it will make the air on the island feel. Plus it's the ashes and gasses from a volcano, I hear, that are the truly dangerous bit. That they can roll down the mountain in a wave faster than a horse can run. Hopefully, this one won't wake up fully if it's true."
Finishing with the last button, the Sylph opened her coat. "Hey, Bjorn, mine look better!" She laughed and closed her coat again. The horny idiot would probably fall over the edge, or wank himself into a coma, if she kept the coat open too long. Since she'd made it very, very clear that he wasn't going to get to touch it should irritate him all the more.
Not very nice, but then again, neither was he.
<Well I come from a swamp, so air quality will not be a problem for me.>
Getting down off of the rigging, Struug asked, <I don't believe I caught your name on this voyage. I am known as Struug.>
Bjorn's eyebrows raise as he is flashed, Must remember a mental picture for later... He chuckles to Blink, "I'm sure if you saw my sword, you'd swoon like all the ladies do!" Bjorn laughs heartily at that.
Bjorn then spies Lorelei out of the corner of his eye and he takes the sight of her in appreciatively. Surrounded by two beautiful ladies, Praetor rewards me for my service!
"I'm Blink," the Sylph replied. "Mostly because I can teleport short distances and have no idea what my real name is." She grinned. "It works for me."
Turning her attention to Bjorn again, she yelled back, "It's called a penis, and vomiting does not count as swooning!"
<Pleasure to meet you. I'd imagine an ability like that comes in handy from time to time.> Shaking his head at the back and forth of the two, Struug thinks to himself, They should just fornicate and get it over with.
Taking his leave, the Dunaux moved over to the other woman at the rail. <Good day milady, enjoying the trip?>
A small wave kicks up, rocking the boat slightly, and all the sailors adjust their weight upon their legs like practiced men, out for a stroll. But just as the small wave passes, another larger wave rocks the boat.
The Captain, Jorval Redbeard, a dwarf from Realania walks upon the mid-deck. He shouts down to his crew "What be going on down there in those wat....?" But before he can finish his sentence a loud crash is heard and the boat rocks violently to starboard.
Jorval stumbles down to the main deck, yelling at his sailors "That felt like we hit something! Why didn't we see it before we sailed over top of it? Hmmmmm?
Bjorn chuckles to the slyph's comment about vomiting before the ship is rocked around violently. He remains on his feet and looks around, addressing the Captain as he comes down to the main deck.
"What happened? What did we hit?"
Struug loudly thought as the ship rocked and he caught himself.
Lorelei turns to respond to man addressing her just in time to be thrown against him as the ship rocked.
Blushing with embarrassment, Lorelei takes a step back and grabs the railing for support in case of another wave. Well, that is a wonderful way to make a first impression....
"My apologies. I wasn't expecting anything like that. My name is Lorelei. And I think I will enjoy this trip more in hindsight after my feet are on dry land. I confess that water travel makes me a bit uneasy."
<Well at least the water and air are fresh. Try living in a swamp.> Then a thought occurs to him. <You're Majar aren't you? Is it true that your race doesn't age?>
The bump made Blink stagger a few paces, but she remained on her feet. Blink moved to the front of the ship - she wasn't sure how bad the collision had been, but if they had to get out and swim she'd much rather know about it now...hopefully in time to Summon something that could help her swim to shore in a pinch.
Blink, your unable to see anything at the front of the ship, just clear blue ocean.
As the sailors swarm about the deck, checking everything, you begin to feel a vibration in your feet. Slow at first, it quickly changes to a rumble that violently shakes the ship.
Three large metallic spikes suddenly pierce through the ship at the main deck. Bjorn, you nearly get impaled as a spike pierces through the ship just a few inches from where you were standing.
An unusual grinding and clanking noise can be heard from below and the ship begins to teeter to the side. The sailors begin panicking and swarm about the ship! "Someone hack those spikes and get them out of my ship!" bellows the Captain
Struug grabbed onto the rail as the ship shuddered. Seeing the metal spikes and hearing the Captain yelling, the Dunaux stretched forth his hand and launched a glob of acid at the nearest one.
Lorelei begins to answer Struug. "Well, it is more correct to say that we do not age like most other races. You see, we...."
Lorelei's attempt at explanation is cut short as the metallic spikes suddenly erupt from the main deck.
Lorelei holds tightly to the ships railing as it begins to shake, fearful of falling overboard. "What are those things and where did they come from?"
Bjorn screams a battle cry after almost getting impaled. He rushes at one of spikes and swings his huge earth breaker at the side of the metal spike.
Not spotting anything over the side, Blink started to relax...until the sea erupted with metal spikes.
Cursing softly in Ignan, always a good tongue for a nice bit of swaring, Blink attacked the spike closest to the bow. She had no idea what on earth could fire huge metal spikes, but she was willing to bet it wasn't something she wanted dragging the ship into capsizing. She swung her father's scimitar in a vicious arc, hoping to strike a weak point.
[ooc]Scimitar
With your combined efforts, one of the spikes cracks and falls off. You begin to hear more clanking and grinding noises and several more spike drill up from below the ship
The ship suddenly pitches wildly and before you realize it, you are tossed into the ocean. A shadow falls upon you as you see the capsizing ship overhead, about to crash on top of you...
You awake... soggy and wet and covered in sand. As you look around, you see several large pieces of wood that has washed up on the beach with you. A few more pieces of debris float down by the water. The sun is close to the horizon, just about to set for the day.
As you look around, it is clear you have made it to the island, but not as originally intended.
Struug openned his eyes and looked around, <Wha...? How did I end up here?> With great effort, the Dunauxian Magus got up and searched for survivors.
"I swear," Blink said as she forced herself off the sand, spitting sand, "They sent the wrong elemental. Fire and water seems to be the theme of this trip, and I don't do either." She stood and stretched, then started looking around the beach. She considered yelling but didn't want to alert anything that might consider her a delicious snack.
Instead, she scanned the area, hoping to see traces of something. Traces of the others would be nice. Traces of the ship wouldn't be bad - she'd like a chance to retrieve some of the supplies left on board. And if there was something else around, she wouldn't mind spotting that.
Bjorn gets up from the beach and spits out sand. He brushes himself off and takes a long look around. He notices the other survivors and walks over to them. "Glad to see your all still alive... that was about as fun as having your guts spilled out in the arena!" He will begin to scavage around the wreck with Blink to find any usable supplies.
Lorelei wakes to the taste of salt in her mouth and the gritty feel of sand all in her clothes. Sitting up, she looks about her at the bits of wreckage from their ship.
"See, this is why I hate traveling by ship. I always expect this sort of thing to happen."
As each of you searches, you find no other tracks in the immediate area. The only survivors you are aware of are the four of you.
Blink, as you search the wreckage, you and Bjorn find a few days of food still wrapped in oil cloth, however the barrels of fresh water have been smashed.
The sun is starting to set, and the temperature is quickly starting to drop.
<Well if this doesn't just beat all. We better set up a fire for the night, we're going to be here a while.> Struug broadcast telepathically to the others. With great effort, he began to gather materials for the fire.
"I'm more worried about water," Blink replied, although she headed to the top of the beach and started hunting for drier drift wood to make a fire, "Unless one of you nice people can cast Create Water we're going to have to hunt down a spring or river tomorrow. We've got food for a couple of days, but food is a lesser issue. We can last longer with empty bellies than parched throats."
In theory, Blink could learn the spell, but she'd never bothered. She certainly felt the lack at that moment though. She'd focus herself to learning it when she could even if one of the other could cast it too. There wasn't much point in being able to knit flesh and bone together or hurl lightning bolts if you died for want of water.
"Actually, yes. I can cast create water. I just need to find something to put the water into as I cast the spell."
Lorelei will begin searching for something suitable to put the water into.
Bjorn searches though the wreckage before coming out with a barrel. "Think this is still intact! I shall test it before you begin your casting of water!" He says to Lorelei.
Bjorn goes down to the water and fulls it with salt water to test it for any holes.
Blink and Strung, you gather more then enough wood for a night's worth of a fire. As you gather though, you get an overwhelming feeling of being watched.
Bjorn, the barrel holds water and will make a fine vessel for Lorelei's casting.
Within a few minutes of gathering wood and getting water, you all hear an incredibly loud roar from off in the jungle, followed by several large trees crashing to the ground. It's still far off, more then a kilometre from here.
Bjorn hands the barrel to Lorelei, "Here lass, this should hold!"
Upon hearing the sound, he draws his earth breaker and stands in front of Lorelei. "What the devil was that noise?"
<Something big.> Struug replied. That's all we need.
"Well, we can always hope that it is something that tastes well when roasted over a campfire."
"Shall we set up watches for the night in case it or something else cares to disturb our slumber?"
<As much as I would enjoy taking first watch, I am utterly exhausted and would probably pass out. I'll take third watch>
"I can take first watch," Blink said, "I'm wired from the whole nearly drowning thing, and I can see in the Dark. Big, dim and ugly over there can take the second watch. Lorelei, you OK with last watch?" That way to two of them should get a descent length of uninerupted sleep...as would Blink herself. She always took first or last watch if she could. She grinned Bjorn. "I'm sure our muscular friend can be all manly and take two shifts if you need some extra sleep."
Bjorn nods to Blink, "I am still quite awake from the ordeal and can easily remain awake to watch over us."
Bjorn switches to gothic, "Ut sit amet nisi turpis Equidem obscurum"
While in a deep sleep, Struug had restless dreams.
Struug felt uneasy during his watch, causing him to keep a hand on his weapon the entire time. When he woke up Lorelei, he warned her, <Keep an extra eye out, there is something out there.>
Struug then sat down with his gear and began to draw various arcane symbols in the dirt. He then erased, and re-drew them in a different order and repeated the process.
<You must be slipping....>
Struug jumped to feet, weapon in hand, eyes darting around all over the place. <SHOW YOURSELF, MONSTER!!!!> he screamed telepathically for all to hear.
"Deadly lettuce!" Blink sat bolt upright and shook her head. It felt like someone had screamed right inside her head, which, after a moment, she realized was pretty much exactly what had happened. Moving to her feet she scanned the area, looking for whatever had terrified Struug.
Lorelei, just as your startled by the mental scream of Struug, you look over at the undergrowth and notice three very large lizards who are flicking their tongues, tasting the air. These immense lizards move with a slow but relentless gait. Their feet end in large talons, and ropes of drool hang from their toothy maws.