Sarah hums pleasantly to herself as she winds her leg into a long length of rope attached to the mast and bites down gently on about a half-dozen arrows held in her teeth. Her muffled voice seems unperturbed, "If I could only find my arrows of Giant Legendary Beastie Slaying, we'd be in fine shape".
Mal flexes an arm, his feral smile returning, "It's no arrow, but the rest of the description fits…"
Priyya laughs around her mouthful of arrows. "You sexy bastard. If I was 20 years younger, and your tastes didn't range towards pale and voluptuous girls..."
Ellie overhears the end of 'Sarah's' comment, and calls out, "...and don't you forget that, Auntie!"
Mal turns to the strange mage lady, arching an eyebrow, "Ya hear that? They're fighting over me... think I'm sexy."
"Fascinating." She eyes Andre up and down noting that he seems to be more experienced in physcial confrontations than the magical variery. "So is this spell you seem intent upon casting stationary, instantaneous, or one of sustained control? If it is stationary you are at the wrong end of the ship."
Mal looks at the condescending woman for a few moments before replying, "Having a hard time controlling yourself next to my sexiness, huh?"
"Having a hard time controlling yourself next to my sexiness, huh?"
The woman's eyes narrow. "That is certainly it, yes."
As the ship draws closer to Scylla, a great bank of fog suddenly takes form in your path.
MAP: Scylla and Charybdis, (Round Round 02b)
Mal looks back at Ieana, Lureene, and Alis, roaring over the din of the struggle, "Is the fog ours or hers?"
"It's Scylla's. That is solid fog! Cast your spell!"
Mal reacts instantly, the wind around the front of the boat reacting to the warrior's strange words.
As the spell completes, he mutters, "Hope that's enough..."
As Mal casts his spell to increase the overall strength of the wind in the area, Ieana adjusts her spell to increase its power. The sails and rigging of the White Pearl groan from the strain. The westward boundary of the fog slowly begins breaking up, but you have the feeling it won't be in time to avert some rather rapid deceleration.
Even as Charybdis continues his destruction nearby, feasting on doomed sailors, Alis holds onto her hat and yells, ""
[bigger][b]Next Up: (Alis), (Gelik), (Ishirou), (Lureene), (Sasha) Priyya; Crew, Charybdis, Scylla, Mal, Ieana (readied)
Priyya decides to test the agility of the floating beast with a couple of experimental bow-shots before making sure her leg is lashed tightly.
To Hit:
Damage:
To Hit:
Damage:
Rng Inc: 70' | -1/Increment
Priyya fires two shots in rapid succession. While one of the shots goes wide, the other flies unerringly towards its target until it shatters harmlessly against one of Scylla's flailing tentacles. She doesn't seem so much as even perturbed by the attack... well, at least as far as insane abominations go anyway.
, Charybdis, Scylla, Mal, Ieana Priyya; (readied)
Sailors:
prone
overboard
prone
prone
prone
prone
prone
prone
prone
prone
prone
Scylla's Tentacles
miss
hit
grappled
hit
grappled
miss
hit
The White Pearl, flying perilously fast thru the channel thanks to Ieana's spell plows into the solid fog. The ship is slowed to half speed so quickly that fully half of the sailors are knocked to the deck. The men on the foreward mast are both throw from their perches while Aerys is flung downwards from the crow's nest as the main mast shudders dangerous from the tremendous strain upon it. Gelik and Alis just barely manage to keep their footing, the gnome nearly falling down into the hold while Alis skips a full measure on her violin. Meanwhile Sasha and Ishirou are both thrown down in spite of their agility.
Strangely, the fog seems to act almost like a buffer for those falling thru it. Aerys still bounces of several yards and spars before hitting the deck, as do the two men in front of her, but their injuries are not life-threatening. The strangest thing is that although you can hear his shouts, the man thrown over the starboard bow never splashes into the water. While it could be that you just didn't hear him from the din of Charybdis' destruction, you soon realize that's not it at all. Instead his shouts escalate into scream and you hear a slithering, slapping sound come thru the fog accompanies by the growling of wolves...
Scylla drifts effortlessly thru the fog, seemingly neither her movement nor sense are impeded. Wrapped in one of her tentacles and screaming is the man thrown overboard. No sooner does she come into view of those on the bow, than does she begin lashing out with her tentacles. Alis ducks a swipe that, while clumsy, would have been powerful enough to clobber anyone less graceful. The man who fell not far from her is not so lucky. With seeming ease, Scylla strikes the prone man across the back before wrapping him up in one of her seven tentacles. Another goes snaking towards the old Khek where he lies, but the height of the nearby railing is just enough to stymie the attack.
With a curse, Alis casts the spell she readied and takes off thru the fog to land in the rigging on the stern side of the ship. Scylla strikes her across the back as she goes but is unable to grab on. Deciding for his own part that it would be best not to be in need of a rescue, Gelik clambers down the hatch shouting for anyone with sense to follow him. Both the sailors knocked down near him nod and duck into the forecastle.
As Ieana continues to focus on her spell, her powers aided by Mal's the cloud of fog begins breaking up and dispersing enough for the rest of you to see Scylla hovering just off the starboard bow, sailors in two of her seven tentacles. Lureene gets ready to cast her grease spell, hoping to free the two men when she realizes they are over 60 feet too far away for her spell to reach them. Beside her, Sasha gets back to her feet and grumbles something under her breath, resuming a defensive stance next to her curvaceous friend.
Behind you, the First Mate yells out, "ANYONE ON DECK GET TO PORT, GET TO COVER!"
; Crew, Charybdis, Scylla, Alis, Gelik, Ieana (readied)
As she gets back to her feet, Aerys looks about at the women standing near her and shouts, "IRONY BE DAMNED, INTO THE GALLEY!"
Sasha looks at Sarah and Ellie and says, "Uh, she's probably got a point I guess, huh?"
Even so, she hesitates waiting to see what Ellie does, even as members of the crew get to their feet and scramble for whatever cover they can find.
MAP: Scylla and Charybdis, (Round 03)
Lureene curses to herself when she realizes the range for her spell is too great. Still, it was too risky to get closer, needless to say. When she overhears Sasha's comment, she cannot help but think, Dammit, this THING reminds me of MY mother!
She grabs Sasha by the arm and yells over the sounds of the water and ship noise, "You heard what she said, we need to get below deck NOW!"
"No time for that," with a nervous yet broad grin she says, "back in the kitchen where you belong, woman!"
With that she yanks Ellie by the hand into the ship's galley alongside Vinzini, Aerys and a sailor.
; Crew, Charybdis, Scylla, Alis, Gelik, Ieana, Lureene, Sasha (readied)
Priyya slides to the portside rail and moves forward to cover the retreat of anyone off the foc's'l. She aims her bow, briefly debating whether it would be more of a kindness to put a shaft through one of the doomed sailors than the massive beast that holds them. She aims at the human-like abomination atop the beast and fires a single arrow.
To Hit:
Damage:
Rng Inc: 70' | -1/Increment
Mal steps over by Alis, readying an attack (or grapple defense assist) in case the tentacles make another attempt at Alis.
Before moving behind the cover of the raised forecastle, Priyya takes aim at Scylla's womanly half. It is a shot that could put out an eye at 100 yards. Yet with surprising quickness for the tangled bulk beneath her torso, the she demon of the seas evades the attack with subtle ease.
Realizing that Alis is out of harm's way, Mal decides that without flight to aid them, he and Priyya will fare better fighting side-by-side. Although he tries to evade her attacks thru some truly adept footwork for a man of his size, Scylla's makes him pay for it by cracking him across the back with a tentacle hard as steel cable. Fortunately, he moves swiftly enough that she is unable to sweep him into her clutches and he makes it to Priyya's side .
With the solid fog blown away, the White Pearl once again begins to pick up speed. Even as the dying galleon swings around again, several sailors make desperate running jumps towards your ship but the distance is simply too great and they get sucked beneath the churning waters even as stout timbers are shattered like matchsticks by Charybdis' gluttonous fury.
Scylla herself cries out in rage as the sleek vessel attempts to slip away. She unleashes against each and every last being she sees as your ship slips past. From the forecastle she strikes at Ishirou and the two sailors still atop the foredeck with him. While Ishirou gets cracked and hard, he manages to duck closer to the railing to avoid being grabbed. The two men near him are not so fortunate however. With surprising quickness, he draws his blade and strikes in one motion, attempting to sever the tentacle holding one of his men. While his blade does bite deep, the wound begins to heal over with surprising celerity and Scylla's steely grip on the man does not falter.
And so she goes down the line of the White Pearl as Captain Kovack steers her to port coming dangerously close the the edge of the whirlpool even as the winds Ieana summons strain the masts nearly to the breaking point. From right in front of Mal and Priyya, a sailor standing by the launch gets snatched up. From the sails on the starboard side, the men on both the mizzen and aft sails are grabbed. Only the man helping the captain to steady the ship's helm escapes the same fate as by that point all seven of Scylla's tentacles hold a screaming, struggling man.
Incensed at this outrage, Scylla dives underwater and out of sight — the screams of her captives instantly silenced leaving only the howling of the wind and Charybdis' destruction to assail your senses. However, she is not done.
Even as the White Pearl speeds further and further away, ahead of you a wall of water some 30-feet tall rises up spanning the cliffs and begins hurtling toward you!
Grabs
grappled
grappled
grappled
grappled
grappled
grappled
, Gelik, Ieana, Mal, Priyya; Crew, Charybdis, Scylla, Ishirou
MAP: Scylla and Charybdis, (Round 04)
With a curse, Alis flies down from the rigging shouting out, ""
With that she resumes her position by the bow spirit desperately trying to resume her tune in the hopes of undoing the agitation Scylla has wrought upon the water...
As sailors go racing to secure what they can, Gelik pokes his head up from below and waves to Sarah and Andre. "I don't quite have the strength or know-how to secure this hatch. It might be in everyone's best interest if you show some self-preservation for once and get down here. I've heard boats float more easily when the water remains on the outside. Just a myth, I'm sure, but why take chances?"
Even as he speaks, Vinzini and Aerys push their way past Ellie and Sasha to bar the door to the galley. Ieana entwines her arms thru the rigging even as she tries to maintain both the ship's speed and to break up the approaching tidal wave. Alton meanwhile races further forward attempting to secure the damage Scylla inflicted upon the forward sails.
, Sasha; Crew, Charybdis, Scylla, Ishirou, Alis, Aerys, Alton, Gelik, Ieana
Mal takes stock of the situation, then growls to Priyya without taking his eyes off the wall of water rushing up on them, "I'll be fine for hours if i'm taken overboard. I can't guarantee you that same safety. Gelik's right. We need to get that hatch closed, but I'm not leaving Alis out here alone. It'd be safer for you to take shelter inside the hold with the others." He flashes her his usual feral grin, "But I'm pretty sure I know how you feel about the subject."
With that, he goes to close down the hatch the way Alton showed him, staying on the outside, looking for something solid to which he can lash himself.
Priyya looks both outraged and amused but sees the wisdom of Mal's thinking. She gives him a sultry smile. "Let it never be said that I can't be periodically compliant... for the right man."
Without another word she heads below decks, pushing Gelik down in front of her, dogs the hatch. She sets about making sure everything is water-tight below.
Lureene is not sure what she can do to help here, so she pulls Sasha out of the way of the rest of the crew, while assisting them in battening down the hatches as best she can. She also utters a quick prayer to whoever will listen as well...
Gelik quickly gets out of Sarah's way before the surly old woman can step on him and makes his way down the hall ensuring that everyone's portholes are locked up tight. In the galley, Vinzini quickly tosses his knife block in a barrel and slams a lid over it while Aerys instructs the other sailors that they need to get back on deck and help as soon as the deck is clear. For her part, Sasha pulls Lureene to the ground (so that they don't risk falling down again), and seems quite insistent upon squeezing close to shield her with her own body.
Meanwhile at the prow of the ship, Alis finds that attempting to play a violin on the deck of a pitching ship is no easy task even for her. With a remorseful sigh, she raises the instrument up into the air and begins to sing instead before she offers up the expensive instrument as a sacrifice to the sea. As she sings, she touches the lash mark on her back trying to heal the injury but doesn't have much success.
The rest of the crew work either to secure the damaged sail or to lash the wheel as you hurtle towards the approaching wave.
Themesong: Sure Promise
With the wave nearly upon you, Alis risks a glance behind her. Alton, Ishirou are holding the damaged lines in place even as they shelter behind the forecastle. Up in the sheets, the remaining seamen have furled the lower sails to keep them from catching the wave when it breaks over the bow. The doors into the galley and captain's quarters are both sealed. Captain Kovack and Ieana are both gripping the railing tightly by the helm. Priyya and the others have gotten off the deck.
Everyone's as secure as they're going to— Mal?!
Stifling a curse lest it disrupt her singing, she resigns to trust his brute strength and tenses. At the last moment, Alis leaps into the air, soaring just above the crest of the wave even as she continues to sing, her voice seeming to form a 10-foot depression in the center of the massive wall of water.
Overrun
Founder Check DC 24
Like a lone knight crashing thru an enemy line on his charger, the White Pearl cleaves thru the trough formed by Alis, pushing thru with the aid of Ieana's control over the winds. Although the ship protests mightily, with groaning timbers and creaking ropes, Captain Kovack's skill, along with the dedication of her crew keeps the ship from foundering even with its deck awash in water.
From his position, Mal can clearly see why Alis had ordered him to take cover, she never had any plan of standing in the way of the onslaught to begin with. Yet where did she go?
"Dammit!"
He hears the words from behind him near the starboard side to find Alton holding the slight woman with one arm while he grips a line with the other. For a moment, Mal wonders what could have happened.
As the green water clears from the deck and the White Pearl is once more accelerated to top speed, it hits him — Alis is standing where Ishirou was. The old Khek is nowhere to be seen and even a mighty eagle could scarcely hope to match the clipper's speed let alone passing near Scylla.
With resignation in her voice, Lisa slumps to the deck and murmurs, "I couldn't hold on. I just couldn't hold on..."
It took less than half an hour for the White Pearl to escape the perilous cliffs, but it was tense. Immediately after escaping the killer wave, Scylla's fury darkened the skies and torrential rains began to assault the vessel. Only Ieana's control over the wind kept the storm from halting your progress and keeping you ahead of Scylla's mad pursuit.
Not for another hour at least did the loss of nearly half the crew and the second mate truly sink in. With so many crewmen lost, and many exhausted, Mal and Lisa both pitched in as needed while Alton directed repairs. Even though your tribulations were concluded well before noon, tonight's rest in your bunks cannot come soon enough.
Lureene yawns and stretches in her bunk after this nightmare day has mercifully come to an end. Still, the White Pearl was still seaworthy, if damaged and low on crew.
Something Sasha had mentioned to her came back to her. She had mentioned no ships had come from the south through the straits to Lights End. The reason for that is clear now. The question though is why now? was it related to the Trull activity which had necessitated the overland trek to Malatesta. They had few answers unfortunately.
She asks Lisa, "I know you are tired, Momma, but I cannot help but wonder when the Scylla started preying on the shipping in the strait, and why now?"
Alis sighs heavily from her hammock where she was looking at her hands. In a rueful tone, she responds, "Probably because I'm here. Haven't you noticed yet, 'excitement and adventure' seem to be inextricably drawn to me like flies to day-old fruit. Only in my case, those flies are from hell, have tentacles, and try to kill everyone around me. Even as we are now we're still running into assassins and other insanity."
Looking over to where Priyya is reading, she says, "Sarah dear, you're a cleric. If the power of the gods is best revealed thru the good works of their mortal agents, do you suppose this means that you and I will never be able to rest on our laurels?"
For three days you sail south along the coast of Khemya putting into port only once to hire additional sailors, deliver cargo, and spread news about the terrors that have taken up residence at Light's End. It is grim news but at least so forewarned, you have some hope that others might avoid the same fate as the three other ships that had accompanied the White Pearl.
After taking on a few more seamen, you embark once more cutting straight across the northern portion of the Gulf of Dafar.
Two days later, you reach Razor's Edge, home port of the Confederation of Freebooters. Once cut-throat reavers, pirates, mercenaries, and worse, they now instead provide 'protection services' to all ships passing thru the region. While their fees are steep, and it is an extortion racket, most captains find it preferable to deal with the corsair fleet on friendly terms rather than incurring their ire.
While you don't remain in port for long and none of you dare to tarry over long on land, it doesn't take many bottles of black rum for Alis to loosen tongues enough to learn that the trouble down in Dafar is affecting the Freebooters' business. Evidently they had quite the sweet deal while Lady Taurion was Governor. Convincing her replacement of the value of their 'services' rates as a rather high priority right now.
Before any assassins, cultists, gladiators, or worse can appear, you are once more southward bound.
Daegsday sees the White Pearl passing the Horn of Olcán, a great volcanic peninsula that marks Elsemar's equator. Even since sailing past Khemya, the heat and humidity have progressively increased to the point where Alis and Mal have no qualms over making daily use over endure elements spells just to remain functional. While a child of the desert, even Priyya finds that the thick, humid air lacks the same familiar quality as that of her homeland. Only Lureene seems to find an eerie comfort in the oppressive heat, although the sensation that she has returned 'home' evokes more than a few nightmares from her even as glowing lavaflows light the coastline long after Brightpool has set.
In spite of a blood red sunrise, Captain Kovack, and Ieana seem to be in high spirits this Rosday. When you consult with your friends amongst the crew, Alton explains, "It has been a difficult voyage. Passing the horn and making our way east means this is the last leg in the approach to Port Eldarion. We should arrive by noon time on Alsday, gods willing."
"Even so, while my mind know that Olcán turns this morning red, it is not easy for me to be quite so relaxed at the sight. Sometime tonight we will pass Reaver's Shiv so watchfulness and discipline is key if we want there to be no further sorrow."