After Alis is done, Mal simply nods in understanding. "Got it. Now just hold still for a moment."
His hand glows briefly with a green light and he touches her on the shoulder. He then nods to Priyya, casting the same spell on both of them. "Just a little something so we don't need to worry about poison this time..."
Lureene nods, not realizing how late it has gotten. She waves Grak over and chants softly. Soon a pale glowing light engulfs the snakelike creature. Another chant follows and the succubus glows with the same light.
"OK I am ready to go. Let's do this."
After about 15 minutes, Alis returns from where she was quietly concentrating on modifying the disguise pins up by Aycenia's banyan tree. "Alright, you can go ahead and put them in now, but I can't activate them until we reach the water. Mal, lead everyone in a broad arc staying beyond the reasonable point at which you should be distinguishable. Grak, you and I will stay close to the cliffs for cover. I need you to let me know when Lureene says that everyone is in position, ok?"
The tiny blonde turns to the dryad and takes her hand. "Thank you so much for all of your help, Aycenia. We shall aid you as best we can and as soon as we have ended Ieana's evil plans for this island, whatever they may be. I promise you that!"
The delicate woman seems on the verge of tears at the news. "I would gladly aid you in your efforts against that evil wizardess. Take my blessing with and come back safely... Please, join hands for just a moment..."
With that, she takes Alis' right hand, Alis takes Lureene's who takes Sasha's, who take's Mal's, who take's Priyya's. The Surya-ka-Vahaak, then extends her left hand to Aycenia.
The dryad bows her head between the two dream-sisters, chanting slowly in a melodic tongue that cause the breath to catch in Mal's throat for just a moment. As she chants, you can feel the skin on the back of the people's hands you are holding grow firmer and tougher.
After a few moments, she looks up, a serene look on her otherworldly features and says calmly, "Go now, and save your friends..."
Stealth Checks
Survival Checks
Grak AC is now 23
Priyya notes Lureene's selective generosity then fires a cool glance at Alis. She walks over to the blonde princess and says quietly, "You are going to be in more danger than Grak with less options for escape." Priyya's look conveys profound disapproval. "Let me know when it's time to go, I'll be meditating." She finds a pleasant spot beneath the banyan tree facing the sun and drops into her kneeling prayer position.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Seeing Lureene cast her protections upon herself and Grak, she approaches and whispers, "I'm not exactly going to be wearing a whole lot if they turn out to be a rough crowd. Can you spare another casting of that ward for myself and perhaps Priyya?"
She bats her eyes playfully as she affixes a pin in your hair, "Pleeeaaase?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lureene melts under the flirtatious gaze of Alis, "Sure thing, 'Lis," she murmers as she caresses the princess' arm, whispering arcane words in her ears..
Once completed, she moves over to Priyya and touches her on the shoulder, murmering arcane syllables.
As she hears the exchange, Priyya rises from her trance state enough to wave off the approaching succubus. "No, thanks. I won't tax your gifts." Her voice is devoid of emotion. She returns to her meditation, trusting in her faith to protect her if it becomes necessary.
Lureene stares confused at the aasamir priestess. What is eating her? She seems out of sorts. Maybe she just needs some companionship, at least I hope that's all it is.
She nods at Priyya in acknowledgement, and her eyes stray to Sasha. "Come here Sash." As the huntress approaches her, she softly touches her cheek. As the spell engulfs Sasha, Lureene hugs her, "Thank you for being there for us. This will help protect you."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sasha pouts a bit at the antics between Alis and Lureene, and her shoulders slump a bit as she immediately skips over to the olive-skinned warrior-priestess. She gives a faint smile when the other blonde reaches up and clips one of those special pins in her long, red tresses.
She's just about to pick up her bow and wander off when she hear's Lureene's silky voice. Awww, she does care!
"Awww, you do care! Thank Ellie!" As the five of you head west towards the sea, she glances over her shoulder noting that Alis is handing her little monkey to Aycenia for safe-keeping.
"So uh... what did that do anyway?"
Once all of your pins are in place, you begin to hustle towards the south-west. As you run, the undergrowth and foliage seem to part before you and close up again as soon as you have passed making your travel much faster than before.
"Must be the dryad's influence," Mal says, intrigued by the control exerted by the spirit woman over her environs.
[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (023) | Overland Rules ]
Time: 5:30md (afternoon, 5:30pm)
Time: 5:30md (afternoon, 5:30pm)
Darkshoal: Pre-First Quarter
Being right at the equator, in the sky above, Elsemar's rings, the Lanscarilma are like the gleaming red edge of a knife. The descending sun is beginning to turn the Gulf of Dafar a rich shimmering amber as a sultry breeze ripples the surface of the sea. Skimmers, gulls, and other water fowl fill the air with their raucous cries, and in the distance you can see bottle-nosed dolphins surging thru the sea.
Without breaking stride as you run towards the cliff, Alis calls out, "I'll catch us on the way down, we're jumping."
Reaching the edge of the cliff, Lureene jumps out further to avoid running into any of you on the way down, although Sasha seems practically intent upon following her. In spite of the redhead's enthusiasm, the rest of you maintain a fairly tight grouping, and Alis has no difficulty at all catching you with a feather fall, landing you gently on the beach. Before setting foot into the surf, she reaches into her cleavage and pulls out three small objects. They appear to be leaves that have been rolled up with a small lock of greenish-blue hair tying them closed. She hands one to Lureene and another to Mal. The other she makes certain is securely back in her bodice.
"I don't remember seeing feather fall in your spellbook El. Since that might be the fastest way to get everyone down from the cliff, use this if things go badly. You'll be a bigger target, but at least you should be able to carry the others down without straining your wings. Mal, I'm sure you can find a creative use for doubling in size."
Not wasting any more time, the rest of you follow her into the warm, tropical waters lapping against the shoreline. Once the water is deep enough that you have trouble standing against the force of the waves, she says, "Try it, Mal, I want to make certain you've got it."
The big hunter nods and speaks a number of words that none of the rest of you understand. When nothing happens, he shrugs. "Think it's keyed no just your voice?"
"I think it's keyed for not grrroooowling the command like a blood oath! Pretend that you're me and that you're happy to be attending a masquerade..."
"Riiight."
Mal closes his eyes and tries to imagine about being happy attending a ball but it just isn't happening. He then reflects back to earlier today when he was employing some subterfuge for an entirely different reason... one in which he saw a side of Priyya that had previously been obfuscated from him.
A faint hint of a lusty smile curls his lips and he recites the magic phrase with more feeling this time. The moment he does, all of you except Alis fall over, splashing down into the sea as your legs lose the ability to support your upper bodies. You have the oddest sensation that you cannot feel your nether regions properly and then the feeling of the waves rippling across your flesh and flexing your... fins?
Looking down you find that your legs are gone, merged instead into a long, thickly muscled tail with smooth skin like that of a dolphin. Where your feet should be is instead a broad, horizontally aligned tail. As you wave your hands to steady yourself, you find that it takes the barest amount of effort to do so — webs have grown between your fingers!
"Holy CARP El, I'm a gods-be-damned mermaid! HahahahaHAHAHAHA!"
Time: 6:30et (eventide, :00)
Darkshoal: Pre-First Quarter
As the lithe redhead begins to laugh maniacally, Alis merely shakes her head and casts another spell on herself. "Alright you fine-finned folk, let's get going..."
With Grak lagging behind a bit as he uses the cliffs for cover, you spend the next hour swimming south at a rate you simply could not have matched on The Shiv's uncompromising terrain. When the island's southwest bay comes into view, you can see several massive pillars of rock protruding from the surf, small islands composed of rubble and silt cling to the base of the well-worn piers, held together by clumps of scraggly, tenacious vegetation.
Slumped up against the closest are the sodded and weather-bleached bones of a truly old vessel of epic proportions. As you draw near, keeping it interposed between yourselves an the lighthouse looming on the cliff to the south, you can make out verdegris-encrusted letters on a placard the size of a canoe.
In Malatestan, it reads:
Turning to the rest of you, Alis bobs up and down and you circle around. From in the distance, you can hear the deep booms of large drums, and when the wind is right the sound of throaty chanting. "Time to split up. I'm going to approach from the north, the rest of you swim south then double-back using the cliffs for cover. Lureene, when all of you are in position let Grak know so he can tell me. If I get there first I'll do the same."
She looks behind as the exotic winged serpent catches up to you. "Grak? I need to you fly casually as if you are simply crossing over into the jungle north-east of that big tower. Don't fly too close to the water or you'll draw attention to me. When you get near the trees, fly out of sight then circle and stay below the level of the cliffs. You'll find me near the base of the cliffs a hundred yards or so from their camp."
Looking up briefly at the ever-gibbous form of the silver moon, Brightpool overhead, she asks, "Does anyone have any questions?"
Lureene looks down at her form with some trepidation, which soon vanishes as she experiments with the abilities of her new form. Wow, its like I am FLYING through the water! This is SOOOooo much fun!From NOW on, I am gonna swim only when I am a mermaid!
"Holy CARP El, I'm a gods-be-damned mermaid! HahahahaHAHAHAHA!"
As Sasha utters her exclamation, Lureene swims up behind her and wraps her arms around the other mermaid's torso. "Hahahahaha! If Captain Traker saw us right now, his head would explode!" Judging by the wicked gleam in her eyes, it is clear she meant that as the double entendre.
she asks "Does anyone have any questions?"
Lureene waves Alis over, "I think it may be a wise idea for me to carry the delay poison potion we found earlier, I have a feeling it will come in handy."
A look of concern was steadily growing on Mal's face. Shortly after Alis departed and while Sasha and Lureene were still catching up from their antics, the hunter found himself alongside Priyya.
In a low voice, he asked, "So, how do merfolk– I mean there's no–"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
She looks behind as the exotic winged serpent catches up to you. "Grak? I need to you fly casually as if you are simply crossing over into the jungle north-east of that big tower. Don't fly too close to the water or you'll draw attention to me. When you get near the trees, fly out of sight then circle and stay below the level of the cliffs. You'll find me near the base of the cliffs a hundred yards or so from their camp."
Grak looks first to Lureene, who sends him a quick mental thought, and then to Alis. He hovers in place and nods to the buxom beauty, "Yeesssss, 'Liiiissss. Seeee yoouuu thhheere." He then takes off on the route spelled out by Alis.
Thinking on the matter for a moment, Alis quickly nods. "Agreed..." Speaking a command, her pack produces a sealed scroll-tube which she tosses side-arm to her drenched friend. "There are two scrolls of delay poison in there. Have Mal or Priyya cast them on you if they are out of spells. That will protect you for longer than those small doses of anti-toxin. Is that all you need, El?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lureene catches the scroll tube and stows it away in her pouch.
"No, 'Lis, I think I am all set." On impulse, she swims over to Alis and hugs her fiercely, kissing her on the lips, "Be careful, 'Lis!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Who me? When am I ever not careful?" With a wink, she returns Lureene's kiss and goes "Boop!" when she pokes her friend's navel.
When Lureene raises and eyebrow she calls out something in Malatestan as she swims off.
With the sun burning low on the horizon, Mal, Priyya, Lureene, Sasha, and Talvyra are practically indistinguishable from the surrounding sea and surf. As the five of you begin to circle around, Lureene hears Grak's call within her mind. He sounds positively exhausted, yet otherwise unharmed. Missstressss, princccessss isss ready...
It takes only another few minutes before the rest of you are in position and Grak convey's to Alis that the others are ready.
"Alright Grak," Alis whispers, shimmying out of most of her clothes. She gently holds Aycenia's charm between her teeth as she does so. "Hopefully they like blondes and not extra rate. I gave the others all our disguise pins."
Transfering the charm to her hand, she then leaps into the sky alighting on a small tree half-way up the cliff face. Here she hangs her pack, well above the level of even the highest waves and takes a deep breath.
You can do this...
Flashing a smile at the simple serpent, she springs lightly into the air once again and snaps Aycenia's charm in half, instantly growing to twice her normal size before landing softly on the ground, eyes scanning for traps. Finding none, she proceeds quietly, the sound of drums and chanting growing louder with each footstep...
"Grak, tell Lureene to have Mal say the words to change them back and to get ready when I start singing..."
As she treads water waiting for the signal, Lureene motions for Mal to hand her one end of his silk rope. She waits patiently for Grak to signal her again...
"Grak, tell Lureene to have Mal say the words to change them back and to get ready when I start singing..."
As she receives the message from Grak, she says quietly to Mal, "Ok, Alis is in position now. Please deactivate the disguise pins, then I will fly up to affix the rope for the rest of you."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Time: 1:30et (evening, 7:30pm)
Darkshoal: Pre-Last Quarter
Inside the giant's village, over a dozen of the brutes are gathered around a towering bonfire. Several of the warriors are playing enormous bongos and didgeridoos while the chieftain's harem, who are homely at best, wait on him hand and foot where he sits on the entry steps of the light house. Nearby, others rake out glowing beds of coals ready, or paint Aerys, Jask, and Gelik with lard and other seasons, the three of them lashed to long spits with tough rope formed from the sinew and intestine of past victims.
Within the prisoner pen, Darvesch idly wishes the giants had the intestinal fortitude to try having another go a him. His cousin Grimnon was still green and he might have felled more than just 3 giants himself if not for trying to protect his younger cousin (who still gutted at least one and lamed another). But no, it would be a cruelty now to get-up the hope of those three pour souls with an act of hopeless bravado. There was the chance they'd curse his name thinking him a coward for taking the easy way out with an assured suicide...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As she walks up the path, Alis quickly 'paints' her figure with symbols similar to what she saw on the cannibals, and darkens her skin and hair via prestidigitations. Up ahead, she spies an enormous reptile with thick bony plates armoring its domelike back. She quickly otes that its powerfully muscled tail ends in a bony club, and it sniffs the air. A rope nearly the thickness of her now giant-sized arm binds it to a thick tree nearby.
Without wasting time, she gives it a wide berth, slipping past before it can notice her. With a grunt, it thumps its tail on the ground idly, seemingly uninterested in her.
Up ahead, the scantily-clad princess can see the pen full of giant skeletons blocking a path that leads further south. All of the noise is coming from the west between large lodge, and some smaller huts to the south. The leaping flames of a bonfire causing the long shadows ot twilight to dance provocatively.
Taking a long breath, Alis steps around the corner into full view.
Checks
unfavorable conditions
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 00)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When Alis steps into view and begins walking about the camp, the sound of the didgeridoos and drums fall silent. Only the crackling sound of the fire, Gelik's whimpers, and the chewing of the great lizard fill the silence.
Slowly, the tall, powerfully built chieftain rises to his feet, throwing one of his concubines aside like a careless child discarding a toy. His blood-red hair falls about his massive scarred shoulders and the bony headdress he wears like a great mane. Red tattoos, or perhaps warpaint mark his forehead and cheekbones, and a necklace of human skulls hangs about his thick neck.
Even his eyes go wide at the sight of the jungle goddess before him and he silences the jealous murmuring of one woman with a backhand.
He points a single finger at the tower silhouetted against the dark blue sky, his beady eyes never leaving the dark-haired, voluptuous temptress. In a resounding voice, with a pump of his arm at what must be his bedchamber he says, "TAKE HER BACK!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The instant the chieftain gives his command, the men playing instruments resume their playing as the guard standing closest to the chief and a giant sitting in a hut by Alis begin to move.
At the first sign of movement, she begins to dance, and sing, and everyone stands still, completely enthralled, expressions of lust on the faces of the men, and jealous of the chief's women...
"Everybody look at me, me, I walk in your camp you start scream-ing. Come on everybody what you here for?"
She flashes a seductive look at the guards nearest her and sings, "Move your body around like a nympho," and the cannibals start swaying with the music.
"EVERYBODY get your neck to crack around," sends shivers of excitement thru them.
With the words, "ALL you crazy people come and jump around," those who are not focused upon keeping the beat on their primitive instruments, begin to dance wildly.
As Klorak begins to approach, she runs her hand down her cleavage and points to the ground, I want to see you all on your knees, knees," and instantly the men heed her and drop to the ground crawling about like animals in rut.
Finally, knowing she has them well in hand, save perhaps for the old witch smirking at the prostrate chieftain, and one of the concubines that got cuffed. Flashing a sultry smile at the lone dissenter which freezes her in her tracks, she give the signal that she whispered to Grak on the way up, "You either want to be with me or be me... COME ON NOW!"
Will Saves DC 21
Initiative Rolls
, ; Alis
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 01)
Lureene tilts her head, as Grak relays the message to her. She sends a quick mental command to help Alis with whatever she wants, then turns to the others, a decisive look in her eyes.
"It's showtime. Let's get our friends."
On that note, she launches herself into the air, rope held in hand, whispering an arcane word. As the effects of the first spell subsides, she repeats the word, and finishes her flight up to the top of the cliff and lands gently on her feet. She immediately scans the area quickly, looking for a place to tie the rope securely.
Lureene springs into the air, showering the others in water droplet as she flies about 60 feet straight up. As the momentum of her movement subsides, she clings to some thick creeper vines trailing from the plateau 40-ft above. Even from here, it sounds like Alis is putting on quite a show. You wonder how it compares to that night at the opera a couple months back...
Looking around, seemingly all the giants are preoccupied leaving you and the other prisoners alone inside this shack. To the west of you is the open, vile refuse pit buzzing with biting flies that have harried you for the last month. You are tied to a heavy post in the back wall by thick ropes. The pen you are in is open to the night sky, although there is a roof over the area where the other prisoners are.
You recall seeing the giants who brought the sullen elf girl, the frail black man, and the hysterical gnome put their gear inside the tower, walking north thru the door at the western end of the walkway just north of the pen you are in. You suspect that your gear must be in there somewhere as well.
Perception Checks
Gelik stops whimpering, his curiosity peaked. He whispers hoarsely to Aerys, "[smaller]Wh– what's going on out th– there? I ha– ha– haven't heard singing like that since th– the night of Lisa's p– performance in T– Titan's Cove!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Aerys turns her head to the side, trying to look thru the bars of the window her spit is leaned up against. "[smaller]Looks like some lusty giantess is doin' some kind of dance. All the men are down on their knees..."
She looks back at Gelik and manages a sardonic smile, "You'd like her, probably crush you to death in her cleavage. Better than roastin'"
"Justice will catch up to those bastards in a moment. I need to help these people out first. But, I'm going to need my equipment to do that.." he thinks to himself as he destroys his bindings.
After he's free of the ropes binding him to the post, he'll approach the door near the other prisoners and whispers, "I'm going to help you guys get out of here".
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There is a snapping sound and a small flash of golden light as Darvesch's bonds burst from the power of his righteous anger. He easily frees himself from the loose remnants of the ropes, and gets to his feet, tailbone and legs numb from how long he's been in the same position.
Not far away, even with his own death looming before him, Darvesch see the lecherous gnome's eyes go wide at Aerys' statement. He begins hopping up and down, trying to shimmy closer, and actually manages to hop next to the well-built half-elf, shoving his head against her side as he peers thru a gap.
The only sound from him is a slow, "Oooh..." and he doesn't respond when Darvesch whispers thru the bars.
Will Saves
Aerys and Jask take notice however, the elf girls, cool blue eyes meet those of the dwarf and he can tell that a fire is kindled there.
Even the shakey old man seems to show a bit of spirit seeing the dwarf on his feet. "Fate guide you, friend. I tell you now, this is no coincidence... Astra's will is afoot! Be care and do not let this boon go to waste."
, ; Alis
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 02)
Lureene clears the top of the cliff and hovers, looking for the best spot to land. Finding one, she settles in on an ideal spot to secure the rope for her friends.
As Alis' singing continues, Lureene crests the top of the cliff finding a number of gnarled trees and thick bushes behind a stone wall enclosing a large pen open to the air. There is a huge pit full of filth including discarded bones, and bodily waste where the south-west corner of the stone wall has fallen to ruin. The whole thing is swarming with flies. Upon spotting what appears to be half of a woman's decomposing face, she loses her supper all over the ground in front of her.
Mercifully, she seems to feel better after having gotten it out of her system. Perhaps some of the butterflies went with... well, whatever it was she ate.
Perception Checks
, ; Alis, Lureene
MAP: V - Giant Cannibal Village, (Round 02b)
To the voice coming from beyond the sewage pit, he yells, "Who's there? Friend or foe?"
As he's talking to the voice beyond the pit, he shatters the lock to the door in front of him and opens it, "Hold still" he tells the other prisoners as he tries to untie their bindings.
Darvesch will stand in a defensive pose, waiting for whoever is on the other side of the pit to show themselves.
Outside, Alis can hear the lookouts running up inside the lodge to the north. She steps back to the east a bit to draw attention further from the suspected prisoner pens, "Maaaneater, make you work hard, make you sweat hard, make you want aaall of her love!"
, ; Alis (Readied)