Samberlyn looks at Daidalos a bit oddly for a moment, as if trying to figure out why he's speaking so strangely, then seems to give it a mental shrug and yells at his guardsman. "Well help him tie it off if you must, but we shan't be long, let's not make too much a deal of this, right?"
Kelgard's sailor then works with the guardsman to tie a new knot... ironically, one that will hold better but can also be yanked clear with a single jerk.
The captain sighs and looks back at Daidalos, "Sorry... where were we? Right... trade goods. Metal. That would explain why the ship is sitting so low, and I have heard how the Yutak need better quality tools. Good of you to be bringing some civilization to the savages." He looks around a bit, kicks a couple of the crates, then stares at the tarp Grumblejack is hiding under.
"I thought that was moving, but I guess it's just the waves. By Mitra, I need to get back to shore, a nice warm bed, and a good night's sleep."
He twirls a hand in the air in a circular motion and yells, "Alright lads... back aboard the Blade, we're done here!"
He and the two guardsman begin to disembark.
Ineluki holds his breath and sits very very still so no one notices anything odd moving in Price's bodice until he either hears the other ship move away, or until Price gives him an all-clear signal.
Daidalos relaxes a bit, stunned more than anything. "Thank you.... sir. Best of luck to you, and I hope you get your warm bed."
I.... did not expect that to work. Well, okay then.
"You heard the captain!" Daidalos calls out to the crew and his allies, "Let's get moving! Come on, I'm not paying you to stand around!" He motions for the 9th knot to gather, and talks to them subtly as the boats prepare to depart, "Do we want to kill them anyway? I've been itching to kill something for months, and I must admit, a strike against Talingarde and Mitra would be nice. Regardless, they're unprepared and it may well be an easy fight, especially if we wait for them to put down their weapons as they prepare to set sail."
Price almost gushes her gratitude, "Thank you, Captain. And thank you, sir knight, for showing our sailors proper knot-tying. Mitra bless you both." After the patrol vessel is well away, Price glances down at the bat face peeking out from her cleavage with a smile. "Are you having a nice time down there? If you stay much longer, Timo may get jealous."
'Astar' simply returns to his place near the railing and sits down again, lazily raising a hand to wave the captain and his crew goodbye.
As the Mitrans go to board their ship, Timo quietly responds to to Daidalos. "Let them go... There are more of them then there are of us. They also have the high ground and range. We are at the tactical disadvantage."
The Mitrans return to their vessel, the gangplank is pulled up and the line released. Oars are used to push the vessels apart and then slowly row away before sails are unfurled and the Blade of St. Martius begins sailing along the Talerian coastline once again.
Kargeld's sigh of relief is audible across the entire deck. "We could have taken them but... this is probably better."
Ineluki 'meeps' softly, then climbs up and out of Price's cleavage, with his back to her skin, so his little claws are pulling up on the inside of her bodice, not her breasts. He peeks his head out, then clombs out complete, and up onto her shoulder again. He sits there a few minutes and watches Timo for signs of jealousy or anger... and when he sees that the tiefling seems unconcerned with him, he takes to the air and flits around a bit before changing back to human form behind the anti-paladin so the crew don't see the actual change of form clearly. He walks over to Price and whispers to her.
"Thanks for hiding me.. I was just gonna climb down your back and hide behind you, but that worked too... quite warm and cozy, and preferable to your back, I must say."
"I dare say much better, captain. Combat is fickle and a vessel going missing would only lead to more intense patrolling for the time to come. Something tells me you wouldn't appreciate that whatsoever." With that, the matter was settled for Asturu.
Price confers quietly with the skinshifter.
Daidalos waits until the ship is out of sight, then returns to his spot on the bow and returns to his place on the bow and resumes his meditation and normal appearance.
With the boat and threat gone, Timo visibly relaxes and goes to find something to occupy his time on this cramped boat.
"How much longer do we have to spend on this s***boat?" Affyria complains to no one in particular, but loud enough to be heard by anyone nearby.
Kargeld laughs from his position near the aft of the boat. "Oh... just a wee bit longer, miss. Maybe... oh... two weeks?" His men start to join him in his laughter. "What? Did you think think this would be a pleasure cruise? I'm so sorrrry if the accommodations don't meet your standards."
Meanwhile, the Frosthamar is back at full sail and moving north once again. More seriously (and gruffly) he adds, "Another week, I'd say, to Seal Isle, then down a river towards Lake Tarik... that's upstream and slow going, so another week on that. You'll live... probably."
"Of course, I will be your go-between and message boy." he says with a little smirk. "Happy to do my part." He pauses and says even softer sotto voce, "You know I'm not a vampire, right? I've never drunk blood before I met you. Not that it's unpleasant, it's just not necessary, you know? I think you for the offer though."
Price perks up at the captain's comment, recalling the map. "Seal Isle? That is further north than we need to be, correct? If I recall correctly, there is a river far south of the Isle that will take us directly into Lake Tarik."
At Price's assertions, Timo perks up and turns to the captain. "Is what she says true? Are you taking us away from our destination?
Daidalos whispers an incantation, hand on his spellbook, and conjures an illusionary map of Talingarde for them to analyze.
"It looks to me as though there's three watchtowers (or are those cities?) along the river to the south, whereas the one to the north only has one, right at the base. For stealth, the north is the better choice, and stealth is paramount in this mission. However, I must say, Seal Isle is significantly out of the way- we need to change heading dramatically to make land there. What is it that is so important at Seal Island, exactly?"
Kargeld laughs. "Oh, sure, we could go up that river. Doing so, we'll sail beneath no less than three towers of the Watch Wall. If you'd like to go that route, you can pay me for the value of my ship and let us off along the coast." He shakes his head before turning grimly serious. "No, we sail north to Seal Isle. No other way through the mountains to Lake Tarik with a load this heavy. Fret not fair maiden... I'll keep you warm at night!" He leers at Price, grinning through a rime-speckled beard before laughing some more.
Daidalos sighs, and resumes his position at the bow of the ship, toying with his illusion as he works to extend his control over the magic, maintaining it for as long as he can.
Ineluki grumbles at Kargeld's disrespect toward Price. He takes a step forward and purses his lips, ready to strike at the captain sonically, then recalls their mission and their orders... so instead merely says softly "You'd be wise to show some respect toward the lady."
Kargeld rolls his eyes at the skinwalker's warning. "Yeah, lad, yeah... Guess you're the one who was in her bosom, hmm?" But... he seems to leave it at that and returns to his job of captaining the Frosthamar.
Approximately five days later, when you're a day or two still south of Seal Isle, a cold mist blows has blown in from the ocean. It's been a constant struggle to break ice and rime free of the Frosthamar and you realize the crew are actually quite capable, moving about their duties with only minimal complaint. Kargeld assures you that once you've reached the river and moved inland, the biting cold of the north wind will break. Just a few more days. It seems the weather is even beginning to bother him. Fortunately, his crew has brought ample cold weather gear for you and a carefully tended stone provides warmth when clothing no longer suffices.
About an hour before the sun sets that night, Luke and Asturu find themselves looking over the starboard rail when they see a figure swimming in the water. Hard to see, the man's skin has turned blue yet he doesn't seem to be in distress. Rather, he seems to be watching the Frosthamar.
Luke looks at the blue man and does a double take, then brings him to the attention of the others... "We've got company... there's a blue man in the water. I dunno why, but I've got a feeling he's probably not alone."
Daidalos doesn't notice anything odd, but opens his eyes and stand up when Luke mentions there's someone in the water.
Asturu, perhaps stupidly so, slings his elbows onto the railing and observes the figure. "Could be that we're crossing through his people's waters. Hrm.." and the aristocrat falls into deep thought, digging through the archives of his mind to find out if he has ever heard of this man's people before.
Timo huddles next to the stone for warmth. "Stuck on a bloody boat and now its bloody cold as well." Timo grumbles inwardly. He then turns to Price with a mischievous smirk, "You know, we may need to share our body heat to survive this cold?"
Asturu recognizes the humanoid as a triton. As he studies the figure, it slips beneath the waves.
The man is unsure as to whether the sighting of a single Triton is worth bothering the captain for, Asturu opts for safety and does decide to bother him. "Captain Kargeld, we just spotted a lone Triton. The fellow was observing our ship and, once aware of us being aware of him, dipped back under the waves. Is this cause for concern?"
"A triton?" Daidalos asks, overhearing Asturu's comment to the captain, "If you saw one, there's most likely more. It's quite possible that it was merely an advance scout. If I may, I'd like to suggest we prepare for an attack sometime this evening." he casts a quick protective spell on himself, then a basic divination, as he looks through the boat for any magic that might be active.
Kargeld continues to steer the boat while he thinks of this. "A triton? I don't know much of them, but they've never bothered me before."
"Live and let live, right? Maybe it was just a curious youngster who couldn't help himself and have a look at us 'strange' drylanders. But I won't keep you from your work any longer. Thank you, sir." Asturu nods and with that, leaves the captain to it.
An hour passes with some of you more on edge than others. Nothing happens and, when night falls, Kargeld finds a sheltered cove and weighs anchor. Watch shifts are assigned and the crew bundles up for another cold night.
Luke finds himself on watch shortly after midnight. A crew member is on watch with him but mostly keeps to himself. As Luke walks along one of the railings, he hears a strange sound in the water. His low-light vision only barely helps him make out three humanoid figures bobbing in the water, but just as he spots them, nearly a half dozen animated blobs of water materialize on the deck of the Frosthamar.
- Luke!
==Initiative==
-------------------
Luke calls out a warning and a wakeup call to all those sleeping... "'Ware! We are under attack! Fear! Fire! Foes!" THen he takes bat shape and hovers near the sleepers.
Luke's warning carries across the deck. You and Kargeld's crew begin stirring to action just as the water elementals begin charging the unsuspecting crew. Rather than attacking them, though, they seem to be using their mass to shove the still confounded sailors overboard. A trio of them splash over the railings and you immediately hear the frenetic splashing of water as the sailors try to stay afloat but are also attacked by creatures waiting in the water! Screams of surprise turn to screams of panic.
Meanwhile, one of the tritons Luke spotted has charged to attack a fallen sailor while the other two raise their hands from the water, each wielding a loaded heavy crossbow. They fire, each striking the bat.
One of the bolts strikes true while the other is a glancing blow.
The sounds of battle awaken Asturu and, almost instinctively, he downs a mutagen as he gets up.
The screams wake Timo in a flash. "For f@%$ sakes, now the bloody water itself attacks us. We cannot get to DRY land soon enough," Timo bellows as he stands and grabs his weapon.
Daidalos, a light sleeper as always, quickly wakes up when Luke warns them they're being attacked. He winces internally when he realizes that his protections have already expired, but seeing three water elementals on the deck, his mind races with what he could do. He starts moving to stand up, then thinks better of it.
I am a wizard in the service of the lord of Hell. I can do better than that.
He vanishes suddenly in a puff of brimstone, reappearing on his feet on the other side of the deck, and with a muttered arcane phrase, the night lights up as a brilliant rainbow springs from his palm, engulfing the elementals as the illusion threatens to overpower their limited senses.
Affyria clambers to her feet, her face pale and drowsy. She peers around at the chaos, and curses. "Seriously, fish people? I hate fish. This trip is becoming worse all the time."
She then whips out her holy symbol, followed by a quick incantation.
Ineluki flies away from the tritons and aims a sonic blast at the elemental in the stern.
Asturu: Drink Mutagen
Timo: Full Defense
Daidalos: Color Spray
Affyria: Cast Bless -- Everyone gets a +1 on attacks and saves vs fear
Luke: RTA - miss
Price: Shield of Faith
Price jerks upright and casts shield of faith on herself while she takes stock of the situation. Asturu, Timo and Affyria take similar protective actions while Daidalos goes on the offense casting Color Spray. Luke's attack, sadly, misses the agile water elemental.
Grumblejack hears the commotion and rumbles to his feat, a true giant on the shaking ship. Roaring with rage, he grabs his sword and lumbers towards the elementals on the deck, stepping to the side of Daidalos.
At the aft, Kelgard and one of his sailors wake up in a fright, madly grasp the weapons resting near them and stand up, Kargeld going first. He takes a nasty strike from the water elemental but then he and the sailor move to flank the creature. At the bow, the scenario repeats itself with the sailors leaping to defend their ship with one of them taking a strike from the elemental. The sailors tossed off the side of the boat frantically try to climb back aboard.
Daidalos's spell manages to confound one of the elementals entirely, effectively rendering it unconscious, while the others leap to the attack.
The water elementals surge to the attack; Kargeld is hit again and Daidalos takes a blow himself. Grumblejack swings mightly to deter the elementals but misses, still wiping the sleep from his eyes.
No further crossbow attacks come from the water this round.
- miss
- success plus
- fail
- fail
-
- miss
- miss
-
- miss
INeluki aims another sonic blast at the elemental in the stern.
With the moment to survey the situation, Timo lets a roar and charges into battle. He swings his blade in a low arc at the nearest elemental.
"Timo!" Daidalos calls, "Cover me!
He drops down, taking cover from crossbow bolts as he starts his spell.