Xanos surveys the battle and notices Cain having some difficulty with another Triton. With a casual backhand he cut the rope holding the net off the deck. The dead triton thumped to the wood.
His ghostly hand floated his spellbook in front of him. He flipped to the back, whispered a word, blew away the dust as the page dissolved.
Finally he handed Gwyn a carefully folded net with a short coiled rope would around it.
"If you would be so kind as to secure this to that." he said pointing to the longer rope that had held the Triton aloft, still dangling from the yard arm.
Odenkirk sinks an arrow into one of the tritons.
Triton's reload.
FrogvD3 ;
FargovT1 ;
OKvT4 ;
OKvT4 CC ;
Noticing Xanos seemingly preparing the same trick on the triton mage that's given him so much trouble, Cain grins wickedly at the triton even as he fires another two arrows at his bodyguard. "Fish face. You've met the lady. Now you should meet our tall, dark friend here."
Price enjoys the thrashing of the crisping Triton for a moment before casting a spell in an attempt to compound his misery. She let's out another scream to stun the creature and prevent it from putting out the flames that are consuming it.
She gives Cain a quiet little smile, "I know, I know... I'm a mean-spirited b!t<h."
After the spell pelts the Triton, she pulls out another flask of alchemist's fire from between her breasts. She hefts it, looking for a ripe target. "This is my last one - better make it count."
Shulme advances to join Price and Cain. A shudder runs through the tall sorcerer as he arrives, and though his clothing shrouds most of his form, those close by can see the hands gripping his spear grow dark and webbed.
Shulme moves and alters his form slightly, growing gills.
TN dives into the water and comes back up, extinguishing the water. As he comes back up to begin another speech, his mind becomes befuddled as Price screams, but he resists the sonic attack and rants away. "You're pathetic attempts will not hinder us!"
Cain sends two arrows at the nearby triton, one striking him, yet he continues to take aim at his leader's words, a fervor flowing through him.
TN Fort
Xanos walked calmly across the deck of both ships, followed by his masked Slave, stepping in near Cain and releasing his net in a smooth cast. His ghostly hand stayed with it seeming to guide it toward the prattling Triton, trailing the long rope behind it.
As it settled around the noisy fish-man, Xanos handed the rope to Cain and Captain Odenkirk without a word.
Xanos's net ensnares the triton leader as though the tuna he is about to become. Three of the dolphin's rush to his aid, attempting to push back on the next, granting him a handhold to resist as they swim away from the boat. Perhaps a bit of dolphin meat for the rest of the journey?
As the rope is handed to Odenkirk, he just smiles as he begins trying to reel them in. They move abit closer, slowly.
D1 AA
D3 AA
Odenkirk Pull
Kalina moves up and takes a shot at a triton, dropping it in the water.
Odenkirk's men take up their shots, while others continue to bleed out, one man helping to pull another back away from the edge.
At the call of their leader's trouble, the tritons converge and combine their fire upon Odenkirk. One hit strikes true, for severe damage which the man grits his teeth and ignores, pulling in Xanos's catch of the day.
KvT8 ;
OM 5
OM 6
OM 11
OM3vT2 ;
OM2vT7 ;
OM4vT7 ;
OM10vT7 ;
FvT1 ;
GFvD6 ;
T1vOK ;
T2vOK ;
T4vOK ;
T7vOK ;
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Seeing the big captain's success on the rope, Cain sends another volley at the waterborne crossbow-mermen. "Odenkirk!" he growls between shots, "Hang in there! You got'em on the line!"
Shulme frowns faintly as Odenkirk is struck again. A short incantation dulls the pain of the captain's wounds, and then the sorcerer turns back to the water, waiting for their enemy to be dragged within his reach.
Shulme provides healing to Captain Odenkirk, though the man barely registers it as he continues to pull in Xanos's catch, an angry look in his eyes.
Cain strikes a wounded triton warrior, further injuring the creature.
Price discards her previous 'flaming ruins' plan and opts to strike at the irritating sea creature when it is hauled up like mackerel.
Xanos stands by and watches the carnage around him, even as his undead servant raises it's club and brings it down upon the fish-man. Not once, not twice, not with rage or anger, not with sadness or concern. It simply does even as the fish-man stops breathing, moving, twitching. He is very much dead.
Odenkirk's men cotinue their assaults, managing another strike against the triton and injuring him further. Kalina aids their volley, but misses with her own strike.
Fargo's frog attempts to continue devouring the dolphin in it's grasp, wounding the creature. Fargo watches on.
Odenkirk gives a massive heave and with a vicious yell, pulls the fish out of the water to land upon the deck, the dolphins scattering at the man's ferocity as he brings in the haul, little more than a dolphin itself to him.
As the creature lands, price sets down the alchemist fire, pulling out the demon headed mace as she moves next to the triton. The demon's head almost seems to laugh as it too is raised to the sky and brought down upon the triton's head. Dazed from the blow, it nevertheless is still conscious, spewing aquan nonsense from it's mouth.
In a fury, the remaining tritons charge the side of the boat, stabbing at the nearest foe as they attempt to scramble on board. The target is Cain. The hull grants some protection, deflecting at least one blow from the creatures. But one is determined and lifting himself upon the side manages to strike forward with his weapon, impaling the three prongs deep into Cain's leg. Pulling the weapon out as he falls back into the water, the pain sears and burns the man, having struck deeply and striking bone.
Slave v TC ;
D1 AA
D3 AA
D4 AA
OM2vT2 ;
OM2vT4 ;
OM8vT2 ;
OM2vT10 ;
OM3 Heal Check
KalinavT2 ;
GF ;
OK
TN1vCain ;
TN4vCain ;
TN7vCain ;
TN7vCain CC ;
Xanos sighs at the futile persistence of the Tritons. It would have been admirable if not for the fact that they went about pursuing their goals in such a way that flung them headlong into their own demise.
The tall mage turned his back and walked away from the mess, Price's light casting him in deep shadows. He tossed a handfull of sand and gravel over his shoulder as he went, whispering a word laced with power.
Small stones streaked into the sky in an eyeblink. For a few moments nothing happened. Then boulders rained down like cannonballs tearing the waters asunder into plumes of bloody spray.
Shulme steps back and strikes at the netted triton with his spear, seeking both to skewer the creature and to distract it from Cain behind it.
Shulme moves forward and sinks hit spear deep into the netted triton. The man gives Shulme a cold stare as he does, the fire in his eyes not doused even in this dangerous situation. "The shining sun has seen
the wickedness you hide in hearts. And thus it will be the son who brings your doom." With his final words, the triton lapses into unconsiousness.
With his death the tritons howl in anger and rage. Even as a bloodlust seems upon them, rocks and dirt begins to rain down upon them, an earthen burial brought forth to bury them in the seas. One of the tritons falls, a rock striking him in the head, while the others make to retreat below the waves, their final resolve broken.
The masked Slave abruptly leaves the dead triton, follows it's master, steps into the trunk it had emerged from and sinks down inside, folding itself in unnatural ways before pulling the lid closed with a thump.
Cain is turning to deliver a crushing blow when the trident rips into his thigh, which immediately gives out. He bites off a grunt of pain as he hits the deck of the longboat, free hand immediately clapping down across the three tears in his skin.
It's all over before he can react any further, but Cain can't quite keep his rage in check. He slams his bow one-handed down on the unconscious triton's head, giving a pained grin at the sound satisfying crunch.
"So," he growls out as he looks for something to staunch the bleeding, "… not a bad scrape. Though Jakes is right… way more satisfying when you can squish somethin' that bleeds proper."
"I will require her left hand, Cain. Please include it in my share of whatever you find." Xanos says casually while he retrieves his net, and a hand, from the first triton.
Cain doesn't look up from where he continues working at staunching his leg, "Whatcha want Jakes's hand for?" He uses the longboat's rail to try to pull himself to his feet, his face going a shade paler, "Also, you sound like someone used to giving orders. Only one I reckon's ready to follow'em without some show a politeness from you is that fella who just climbed back in the box there. Maybe he'll grab it for ya. I'm gonna spend some time gettin off this leg."
On his way to finding an empty spot to sit down, Cain takes some time to reclaim his falchion and rifle through the gear of the nearest pulperized triton.
From TC
- MW Trident
- Magical Rod
- Sea Shell and Pearl Holy Symbol of Mitra (100GP)
- Sea-Shell armor (functions as a bone breastplate)
From TN
- Magical Trident
- Sea Shell and Pearl Holy Symbol of Mitra (100GP)
- Sea-Shell armor (functions as a bone breastplate)
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Xanos gives Cain a blank look, walks over to the other triton and removes it's fishy hand with a lop of Blackerly's longsword.
"I will assume you are being deliberately obtuse," the tall wizard says. "rather than stupid."
Shulme pays little heed to the questions or dispute for the moment. He drops his pack and moves quickly along the deck of the vessel until he has passed the area of Xanos's spell, then abruptly slides over the gunwale and into the sea with barely a ripple.
"See about your fellows, we make for shore. Has anyone see Lief?" Odenkirk begins making the rounds of his ship, checking on his men, while they go about searching the sea for more trouble and tend to the wounded, assessing the damage.
The unknown spell makes the water difficult to traverse, but after a short while it becomes calm enough to retrieve the bodies of the tritons. Hauling in what you can, you search the creature's bodies of what they have. Shulme does manage to find the body of one of Odenkirk's men, underneath the boat trapped there as he drowned.
Odenkirk comes up to the group as things begin to calm. "I'm down to 7 able men. We can manage to the coast to make repairs, but my men will need to recover." He looks overboard. "I don't know what hell you brought upon me, but should I expect anything of the like to come again this trip?"
- 5 MW Tridents
- 5 Heavy Crossbows
- 24 Bolts
OM1 - 100%
OM2 - 100%
OM3 - 100%
OM4 - 100%
OM5 - Negatives, very near death, Stable
OM6 - Negatives, Stable
OM7 - At 0, disabled
OM8 - 100%
OM9 - 100%
OM10 - 100%
OM11 - Negatives, Stable
OM12 - Dead, by drowning
Odenkirk - Light wounds
Price's inclination is to heal Cain but given the Captain's changing mood, she opts to heal his wounded crewmen instead. She tends to the unconscious seamen even while she responds to the Captain's accusations, "What hell we brought upon you? As if you and your men are saintly virgins from whom no evil has come, eh? Just humble gods-fearing merchants plying an honest trade? Maybe these creatures can read the names of your boats and have a memory for your various activities on these waters. As far as I know, none of us has been on this stretch of water before... A fine thanks for fighting alongside your crew."
When she's done she glances at the objects taken from the tritons, looking at them in both magical (Detect Magic) and mundane ways.
"I can't say much about the rod, save to guess that it is worth looking at more carefully, but the trident is slightly enchanted."
Xanos gives Cain a blank look, walks over to the other triton and removes it's fishy hand with a lop of Blackerly's longsword.
"I will assume you are being deliberately obtuse," the tall wizard says. "rather than stupid."
"Yer a pretty insightful guy, Too Tall."
With Price tending to the more seriously wounded and Shulme doing his water salvage thing, there's really nothing for Cain to do but deal with it. With a (mostly) contained grunt of pain, he makes it to his feet.
He can practically smell the wariness wafting off the captain, but he limits his response to a quiet growl of annoyance. Price or Xanos were far better at handling these types of situations, anyway. Hell, everyone in this group is better at it than you, Cain, he thinks as he limps over to help square away the remaining corpses as well as the captain's injured men. Despite his gentle-as-sandpaper demeanor, he's surprisingly helpful in tending their wounds.
When Shulme resurfaces with the body, once again barely roughing the surface of the water, Cain shakes his head, "That's creepy as hell, by the way."
Price's inclination is to heal Cain but given the Captain's changing mood, she opts to heal his wounded crewmen instead. She tends to the unconscious seamen even while she responds to the Captain's accusations, "What hell we brought upon you? As if you and your men are saintly virgins from whom no evil has come, eh? Just humble gods-fearing merchants plying an honest trade? Maybe these creatures can read the names of your boats and have a memory for your various activities on these waters. As far as I know, none of us has been on this stretch of water before... A fine thanks for fighting alongside your crew."
Odenkirk simply gives a grunt as he turns back to ordering his men to bring the boats to shore. Between everyone's assistance in healing Odenkirk's men, the boats are quickly restored to operation, though a few wounds remain behind.
The next two days pass without incident as the ships travel on. The Captain and his men are silent, but the watches are careful and observant. As a semblance of normal returns to the ship, the captain comes up to Cain after having been observed in thought. "We're low on water. Going to put in at Seal Isle to refresh our stores."
When Shulme resurfaces with the body, once again barely roughing the surface of the water, Cain shakes his head, "That's creepy as hell, by the way."
Gill slits on the sides of the sorcerer's neck flex in the air, then slowly fade and merge back into the flesh as Shulme climbs aboard and his customary form reasserts itself.
"You will need to become accustomed to it, and to things that are stranger yet, Cain."
He looks up at the heavens as Price's daylight fades and the stars reassert themselves.
"If I could better read these changed signs..." he mutters, though it is now as much to himself as to Cain. Shulme looks to the north for a moment, frowning in concentration, before bringing his attention back down to earth with a visible shudder. Without further words he bends his attention to the mundane tasks of restoring companions and crew.
Cain considers, then waves Jakes and Price over to enter the conversation, quickly relaying the captain's intentions. "I'd rather keep going if possible… quicker we can get where we're going, the better in my book." He nods to the other boat, "Let's see if they have any ideas on this."
"... then again, maybe we'd only lose a day or so. And from what I understand, the island's not much but seals and what-not."
Gwyn spends the rest of the fight pretending to be a shadow in the crates. She wasn't a brawler by any stretch and it seemed that the others had it in hand.
She did, however, find Cain a few days after the fight and talked to him.
"Um, Cain? Can, can you teach me how to use a bow?"
The little thief looks positively embarrassed while she asks him that.
Cain ail make himself available at any opportunity to show her what he knows of archery. It's certainly tricky, as she is far from strong enough to pull his bow. But Cain is stubborn, and he teaches her what she can.
He grudgingly admits that she's a good student.
CAin hollers across the waters, "THE CAPTAIN SAYS WE'RE LOW ON WATER. ANY IDEAS TO KEEP US MOVIN?"
Fargo was furious with himself after the battle with the Tritons. Idiot. If you can not contribute any more than that they will leave you behind. Then where will you be? A big toad and a little acid. I must not allow myself to be caught without Teon again.
Though it would not be apparent, due the the circlet of disguise, after the battle the first thing Fargo does after waking is summon his other half. The more observant among the crew notice that he is more aggressive and the hesitation that marked the young half elf is gone.
Odenkirk watches Cain holler across the water, seemingly waiting for a response even as he orders the boats to change course for Seal Isle.
Xanos could have helped. Conjuring water was among the easiest of magical tricks. He could have single-handedly solved that problem. It would have taken mere minutes to create more water than they needed.
Unfortunately for the captain, the measurement of how much the tall man cared about the crew's mortal dependencies amounted to slightly less than zero.
When there is no response, Cain shrugs at Odenkirk and goes back to what he was doing before.