"Then check somewhere else!" Nime shouts as she turns her spear and, in a rarity for her, stabs at the thing.
"Let her go! she shouts.
"S&*~, it's regenerating." Theo was no expert on regeneration, but even he'd heard the stories about trolls so let the flames fly once more.
Another barrage of magic missiles wear down the fleshy blob even as Calendula continues to hack at it. Nime and Rudrik fail to pierce its thick hide, but Theodric scorched it with another power four of fire. Though it dodges the worst, the flames stop its regeneration, and the stench of burning flesh fills the air as is tumors bubble and pop. It releases Calendula as it sags into an inert pile of meat.
Captain Sursha and her sailors run down to take in the horrid scene. "What in the nine hells is going on down here?"
Beckwood Roos emerges from his cabin and blanches with horror as he realizes what has happened. "No! My specimen!" He looks at you sheepishly. "I don't understand. The oozeclot unguent should have kept it immobilized and inert. This... I never meant for this to happen..."
Calendula spits on the mound of flesh and gives it a swift kick before bending over into a thick phlegmy cough.
"Well it happened, Roos," she manages between coughs. "Do ya got a better apology than that?"
Once the abomination stills, Nime rushes forward to help Calendula to her feet. "Are you ok?" she asks, her concern clear. She then applies healing if needed.
When Roos appears, the blue-skinned woman stomps to stand face-to-face with him. Her uncharacteristic anger causing her to sway slightly.
"How dare you bring something like ... like that on board ship with ... with people!" she shouts at him, her nose almost touching his. "Someone could have been seriously hurt or ... or ... !" She sputters out, unsure as to how to express her feelings.
Without another word she walks away and clumsily climbs up to the main deck. She makes her way to the prow where she stands trying to calm herself via Shelyn's touch. She breathes deeply trying to release her anger.
Shenuska intervenes, getting between Ross and her (understandably) aggravated companions.
"I'm sure you had your reasons Ross, but you didn't take enough precautions. The creature broke free of your... 'oozeclot'? It's just fortunate that I was down here with the animals else this could have gone very badly. I'm happy to help you learn what you can before the corpse is disposed of, but this was an experiment without the needed precautions. You should have told someone - we could have helped if we'd known."
Her tone comes off somewhere between a disappointed teacher and a concerned neighbour - she can't quite seem to decide on the right tone.
Beckwood winces in the face of Nime's fury. He looks to each of you and then to Sursha, shame evident on his face. "Captain, I... I am truly sorry for the damage that I have caused, both to your ship and to my reputation. We are lucky these brave men and women were on hand to defeat my specimen before it could do more harm. I will accept any punishment you deem fit."
Sursha still looks angry, but Beckwood's humble demeanor seems to have taken some of the wind out of her sails, so to speak. "Very well. You'll be confined to your quarters for the remainder of the journey, under guard and without access to any of your alchemical equipment. When the ship arrives in Magnimar, you'll be turned over to the city for justice for the crimes of reckless endangerment and transport of dangerous monsters."
Beckwood looks chagrined, but nods in acceptance. He turns back to you. "Thank you for doing what you had to do. Please believe me when I say I had no intention of hurting anybody. I hope you will accept these unguents and potions as my apology."
The pale man hands you a potion of cure moderate wounds, a potion of neutralize poison, and three doses of oozeclot unguent.
A single dose of oozeclot unguent can be applied to a 5-foot-square surface, whereupon it remains potent for 24 hours or until an ooze comes in contact with it. An ooze that crawls onto a surface treated with oozeclot unguent must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or become immobile as its amorphous body grows rigid. As long as it is thus affected, the ooze can take no physical actions. Any amount of damage causes the hardened shell surrounding the ooze to crack, allowing the creature to slither out and resume attacks; otherwise it remains immobile for an extended period of time. An ooze of CR 3 or less is immobile for 1 week, while an ooze of CR 4 to CR 6 remains immobile for only 1d6 days. A CR 7 to CR 11 ooze is rendered immobile only for 1d6 rounds, and it can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each round to end the effect early. Oozes of CR 12 or higher are immune to the effects of oozeclot unguent entirely.
As the sailors take Beckwood away, Sursha heads back on deck and moves to stand beside Nime. "Hey. You okay?"
Jaw set and dripping with meat, Calendula pushes Shenuska out of the way and marches right up to Roos. She breathes slowly through her nose, staring into his eyes, debating how to press forth, before reaching up to smack him in the face.
"How m I spposed to get this cleaned off, huh?" she says, pushing him in the chest with both hands. "Huh?"
She shoves him twice more, knocking her scarves off her freshly shaven head, only easing back as she recognizes the battle madness still consuming her.
This wasn't her. Calm down. Breathe.
She clenches her teeth and breathes out, suppressing a cough.
For a moment, her rage seems to eddy away. She clears her throat as if to speak, to apologize, when frantically, she lunges forward and undresses, peeling off layer after layer of meat and slime tainted clothing and throwing them each at Roos, yelling the whole time. "These are all my best an warmest clothes, an you've gone and ruined them all with your meat!"
She shivers and huffs for a moment, her rough and pale body plain to the world, revealing to those still belowdecks a host of previously hidden and unknown scars.
Too prideful to back down, she simply folds her arms and stands back, naked (or near enough to it), acting as if nothing unusual is occurring before collecting her clothes and grumbling.
Beckwood cries out as Calendula smacks him. He cringes and holds his hands up defensively as she throws her bloody, slimy clothes at him. Once her tirade is complete, he simply hangs his head and averts his eyes from her naked body. "Sorry," he whispers lamely.
"So am I," she sniffles. Bending over to collect her belongings, she reveals her back to be nearly devoid of marks, save for a long thin scar along the left side of her spine and a few small moles spread over the surface of her skin. "Tweren't like me."
She walks back to the pile of flesh and collects her sword and shield, wiping her sword in her pile of coats and fluffy scarves.
"It's gonna be a coooooold night," she laments.
Marching back to the man, she sniffs and wipes her dripping nose on her hand. "I want your sheets," she demands. "If'n ya help a sick lady stay warm and clean I promise not to hate you."
"Back off Cal." Shenuska responds calmly, stepping forward again. "He's being punished enough."
She takes Roos by the arm and attempts to lead him back to his cabin. "Stay there. You've caused enough trouble. They'll calm down in time."
Having had her suspicions confirmed over the mysterious box Shenuska finds herself wondering whether she's right about Cora and Viralane too.
She goes to find Theo and speaks quietly in his ear. "Viralane thinks about you quite a bit. She's even considered trying to draw you away from your girlfriend. so if you suddenly start developing feelings for her, come and speak to me before you do anything about it. OK?"
Beckwood offers Shenuska his sheets and blankets. "Please, give these to your pale friend." The statement is a tad ironic coming from him.
Shenuska nods. "I will."
She actually follows through and does take the extra blankets to Calendula, although she sets one aside to take back to Roos later. She can understand his curiosity, even if he didn't take enough precautions to go with it.
Theo kept quiet during the reprimands of Roos. While he agreed with most of it, anything he'd been about to say disappeared when Cal made her display. The number of scars surprised him, but he didn't want to comment on it (at least not before Cal had a chance to calm down), and after she was done there wasn't much to add.
When Shenuska warned him about Viralane, he nodded. "I figured she was still interested... that sounded more arrogant than I meant, I mean she didn't seem to be the sort to take 'no' for an answer. I'll keep it in mind but, if she does try something like that, it'd probably be the only way I'd end up sleeping with her that wouldn't lead to Alika killing me for stupidity. Whether it would stop her killing Viralane is another matter, namely a matter involving actual murder as opposed to what she'd do to me."
As the sailors take Beckwood away, Sursha heads back on deck and moves to stand beside Nime. "Hey. You okay?"
"No, I'm not ok," Nime responds sadly. She turns to face the half-elf. She takes a deep breath. "I wish to make a formal apology, Captain. I have misrepresented The Eternal Maiden on your ship. I am tasked with the Goddess to show love to all I encounter and I ... I failed. I hope you can forgive me."
She smiles forlornly.
"And I wish to apologize to you, Sursha." She steps closer to the woman and reaches out to gingerly touch her braided hair. "I had a vision of unbinding your hair and running my fingers through it. But it wouldn't be the first one I've caused to not come to pass through my own weakness. I'm sorry."
The oracle turns and leans her spear against the rail and after quickly slipping off her shorts, dives into the water below.
Sursha reaches up to touch Nime's hand. "You don't need to apologize--" she begins, but the undine quickly turns away and leaps off of the ship. The half-elf looks after her with a bemused expression. "Okay, we'll talk later," she says.
Nime doesn't spend very long in the water. Once she climbs back up the side of the ship, she takes her stance in the prow again and stands there long enough for the wind to dry her skin and hair before donning her shorts again.
Picking up her walking stick/spear, she makes her way to Beckwood's cabin. She knocks on the door with a surity.
"Yes, come in," Beckwood answers in a whisper.
"Mr. Roos," Nime says after entering the man's cabin. "I wish to apologize to you for my earlier outburst." She glances around the cabin before looking back at the alchemist. "If there's anything I can do in recompense, please don't hesitate to ask."
Nime heads off to where her group is bedded up. Rather than sleeping on the deck as is her tendency, she finds Calendula and offers her the comfort of her warm arms for the night.
In the middle of the night, Calendula stirs and rolls over to face Nime, nudging her awake. "I think Shenuska called me Cal earlier," she begins, appropos of nothing. "I was so incensed at Mr. Roos I didn een notice. I hope that don't become a regular thing. 'Cal,'" she repeats, shaking her head. "Too masculine. I ain't let no one give me a nickname. What's wrong with Calendula?"
She lies there in silence before rolling onto her back and clearing her throat. "Do ya think Theodric knows that magic what cleans things? Those my only good clothes an I ain't wanna roll into town naked, y'know?"
She rolls over, back under Nime's arm and sighs. "How do you make friends so easy, Blue? I just ain't built fer it. I dunno. I dunno."
In the middle of the night, Calendula stirs and rolls over to face Nime, nudging her awake. "I think Shenuska called me Cal earlier," she begins, appropos of nothing. "I was so incensed at Mr. Roos I didn een notice. I hope that don't become a regular thing. 'Cal,'" she repeats, shaking her head. "Too masculine. I ain't let no one give me a nickname. What's wrong with Calendula?"
"Nothing's wrong with Calendula, Sweetie," Nime says, kissing Calendula's forehead. "It's a beautiful name. I think, sometimes, people giving someone a nickname is their way of ... of making them a part of their life. If you really don't like it, though, you should tell Shenuska how you feel."
She lies there in silence before rolling onto her back and clearing her throat. "Do ya think Theodric knows that magic what cleans things? Those my only good clothes an I ain't wanna roll into town naked, y'know?"
"I don't think there would be anything wrong with you walking around naked. Naked doesn't mean sex, you know. Although, there's nothing wrong with sex either. If you'd like, I'll see about getting your clothes cleaned tomorrow. You can wear my shorts and vest until I can do that. No one's complained about me to the Captain yet, so I don't think I really need them."
She rolls over, back under Nime's arm and sighs. "How do you make friends so easy, Blue? I just ain't built fer it. I dunno. I dunno."
"Everyone wants a friend, Calendula. Some people just don't know it and try to push people away." Nime giggles quietly. "I guess I'm just not too bright and ignore their efforts."
She pulls the woman closer to her.
Calendula blushes and scratches a hairy armpit idly. "I ain't so concerned about modesty, as much as I am about freezin to death." She takes a long breath and shivers, pushing farther into Nime, continuing. "but I ain't excited about everyone getting a clear view at my nethers, neither."
Nime shifts to wrap as much of herself around her friend as possible. "I'm sure your nethers are beautiful," she says, kissing Calendula on the head again. "Now go to sleep."
"Mr. Roos," Nime says after entering the man's cabin. "I wish to apologize to you for my earlier outburst." She glances around the cabin before looking back at the alchemist. "If there's anything I can do in recompense, please don't hesitate to ask."
"There's no need to apologize. Your anger was justified," Beckwood says. "It was my reckless assumption that the hungry flesh would remain incapacitated that endangered everybody on board this ship. I will take it as a lesson moving forward. I am just grateful nobody was hurt."
***
The rest of the day passes without incident, as does the next morning. On the afternoon of the fourth day, Tyalee's Whim approaches a notable coastal landmark: Windsong Abbey. As the ship passes through a deep channel between the mainland and a small island, the arches and tall towers of the abbey itself are in full view, sunlight dancing on the stained glass of its windows. The place was attacked over five years ago, and it is still abandoned to this day. The sound of the wind blowing along the cliffs here is eerie and mournful.
Viralane sighs theatrically as she listens to the wind. "Ah, what an enchanting sound! It reminds me of the work of the beloved Varisian poet Eulac Kezalli, who praised Windsong Abbey's architecture." The actress clears her throat and begins to recite the verse in her dulcet tones. The sailors pause from their duties to listen to Viralane's performance, once more captivated by her charms.
Shenuska, still paranoid, immediately looks around for Cora. If she can't find her then she casts invisibility and proceeds below deck to try and catch the halfling red-handed!
With Corla nowhere to be seen, Shenuska likewise takes the opportunity to disappear. She heads belowdecks, and quickly discover the halfling maidservant in her own quarters! Corla is rifling through the psychic's belongings...
The halfling doesn't notice Shenuska creeping up behind her.
Early the morning after the ooze issue, Theo sought out Calendula.
"Calendula - I forgot to mention yesterday but I can clean your clothing up if you'd like? I didn't think of it until it was too late to offer but, well, better late than never as they say."
Shenuska quietly shuts the door, puts herself in front of it, casts a couple of preparatory spells and reaches into the halfling's mind.
Corla turns in surprise when she sees Shenuska suddenly appear. But then a smile spreads on her face and she laughs. "Oops! Looks like you've caught me, friend! Just having a bit of fun."
"Really?" Shenuska smiles in return. "Was it a good joke you were playing? Tell me about it! I love jokes!"
"Not really a joke. More like a test," Corla says. "I wanted to see how well guarded you are in regards to your possessions. You never know when a thief might try to take something important from you. The good news is you passed the test with flying colors!"
"Well thank you!" Shenuska exclaims, playing the delighted friend to the hilt. "I knew you were the clever sort! If it were me I'd never hide something myself - I'd give it to someone who was tough and could keep it safe - like Calendula. She winks, "Now don't tell anyone, that's just between us! So..." She lowers her voice conspiratorially. "What are you doing working with Virilane? She seems a bit... you know..."
"Bombastic?" Corla offers, then laughs heartily. "Aye, she can be hard to handle sometimes. But I owe her my freedom. I was a slave in Westcrown for most of my life. My owner 'gifted' me to Viralane after one of her performances, and to everybody's shock, she manumitted me right there in front of that packed house! I've been loyal to her ever since, through all of her ups and downs."
"Wow! She's quite a lady." Shenuska agrees, "So what's she doing on this ship then? I'd imagine she's got much better things to do than being stuck on a smelly boat." She pauses and then slaps her thigh.
"I've got it! She's on a secret mission! She's joined the Lion Blades and she's trying to find an enemy of the new Empress? Right?"
"Ha! I thought that whole 'war for the crown' business is still going on," Corla says. Then her one eye darts back and forth, and she beckons Shenuska closer. "You want to know the truth, though? We're trying to lift a curse on her. When she was performing in Egorian, Viralane got caught up in an affair with a cousin of the queen of Cheliax. His wife caught them in bed one night. She ran her husband through with a rapier and cursed poor Viralane: should she take to a stage, each performance would draw ridicule and derision, rather than the rapturous accolades she desired. The curse took hold, and Viralane hasn't been able to perform on stage since then!
"She's tried several cures, but nothing's worked. Then when we were in Magnimar, Viralane fell in with a group of cultists. They worship something called the Peacock Spirit. A half-elf woman runs the cult, and she promised to cure the curse. In exchange, she has to perform a favor for them: secure a magic sword that was recently found in Roderic's Cove. Viralane thinks you or one of your friends has it."
Corla looks down at her feet, then back up at Shenuska. "Do you have it? Viralane isn't a bad person, she's just... self-absorbed. Maybe she could just borrow the sword for a little bit, and then give it back once the curse is gone?"
Nime rises early as is her wont and carefully extracts herself from Calendula's bunk. Before taking her regular place at the prow of the ship, she makes a side trip to the Captain's cabin and stands there for a moment before removing the bone songbird charm from around her neck and hanging it on the Captain's door.
Then, with a smile, she makes her way to the front of the ship to greet the dawn.
"You have a very beautiful voice, Viralane. I would love to sing with you some time. Just not with the falling off the ship's mast part. I fall enough as it is and I don't really enjoy it."
Viralane laughs airily. "I would be delighted to join you in a duet! Do you know the opening number from Huntress of Heroes?"
Nime frowns for a moment. "Umm ... no I don't, sorry. Is that from an opera? I don't know very many operatic songs." She looks hopeful. "I could try to sing along, though."
"Well Eutropia's going to win anyway!" Shenuska declares. "I've got a feeling for this sort of thing." She listens to Viralane's story with a show of concern. "That's really hard. I mean, sleeping with the man wasn't clever but she doesn't deserve that! Why does she need this half elf though? Can't you go to the Church of Shelyn or somewhere like that? They'd want to help a performer like her." She pauses and furrows her brow in thought. "I'm sorry Cora, I can't help you. There was meant to be a fancy sword in Roderic's Cove but I never saw any sort of mythical blade. We dealt with Roderic's grumpy ghost mostly."
She pauses, actually moved by a little genuine feeling for the halfling. "You know... if anything ever happens between you and Viralane, I could use someone as loyal and clever as you."
Viralane does her best to coach Nime through the duet.
***
"We tried all sorts of different priests and wizards. Nobody could remove the curse," Corla explains.
She is disappointed to hear about the sword. "I'll let Viralane know, but that half-elf lady seemed awfully sure it was going to be here. If anything did happen... Yeah, I'd like to work for you. You and me are great pals, after all!"
At least for the next five hours...
Nime spends some time vocally following the talented woman, but seems dissatisfied with her rendition of the chosen song.
"Maybe I should just stick to singing in the rain," she says as she misses a cue again.
Shenuska, who actually feels a bit bad, just a little bit, spends another hour or so actually talking to Cora until the halfling expresses a need to leave. As she does Shenuska watches her go, and then, just as Cora is turning out of sight, dismisses her spell.
Corks emerges back on deck to tend to Viralane's needs. She seems to be acting like her normal self, though every so often Shenuska will catch her throwing a sly smile or surreptitious wave her way. Fortunately, the actress doesn't seem to notice this odd behavior.
Storm clouds begin to gather to the west as sunset approaches. Audrahni stands at the ship prow, staring at them for some time. At length, she turns and beckons Nime, along with any of the rest of you who are on deck. "I never told you why I left Magnimar all those years ago. I think the time has come.
"I am... I was a priestess of Ashava, the True Spark. I idolized Saint Sazzleru, whose story I told earlier, and was trying to get a statue of her constructed in the city. But in the process of doing so, I stumbled upon a web of corruption that went all the way up to the city's justices. The sculptor I’d hired to design and construct the statue, an elven man named Ilsynor, was in truth a member of a cult of murderers called the Brotherhood of Seven. When I went to the city's justices, I discovered to my horror that the man I'd contacted, Justice Ironbriar, was none other than the cult's secret leader. He stymied my attempts to have the cultists exposed, then sent his assassins to murder the rest of my Ashavan allies."
The elf sighs, her tone morose. "Here I must make my confession. Overcome with grief and frustration that Ashava hadn't protected my friends, I chose to walk the path of darkness. I took vengeance by engineering the collapse of the scaffolding around the partially built statue of Saint Sazzleru. The collapse killed Ilsynor, consigning him to an unblessed grave—a sin so against the teachings of Ashava that I realized I had fallen from my goddess's grace entirely. Rather than face my crime, I fled Magnimar.
"Ever since, I have been plagued with nightmares that Ilsynor's spirit has been caught in the rubble, consigned forever to unlife as some sort of restless undead. Seeing your heroism these past few weeks... How you finally put Sir Roderic's spirit to rest..."
Audrahni swallows then bows low. "Please, I beseech you. Would you be willing to accompany me to the site of the collapsed statue to perform a ritual of blessing? It's what must be done to make things right, and if Ilsynor still haunts the place, I must do what I can to send his spirit on to its final reward."
Rudrik, for his part, is mostly standing on the back of the ship, watching the water pass behind them. Occasionally he'll carve a thin strip from a stick and toss it into the water.
When Audrahni makes her confession, he listens carefully, nodding along. Then he finally says, "Back up a sec. Who's Ashava?"
"Speaking of singing in the rain ... " Nime says, taking note of the clouds.
Nime listens quietly as Audrahni tells her tale. She offers no judgement as tears begin forming in her eyes. Once the elf finishes, the oracle steps forward to take the guilt-ridden woman into her arms.
"We will do what what we can to make this right," she whispers. "Whatever it takes."
"Ashava is an empyreal lord. She is the goddess of dancers, lonely spirits, and moonlight," Audrahni answers Rudrik.
The elf holds Nime against her, a few tears rolling down her own cheeks. "Thank you."
As Nime peers at the clouds, she is unable to tell if the storm will hit or not, despite her connection with the winds.
"Elbows" Eddi seeks out Nime. "Excuse me, miss. Captain wants to see you in her quarters."
"Elbows" Eddi seeks out Nime. "Excuse me, miss. Captain wants to see you in her quarters."
The oracle glances down at Eddi's feet. "No heavy shoes, ok?" she clarifies enigmatically. "Sandals or bare. It's the best way." The woman seems quite insistent on the subject.
She leaves the first mate to find the Captain's cabin and knocks nervously on the door.
Shenuska, meanwhile, has a quiet word with each member of the group apart from Nime, explaining how she found Cora below decks and a summary of what she was told by the halfling.
"We need to be careful of Viralane, but more of this half-elf she seems to be working for." She concludes, "So watch your backs. Cora loves her but I think if anything ever punctured that love then she wouldn't be against us of her own volition."