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Her magic failed her.
That was barely a sentence to write but holds So much meaning to the poor Polli Andalaysa Bog IV. Her magic and her mind were her only strengths, and now her magic was gone.
Leaving her with her mind.
Her mental fortress was on fire. The playful demons had taken every wizard/cleric defender and tortured them into puddles of want. They left the walls, to keep others out, going directly to the keep, igniting it in a blaze of lust that was breaking the overwhelmed Polli in its intensity.
She wanted so badly... her winds died, her feet touched the ground again, putting her lips a fraction from the other woman. A mere fraction from pressing her soft inviting warmth against her, of being enveloped in the sweet sinful smell, of losing everything.
'Dony!' her mind screamed for her love 'Please! Please help me... I can't... I need you... PLEASE!" but there is simply silence behind her. 'why are you not yelling, why are you not by my side, holding my hand, Anything, please please please please' she begged insider her head for help.
A pause... hope... please hope...
In her head she was screaming, but in the world the only word she could muster was a very soft, almost unheard... "please"
As soon as she sees the twins Donomsail knows that she needs to be the sensible one and gets Polli out of there. But Polli is enjoying her soup sooo much and Dony is enjoying watching Polli enjoy something sooo much that she lets her hope win over her reason and allows Polli to stay. She is about to try and get Polli to promise to leave them alone when the drinks arrive and even Dony detects the foul odor.
Watching her love display that amount of anger and rage is always thrilling and she hopes that, at the very least, it will drive the men who are with Mina and Fina away and maybe ruin their fun for the evening. And then it stops, the magic just ends. Dony is no expert on magic but she's been around Polli enough to have a rudimentary understanding of it and it seems as if it was turned off, not that Polli was ready or wanted it to end, but that it is out of her control.
Knowing that something is wrong but unsure of what to do she follows her first instinct and puts a hand on her shoulder. "It gonna be alright. We be takin' care o' those two tewe it not be a problem fer us two kragtige lassies."
With that she turns to the twins and gives them the hardest stare that she can muster. She knows that her slim figure is not that intimidating but she does the best she can, also knowing that the two of them have no fear of her at all. Allowing her eyes to turn as black as she can she looks at Fina and says in a quiet voice. "Gozreh Ah, vra o 'Julle moet 'n liggaam gebruik as 'n manier om een af te slaan', hierdie twee was 'n doring in die agterkant. 'Ah, dit is spesiaal 'n' Ah. bevoordeel as 'n mens dit sou toelaat."
Dony casts Holy Smite: I couldn't remember if they are outsiders or not so I rolled both damages.
She takes another drink as Tessa considers the offer and then says, "I know that I would enjoy seeing what the daring Captain Fairwind would do to me given the opportunity; do you have any desire to show me this way?"
She refills her glass, emptying the bottle in the process.
"Otherwise, I'll simply wish you a good night and bid you to enjoy the dessert that you own chef prepares." Giving Valeria a wink, the woman makes a show of looking her up and down with a hungry look on her face.
Both Mina and Fina grimace in pain at the holy energy that slams down hitting everyone in the area. People fall from their stools and there's a crash of broken pottery as the serving woman cries out and then collapses, dropping a tray of mugs. Two of the men with the succubi fall to the floor while the third, staggers back with blood running from his nose.
"See!" Fina cries out, pointing at Doni with a shaking finger. She looks around at the watching patrons, some of which look to have fared better than others against the cleric's assault. "When you traffic with devils, people die!"
There's a cry of agony and an older woman rushes past the other prone patrons to clutch at the serving woman's body. "No! Vinca, no!" As those that are still moving stumble and push for the door, the distraught woman turns a face filled with rage on Donomsail. "What kind of monster are you!?"
Mina and Fina seem to have vanished into the retreating crowd and very quickly all those that are left are the unconscious - or dead - and the grieving woman.
Conflicting emotions smash against each other like trees and cows in a tornado. Disappointment, Shame, Elation, Horror: are the top four making the most mess in her brain. No time though, none. Reaching for Dony, she hesitates, worried she had been too close, that she had almost broken their trust. But no time for that either. Wrapping her hand in Dony's she asks softly "Can you help her?" as she steps between the angry woman and her love. "You had demons in your midst and were serving them, pandering to them, lusting after them, and you ask us about monsters?" Polli's voice tries to be the flat iron she is used to, but the quiver is evident, especially at 'lusting'.
The woman frowns in confusion, looking between Captain Fairwind and Valeria. "Uh, Your Ladyship? I was under the impression that your guest wasn't staying for dessert."
Tessa rolls her eyes and snorts with laughter. "Just get the pie, Mona," she says with a chuckle.
~~~~~
"You! Your demonic friend kills my daughter and then you have the gall to claim that it's my own fault?!" the woman shouts back at Polli, pointing a shaking finger at Donomsail. "Get out! You and your demon friend! Or by the gods, kill me or not, I'll claw out your eyes!"
Polli stands in the way still, even though her insides wants to run and hide from what she almost did, she will not let this woman near Dony. Her eyes drift to Dony, asking 'Should We Go?'
Dony stands there, looking at the destruction around her and knowing she's the cause of it all. She wants to move toward the girl, lying dead upon the floor, but hears her mother and the foul things she is calling her and knows that is impossible. "Welp, ye wanted ta makes a point 'n' ye makes it well 'nough." She says, barely audible. Not sure of what to do she stands there, waiting to know that Polli is okay and ready to defend themselves until she knows she is. Then she hears her sweet voice and the suggestion of leaving. "Yes, Ah thinks ye have the right o' it. Ah kin only make things worse."
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Polli nods, turning back to the distraught woman, to make sure she isn't attacked while casting (or at least to know it is coming), she then starts her chanting and then Poof, they are both gone.
Back in their room on the Siren, the wizard grabs Dony in a fierce hug, letting her own fear and self loathing bleed into her arms and shudders, and accepts anything coming off of Dony as well. "thank you for saving me" she whispers after a time.
---
Eventually she fishes out the candle the demon whores gave them and goes to the captains, telling them the tale. "The 'drink' they made me consume has corrupted Me. At least when it comes to them. I hate them beyond anything else in this world, but can't help but be ATTRACTED to them" the word attracted was hissed in hate "Every night I dream of them, every night I wake to..." she closes her eyes, shakes her head,
"I've been fighting it, trying my best to suppress what I know is just a magically induced chemical reaction. But at Port Peril, they showed up in person. I lost it. My temper. We should have left but I wanted to scream at them and then..." she looks more tired than Harmony and Tessa has ever seen her. They've seen her broken from heart break, mentally shattered, near dead inside, but this is a different kind of weariness.
Polli opens her eyes to face what she's done "I tried to kill them. We were in crowded area but I didn't care. All that mattered was the rage, and the hate, and making it STOP! But it didn't matter, their claws are too deep in me. My magic FAILED completely... if it wasn't for Dony, they would have... I would have..." she stops, her eyes welling up, the tears falling down her cheeks. "People died." she chocked out "Innocent people. I don't even know how many."
She holds out the candle that summons the creatures, knowing she cannot be trusted with it. Never could be trusted with it in the first place in truth.
Before leaving, the busty slayer takes the form of a simple Mwangi serving girl. She travels a couple block from Tessa's home in that guise and then vanishes into the shadows. She emerges several blocks away as a Minkaian swordswoman and arranges accommodations for the night in that form. Before turning in for the night, she uses up as many spells as she can on gathering the important gossip that's circulating in the city.
Harmony listens to Polli's tale with a serious expression on her face, not speaking until the sylph is done. "You're doing the right thing." She says eventually, taking the candle. She ignores the discussion of the dead, attempting to interrogate Polli further won't help anyone at this point. "No more trips to Port Peril for the time being. Once we've dealt with Harrigan we will deal with Mina and Fina too, but for now that can wait. Trust in Dony, she'll look after you and come to us first if there are any more issues, or even anything you think will be an issue."
Once Polli has gone she looks at Tessa with a long sigh. "We are going to have to do something about them..."
Polli nods without a word and leaves, going back to her cabin with Dony.
- Day 340
The hue and cry comes in from multiple watchers on multiple ships at the first light of dawn; Ships on the horizon. Harrigan's fleet has arrived. And while it looks to be organized into fewer groups than yours, there are more ships. With a keen eye you can make out the Wyrmwood herself lurking in the rear of the force.
The fleet races in to close with your own ships, eager to spill blood and soon the air is filled with the sounds of seige weapons, battle cries, and then the ringing of metal on metal as distances are closed and forces engage with a brutality only seen in the Shackles. Quarter is neither asked nor given.
Before long, the first ship goes down - one of Barracuda's. It's quickly followed by others as the sea begins to quickly fill with corpses - both mortal and wooden alike. But still the Wyrmwood lurks towards the rear, waiting and watching.
Harmony looks to Tessa. This coalition may have been formed under her leadership but Tessa is the fighting captain and Harmony trusts her instincts (for this at least).
Val, currently in her four-armed form, looks to the captains during a brief lull in the barrage of arrows she's been raining down on the nearer enemy ships. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'ams," she calls out, "but our friends and allies are dying out there... shouldn't we already have teleported to Harrigan's ship to kill the b*stard?"
Polli's jet black hair whips around as she hovers in the sky above the Siren, watching the battle tear ships apart. This she understood at least, This she was good at, something she was unlikely to screw up. Blood, fires, and screams, Polli Bogg's specialties.
The robed wizard swoops back down "What are your orders?" she asks the War Captain. In the past she would have told the berry what they should be, letting her whisper through the sky, raining fire on the enemy's sail from the safety of above, but the certainty is gone, so she asks.
As everyone looks to Captain Tessa to give the final word on the assault on Harrigan's ship, Marisan's voice is magically transported to the crew's midst.
"Tessa!" she calls out. "He's here! The Kraken! I just saw him! He's on the Bit O' Rum"
Turning her spyglass to where she knows Pierce's ships are engaged, Tessa spies the named ship - on the opposite side of the engagement from the Wyrmwood.
"Go Tessa!" Harmony says, grasping her fiance's hand. "Take the others and finish him. I'll take the Siren and engage the Wormwood. Just come and rescue me quickly." She presses a kiss onto Tessa's cheek and takes the decision out of her hands.
"Polli, Dony, Val. You're going to the Bit O' Rum with Captain Steele. Once you're done rejoin the Siren! Go. Now!"
we should really kill Harrigan first and then get revenge when his little armada breaks up and flees, but neither captain has ever been completely rational about this sort of thing... I guess our best course of action now is to kill him as fast as possible so we can teleport back to where we should already be...
Only Captain Vi is astute enough to notice the brief hint of a frown on Val's otherwise stoic face which betrays her doubts about the plan. Despite whatever misgivings she might have, however, she gives a quick salutary tug on her hat and then moves to place a hand on Polli's shoulder in preparation for whatever kind of magical transportation will get them to the other ship.
"We'll fly." Polli suggests at the hand. "Less risk and three of us are already protected from missile weapons. We'll save teleportation for escape or to attack the other ship later." unless there are strong objections she'll cast fly on Tessa and Dony, using her arcane bond of the second one.
She needs this. Harmony signs to Val, those three words carrying a wealth of meaning. Just bring her back to me.
For years she had hopped ship to ship, island to island, from one s$!#ty bar to the next in search of this monster. The moment had arrived and she balled her fist and narrowed her eyes as she stared in that direction. There was absolutely nothing that could possibly convince her that she needed to be anywhere else than confronting him.
While Polli is talking, Tessa is motioning for her to hurry up about it. "SHs-shh!" she says interrupting her, "Less talking, more magicking! He mustn't escape again!".
Ready to pounce like a predator on its prey, she waits for Polli to finish up and moves as fast as she can in that direction.
Polli pauses before casting flight on Tessa, hand poised, before she turned and casts flight on Dony first. Just in case the vengeance eager captain flies off without them. "You are not immune to arrows, so be careful. Point him out to us so we know who to leave to you... oh, ready?" then she casts flight on Tessa and flies after her.
Knowing how important this is to Tessa, Val quietly nods to both Polli and Harmony while she sheathes her shortswords and returns to her normal form. Rather than wait for the others on the deck, she starts flying towards the Bit O' Rum immediately. When she draws near it, she begins firing arrows at the crew to clear the way for her companions.
As soon as Polli's magic affects her, Tessa is off through the skies towards the Bit o' Rum. Reaching the ship a few moments later, followed by Polli and Donomsail, she sees the small galley as one of two surrounding one of Pierce and Marisan's ships. Marisan is in the midst of the melee on the Lucky Coin, bolstering the defense, but is hard pressed.
On the Bit o' Rum, Tessa sees the man that haunts her nightmares - the man she knows only as the Kraken. He's up on the sterncastle directing the assault on Marisan's ship with shouted orders and a waving cutless. Wearing loose pants and shirt, strangely enough he carries a heavy shield on his left arm.
As the four of you swoop in on the wind he notices you. Shouting at others on the deck, they all turn and look up before snatching shortbows and readying themselves for your assault.
Combat Begins!
Round 1
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Tessa shouts at Polli "He's the one with the Kraken tattoo!" as she soars towards him, either unaware or disinterested in the possible assaults of projectiles that may be coming her way. She sails towards the sterncastle, angling directly for her target, letting her allies take care of the others
Flying above him she, whips Wayfinder towards him and proclaims loudly "Hello. My name is Captain Contessa Steele. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"
Val gives a resigned chuckle as Tessa immediately abandons their tactical advantage in order try to stick her sword into the man. "I can't let her get swamped by the underlings," she tells the maginerds, "stay here where the magic will keep you safe and do what you can." Without any hesitation, she flies after the fiery woman to make good on the promise she made to help get revenge. As she flies, she draws her shortswords and studies the two closest henchmen.
Stabbing at the nearest one when she reaches the ship, she catches the redhead's eye and silently suggests, [land so that we can flank them. I'll try to keep his henchmen off you so you can focus on him.]
Tessa swoops forward with her blade, but the large man easily steps to the side with a laugh. "You'll have to be more specific than that, Luv," he says. "I've killed lots o' folk. So which o' the simpering milksops was your mum's leg-spreader?"
Valeria catches one of the bowmen off-guard and sticks one of her blades through his arm.
Donomsail drops down close enough to catch Val and Tessa in the area of her prayer, calling out for Gozreh's aid.
Tessa fails to parry the large man's first swing, but it just scrapes her armor. The second, she manages to deflect into the railing and gives him a nasty stab for his trouble. The third strike, she's not quick enough to catch, though and she feels a searing pain across her arm. He follows up with a slam from his shield as he tries to push her away, but as a flying target, she's pretty slippery.
Some of the sailors attempt to put arrows in Valeria, but nothing gets through her armor. The few that actually manage to strike Polli and Doni bounce off Polli's protective magic.
Polli squints through her thick glasses to see tattoos from the distance she is at, but gives up "Probably the one she is trying to stab anyway" she mutters.
Shouting arcane words as she weaves her hands in complex patterns (and as arrows plink off of her), she then points at the idiots ignoring her and creeping up on the Berry's other side. A blinding arch of lighting slams from her finger to the first man, jumping in nanoseconds to the next and next and next... so on.
Tessa descends to the deck as Val suggests, never taking her eyes off the man. "How unfortunate." she says, her voice laced with barely contained rage. Narrowing her eyes at him, she says "I remember that night quite clearly." as she reaches up to part the hair on her left ear to show him half of her missing ear.
Letting her hair go, she falls into her combat stance and says "It matters not, however. In ten seconds you will be dead." and sets upon him.
When Tessa finishes her thrusts, Val smirks at her brutal efficacy. She considers for a moment that in their current positions she could probably stab him in the kidneys five times before he could react, but chooses to let the captain finish him herself. Instead, she takes a step to the side to place one of his defenders between herself and Tessa and sets about teaching that man a lesson about whom he chooses to serve with.
Polli's lightning cuts through the pirates like a sharp scythe through tall wheat. The unfortunate victims collapsing, trembling, to the ship's deck.
Round 2
Tessa's estimate of the man's lifespan seems to be reasonably accurate as with two stabs of her blade, she's fairly confident that she's punctured both his heart and one of his kidneys. He doesn't fall, though, to her surprise. Valeria, on the other hand, drops two of the remaining pirates with quick thrusts of her shortsword. Donomsail hovers near Polli hoping that her healing abilities won't be called into usage.
"Ah, I remember you!" the large man says with a grin as blood pours from his lips, his eyes locked on her ear. "That ginger brat!" He coughs and blood spatters across Tessa's clothes. He slashes viciously at the swashbuckler with his cutlass, but perhaps due to his injuries, he only catches her once with the blade. "I knew I should'a killed you then," he spits out along more blood before dropping first to one knee and then face down on to the deck.
Combat Ends!
With their captain having been defeated so quickly, the few crew still standing quickly surrender.
While the battle is still raging across other ships, you can see it's leaning in your favor. The question now would be how Harmony is faring taking on the Wyrmwood without the rest of her ship's officers? Perhaps that would be the place to be.
With a tug on her cap, Val transforms back into her four-armed form. Kicking the deadman's cutlass to her captain, she scoops up the corpse and tosses it over her shoulder to be searched later. "Polli," she calls out, "would you mind swooping down and teleporting us all back to the Siren?"
Men run, scream, and die. Looking out at the wake of her devastation, she startles when Val yells out of her on the deck. She does swoop down, looks at the captain, and asks "Are we done here?"
Her wounds bother her not, adrenaline covering the pain from her injuries for the time being. "Yep. You shoulda killed me then." Her rapid breathing slows as she watches the man fall anticlimactically before her.
Tessa attempts to wipe a spatter of blood from her face, but only manages to smear it in a bloody streak instead. She scoops up the blade Val kicks to her as a million thoughts run through her head. She turns to Polli with a nod and in a soft, detached voice says "We're done. Take us to home please, Ms. Polli."
Polli pauses, even her utter lack of human comprehension can see that the berry could use a friend at the moment, or even better a hug, but Polli isn't equipment for that.
so she gets her back to someone who can. Nodding, casting, and then they are on the siren... hopefully.
Val feels a pang of remorse for being so task oriented when she notes Polli’s concern for Tessa. She forces half a smile even though the scarf that always covers the lower half of her face in this form obscures it, and she gives the captain a quick nod that she hopes will be reassuring. Still, she’s relieved when the wizard starts casting the spell that will bring her back towards the battle she needs to get to, and Tessa to the woman she needs to get to.
Polli gathers everyone together (including the cooling body of the Kraken) and invokes her magic teleporting you all to the deck of the Siren.
As you appear on the familiar poopdeck of the ship, the air is rent with the sounds of battle followed by the crack of what can only be musket fire. Part of the railing near Valeria is ripped away as an errant shot tears up the carved wood. Looking around you can see that, unlike elsewhere, this battle is not going well. The two forward masts are both hanging in tatters and the crew that is still standing are fighting defensively on the Siren's own deck. Far more of the crew are unmoving surrounded by splatters of blood.
As you appear, Harmony turns from where she stands at the wheel. One arm hangs limply at her side and a bloody scrap of cloth covers her right eye.
"I hope it went well, because we're losing." Harmony says, managing something like a grin. "We need to get rid of their muskets and fast!"
"We killed everyone." Polli answered Harmony as she looks around at the carnage to ship and crew. Anger blossoms in her cheeks, cold dark rage. as she rises into the air.
Seeing that Harmony's physical state is about as sound as Tessa's emotional state, Val tosses aside her standard practice of always waiting for orders from the captains and claims every ounce of authority due to the master gunner and acting master of arms. "Donm, get to the middle of our crew and channel your healing to keep them alive," she calls out, "Polli, find a good spot and rain fire and lightning on those musketeers!"
While she shouts, she adjusts her hat and her glossy black wings unfurl from her back. "Sirens," she barks, "stay low and let what's left of the ship's rail provide some cover!"
Tessa replays the quick dismissal of her life-long nemesis over and over in her mind, like a broken record. For as long as she can remember she's tracked, hunted and dreamt of him and it was over in the blink of an eye.
Was it a trick? Is he still alive? Did we check? Was that not really him? That was too easy. Surely the man that took out your father was more skilled than that. What if...
She stumbles forward towards Harmony, the sounds around her muted and just out of reach from her attention. When she takes sight of the bloodied woman before her though, everything snaps into focus and she turns to look at her. "What's happened?" she asks alarmed, trying to take stock of everything happened all around her that she's ignored.
She catches Val's cry for the Siren's rally and takes a hold of Vi's forearm "You okay?" as she takes cover. Looking over at the other ship she says "I need to get over there."
Combat Begins
Round 1
Val studies the enemy captain as she flies upwards and forward toward her, firing an arrow as she approaches.
"I'm fine Lacey." Harmony says softly. It's not even remotely convincing - quite apart from the bandage over her eye she's got blood spray all over her and there's a damp red sheen around where her left hand is clenched on the ships wheel but she finds a smile for her fiance none-the-less.
"Go, win this for us." She pulls Tessa in for a hard, brief kiss before letting out a mighty roar.
Valeria's arrow strikes true and the captain of the other ship locks eyes with her. The woman's gaze is cold. Patch takes a half-step towards the railing, but then pauses as if she's waiting for something.
Tessa holds back for a moment to receive the benefits of Harmony's attention.
The other ship's commander takes a step forward and with arcane gestures and magical words, she sends a cone of prismatic color washing over the lot of you.