"Look to starboard! Keep up the pace!" shouts Marisan, Pierce's gift giving her extra insight to help Tessa steer the ship.
With Valeria flying above giving directions and Marisan and Harmony updating her on the position of the others ships in the sands, Tessa easily navigates through the treacherous waters and out the other side.
Once past the Silted Shrouds, it's a good six or seven miles of clear sailing and you manage to pull ahead of a large portion of the pack before reaching the next obstacle - The Raker Shoals. The low-lying coral reefs are a well-known hazard to ships in this region.
Polli quickly casts heightened awareness on her, clearing her mind of the storm's influence (somewhat at least). With eyes a litte less drunk on wind and rain, she looks at the map, and runs her finger along a path. "This way." said with confidence.
"Whale-back channel?" Harmony asks Polli, "Good choice, just remember the shoals half-way through."
---------------------------
"There's a spur on the left side as you're coming out too..." Val adds.
Val takes a deep breath and answers, "Ma'am... I don't really mind that the Siren's not different--I knew what I was signing up for when I became a pirate--but I do think that maybe we should be more honest about that... I think I might have acted differently if I had really understood the actual expectations. You and Te... Cap'n Steele are the captains, and we're not... the ships we take go to you, the property we capture goes to you, and the decisions all belong to you... I'll take my cut of what's left and keep my mouth shut."
When I signed on Polli described the Siren as being different and I guess I just bought into that naive vision
. "I want it to be real, not a 'naive vision'" Harmony continues. "And I want to know what you think. I'm not promising to change, but I would at least like to know what you really think."
Reef 1
*
Harmony spots the first reef 260' out and Tessa easily adjusts for it.
Reef 2
*
Harmony, again, proves to have the eyes to spot hazards at a distance - 230' this time.
Reef 3
*
Marisan spots the third one at a distance of 240 feet.
The hazards of the shoals avoided, another three or four miles brings you to Gozreh's Flow.
Sometimes called Gozreh’s Piss by the less reverent, the swirling wash of powerful ocean currents called Gozreh’s Flow sweeps out of the Sodden Lands along the southern fringes of the Eye. Competitors must tack into the strong wind while navigating the treacherous currents.
Polli climbs (levitates) up in the rigging, and screams down the direction the wind is about to take. Soaked to the bone, gusts of wind tearing at her hair, and yet her LOUD voice is filled with exuberance. She slices her hand in the direction a huge blast is coming and screams "Starboard!" then twists her hand wildly as it shifts "SOUTH!"
Once through she jumps down, floating at the last moment to not break anything, into the arms of Dony, where she loses her self in her cleric for a good several minutes.
Tessa grins as the crew continues to call out obstacles and properly identify her surroundings and optimal paths. Tessa spins the wheel and stands on her tiptoes as she looks side to side for the best path forward.
The officers and their crew work together like a well oiled machine and, with Polli's aid, seem to anticipate every shift of the wind's mood, moving them quickly through the Flow, leaving them way ahead of most of the pack.
Not far out of Gozreh's Flow, you see ahead of you two jagged shafts of rock, called the Iris’s Splinters, rising out of the ocean here, forming a narrow 100 foot gap between them. Competitors must “thread the Iris” and sail between these splinters.
One of the few ships ahead of you, the Sullied Strumpet closes in to pass between the rocks. As she does so, a gigantic turtlelike behemoth surfaces ahead of them. As you watch, the beast smashes into the other ship with a bellow, capsizing the light sloop. As the creature plucks hapless sailors from the water, you have a chance to slip past the feasting creature and pass through the gap.
"Dragon Turtle!" Polli yells, leaning over the railing to get a good look at the majestic beast "It is SLOW... but lovely"
Tessa turns her head when Polli shouts at her about a dragon turtle. She briefly considers the epic tale of battling said dragon turtle instead of sailing around it. While either by accident or on purpose, she misses her turn and pulls far too wide.
”Watch out, Cap’n,” Val shouts as she leaps down to the main deck and grabs the ropes for the mainsail. She barks some orders to the riggers in an effort to trim the sail so the captain can cut away from the beast more quickly.
Harmony begins to sing, a rousing sea shanty of her own composition that tells of the Siren's exploits thus far.
With the help of her crew, Tessa is able to pull the ship around just in time and make the turn. Without looking at them, she calls out "Thanks!"
Past the Splinters, you must now skim through the outer edge of the titanic maelstrom that is the Eye of Abendego, tacking against the powerful northwesterly storm winds created by the cyclone’s counter-clockwise rotation.
With the turbulent winds and waves of the storm, the Siren is tossed this way and that. It takes all of Tessa's skill to keep the ship on a steady course to the next waypoint in the race. Periodic high waves wash over the deck and threaten to carry crewmembers away with the dark water. The rigging suffers as well. Ropes snap and wet sails slap this way and that. Polli is occupied for a while with a leak that opens in the main hold, but she manages to seal the breach.
Just as the sylph is returning to the main deck a sheet of lightning strikes the foremast. Tongues of flame curl around the hole in the sail, but are quickly extinguished by the driving rain. The foresail seems fine ... for now.
"Tar Here, Quickly!" Polli leads her constricted assistants with sharp hurried commands, the worry for her ship (and all that are on it) evident in her face for all to see. They work together frantically but efficiently, making her emergency drills she shoves on people not such a dumb idea. Until finally the last water seeping through open wounds is dressed as properly as possible. She treats her 'staff' with a rare beaming smile (significantly less rare in massive thunderstorms) and a "Good Work"
Then she is back on deck just in time to see the entire world light up in a stunning brightness, a deafening crack, then turns her insides all puddly with awe. If Polli was the worshiping kind, Dony's God would be the one she would whisper prayers to. All her love of knowledge and magic is a tiny candle to the terror and exuberance she feels when Nature lets you know its true power.
As the moment settles, she is casting drench to put out fires, yelling to check under the deck for cracks, and herself is inspecting every inch of the above deck mast.
"HOLD 'ER STEADY, SIRENS!" Tessa shouts loudly into the wind, fighting to keep them on the right track. She uses all of her innate skill at navigation and sailing to turn the ship at the correct moment to avoid damage to the ship and make the most of the storm.
"Riggers to the foremast!" Harmony yells as an errant gust threatens to force the Siren off course and the foresail out of its bolt ropes. She scrambles into the rigging herself to help as best she can.
Tessa demonstrates her skills again as she maneuvers the Siren through the small portion of the storm's reach to break through to the simply stormy winds surrounding the last waypoint of the race. The last waypoint consists of the two concentric rings of Sharkskin Reef and the towering spire of rock called Pinnacle Atoll.
It's difficult to tell at this point how many ship are before you and how many are behind you. You're reasonably confident, however, that there can't be more than two or three ships ahead of you.
Steering the ship through both rings of the razor-sharp reefs is very dangerous . Failure risks the reefs tearing holes in your ship's hull that even Polli may not be able to manage.
The moment had come, as she knew it would. Tessa could have sailed the ship blindfolded earlier, doing it by feeling the spray of water on her skin the wind whipping across the deck. But not now, not with these reefs ahead. It would take more than Tessa's skill to see them threw this rough patch.
She started shout out commands that were relayed among the crew, listening to the feedback from her officers and making adjustments on the fly. No, it was no longer about Tessa's skill alone, she needed her crew if the Siren was going to make it through this challenge in one piece.
Val makes sure to present a stoic facade to the crew as she watches Captain Steele struggle to maintain control of the ship.
should I offer to take a shift... with that magic wheel I could steer through here without breaking a sweat... no, that would only add insult to injury... best do what I can to help, quietly...
The master gunner takes up position in the ropes to Tessa’s left where she can look down at the reefs drawing near the hull. She splits her time between calling warnings to the captain and relaying orders to the crew.
Harmony stays in the shrouds, calling advice when she can.
The Siren makes it through most of the reef and is circling around to exit when there's a scraping crash and the ship lurches hard to port. The sound of snapping timbers and cracking wood echoes from below deck. Polli and her team race below to effect repairs while the rest of the crew works quickly to free the ship. It's not more than ten minutes later and the injured ship slips back into the race and clear of the reefs.
As you move away from the storm, the rain actually increases. More flashes of lightning follow. And even more flashes of lightning. There are cries from the crew and everyone looks up to see a corona of baleful green lightning limn the mainmast.
Less than a minute later and the lightning coalesces into an animated form - an elemental!
Combat Begins!
Round 1
"Lightning genie, mainmast!" Tessa screams loudly. [b]"All hands on deck!"[b/] orders and pulls out Wayfinder, heading towards the mainmast.
Polli comes back up to the deck in time to the green lightning. "It's not a lightning genie, berry, it is an air elemental!" she shouts, rushing over to Marisan, she pulls her magic through her ring, to cast fly again on the master of arms.
Val grabs her hat and transforms into the four-armed version of herself as she draws her bow. While Polli and the other spellcasters weave together magic to aid them all in combat, the slayer climbs the aft-mast. She studies the elemental and pronounces judgment against it as she climbs.
Despite the weather, Val adroitly climbs into position near the top of the aft-mast.
seeing that Tessa is about to climb in this mess Polli runs over and casts spider climb on her. " Don't fall!" she advises.
"Well bugger." Harmony says as Polli explains what's happening. "What are the odds that that's natural?"
Harmony hastes the crew before they get out of range, then casts heroism on herself and then finally invokes the Sirens collective wrath.
Like a spider, Tessa zips up the mainmast towards the lightning genie. She declares "LIGHTNING GENIE, GET OFF MY SHIP!"
Polli shouts out to the crew what's appearing on the mast and so the officers of the Siren are prepared for when the elemental finally collesces.
Round 1
None are more ready than Captain Steele, herself. Already at the top of the mast and ready to strike with her blade, Wayfinder. She stabs at the being twice with her blade, connecting with it both times, but not doing anywhere near as much damage as she would have liked.
The roiling maelstrom of vapor and lightning slams at Tessa with two pseudopods of energy. She actually manages to parry the first attack and strike back at it, but the second one catches her low in the thigh.
From her perch on the other mast, Val shifts the focus of her judgement and begins unloading arrows at the creature.
Marisan surges up into the sky, giving new definition to the term “flying kick.”
Magical orbs of pure force spring from Polli's hand to slam into the thing giving lightning a bad name.
Fighting a lightning elemental sixty feet above upon the mainmast in a storm is not for the feint of heart. Tessa isn't scared however, instead, she tries to intimidate the creature and says "You cannot be on my ship! The Sirens do not give you passage! You picked the wrong place!"
Balancing, holding on and swinging Wayfinder, she is not put off that she isn't doing as much damage as she would like. Instead, she continues to pummel it while Marisan fights alongside her and Polli's missiles and Val's arrows slam into it.
"KEEP ON IT, LADIES!"
Harmony starts singing, a song of storms and crashing waves that rises and falls like the Siren itself. The effect is oddly entrancing.
Donomsail offers up a prayer to Gozreh and Harmony attempts to soothe the savage breast with song. The elemental's breast will not be soothed in such a way, however, as it resists the bard's alluring offer. As an alternative, Polli attempts to soothe it via arcane missiles. Marisan takes the definition of a flying kick just a little far, so, consequently, only one of her strikes hits the creature. All of Valeria's arrows strike true, but seem to do little damage.
Round 2
Tessa stabs at the elemental again with her blade even as she feels the tingle of electricity through the hilt and the force of nature vanishes in a swirl of static and sparks.
Combat Ends!
With the elemental vanquished, you all return to your positions to finish out the last leg of the race. As the Siren sails further away from the storm, you see that, lo and behold, there are no ships between you and Coaming Point - where the finish is. Looking back, in fact, you see only one ship remotely close behind you. And with a sense of satisfaction, you can see that it's the Wyrmwood.
*
You spare little attention to your old ship as while it is closing, there is no way it will reach you before you reach the finish.
Ten minutes later, whether by instinct on Tessa's part or incompetence on her assailants, the swashbuckler avoids the two invisible fists thrown at her.
Combat Begins!
Round 1
"I'll take the wheel! Take them!" Harmony calls to Tessa, ready to swap places with her fiance.
Val uses her magic to see the invisible, studies the two assailants, and calls out the positions of all the enemies she can spot.
Tessa moves to strike where she believes the enemies are hiding. "Ah HA!" she says, stabbing and striking the air.
Tessa stabs into the air with deadly thrusts. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to thrust at where she stabbed. The figures she was trying to strike seem to know when to move and when to strike as invisible fists slam into her from both sides.
Harmony reaches out to grasp the wheel, even as she coats the area just behind Tessa in glitterdust.
"I've got this, you get them!" She commands, hoping that Tessa will move and make her job easier.
Marisan enters her dance stance and leaps upon one of the enemies that have (hopefully) been revealed by Harmony's spell.
Polli moves Harmony's side, touches her arm, and turns her invisible.
Tessa cries out from the massive wounds that take half of her life from her. Not one to shy away from danger however, she swashbuckler presses her attack and once more tries to find the invisible foes.