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Mirian Raas has put out a call to fellow Pathfinders who are eager for the kind of adventure the Society was founded for: an exhilarating expedition into unknown!
You meet Raas in the port of Vidrian’s capitol city of Anthusis, which is located along the coast of the Mwangi Jungle. Along with yourselves, Mirian Raas has also requested the aid of the Horizon Hunters for the expedition. The Horizon Hunters’ leader, Calisro Benarry, eager to once again sail the seas, has excitedly accepted Mirian’s call and brought along a reliable group of her own to join the expedition. Calisro has chartered two ships from the Pathfinder Society in addition to her own Glorious Payoff, including the Grinning Pixie, a Pathfinder Society ship formerly captained by Calisro before she was finally forced to follow the terms of a contract and turn it over to its new legal captain, Eras the Needle. The third ship, the Sea Sparkle, is the smallest of the three.
As soon as you make it to Anthusis, you're corralled onto the Grinning Pixie, to meet up with Raas, her adopted brother Jekka, and some of the Horizon Hunters. Mirian Raas amicably greets you all as you board the ship. A spark of excitement glimmers in her eyes as she calls for the ship crew and Pathfinders to gather around her for a briefing.
“Welcome, explorers! As I’m sure you read in the bulletins, we’ve been tasked with travelling to the iruxi island-city of Ekkeshikaar on behalf of the nation of Vidrian, that we may help negotiate the renewal of the alliance between the two nations. The Vidric Council’s provided us with a map based on ancient sea charts to help us get there, and we’ll be compensated for our efforts!"
“We’ll need to stay sharp, though—this route hasn’t been traveled in centuries, and we have no idea what might be out there. With the help of the Horizon Hunters and my brother Jekka,” she lays her hand on the shoulder of the iruxi next to her, “I have no doubts this will be a successful expedition!” She looks to each of you for any questions she might be able to answer.
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Trundling through the crowds at the docks, a stocky dwarf takes in the sea-side air and docks life with a sense of joyous contentment, as much as a grim-faced dwarf could. He catches sight of Raas and takes a moment to adjust the waraxe that is well-maintained, though clearly worn through decades of use, the trident that might only be considered middle aged in human years and the war hammer, clearly the youngest with only about 20 years of patina. On his left hangs the oldest and best kept weapon of the group, his clan dagger, the runes and etchings of his family lineage smoothed but not erased.
Patting a few crumbs of some pastry from his brown beard mixed with enough grey and blonde hairs to almost look salt speckled, he winds his way to the woman who called them there, before catching sight of the ship that she's standing in front of. His face breaks out into a partially obscured grin at the Grinning Pixie and he steps up, quickly heading up the gangplank. "Great to be on de sea 'gain. Even betta de Pixie!"
He listens to Haas's briefing, before raising his hands, "Couple of dings. One, 'ow long o' a trip ta dis island? Two, 'ow's de citrus supplies? Three, when's de last time dis contract was renewed? Supposed ta last dat long?"
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A small goblin wanders through the docks, ducking between crowds and hopping on top of crates. More than a few people yell at him, but he either ignores them or just sticks out his tongue at them. He carries a newly crafted shortbow, but it's already seen some nicks and what look like sharp teeth marks. Dressed in patchwork leathers, he has spots of moss and bark stuck to his clothing in multiple places. He walks up the gangplank, then ducks between two sailors, poking one in the belly. It elicits some annoyed shouting, but the goblin just laughs.
He looks around the ship and sees the dwarf and then Calisro Benarry. He waves and hurries over. "Hello! Hi Captain! Raznik here to find new lands!" He grins at everyone with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. He looks up at the two iruxi and studies their scaly skin and their own teeth. "What island like? Swampy? Rocky?"
Suddenly an tiny creature swoops down out of the sky with nearly no sound at all. A small owl lands at the goblin's feet. It pecks at the goblin, drawing a bit of blood from his leg. The goblin yells and tries to swat at the bird, but it merely hops back. "OW! Bitey, no!" He pulls out a dead squirrel from his pouch and tosses it to the bird who promptly begins tearing it to pieces. The goblins laughs at the slaughter. "Bitey find me! Good job!"
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Those looking over the gunwale at the dock notice a small colorful figure working her way towards the boat. She slows as she approaches the bow and spotting the name of the boat, says, "This looks like the one," apparently to herself. She then walks up the boarding ramp and onto the main deck, looks around for a second, and spotting the other Pathfinders gathered around Rass, heads over.
As she draws closer, you see a small female gnome dressed in an impressive set of cutting-edge clothing of the latest Absalom fashion. The eyes are first drawn to her pixie-cut bright orange hair framing a beautiful, but strangely otherworldly face. They soon move to take in the multi-colored hooded coat covering a peplum bustier that barely conceals her ample charms. Her leather breeches and boots in coordinating colors complete the outfit. At her belt are two sheathed matching daggers and several pouches.
Moving unceasingly from one shoulder to another, occasionally diving into her coat or backpack only to quickly emerge elsewhere, is a white ermine with oddly intelligent eyes.
Seeing that she has their attention, she beams out a radiant smile and introduces herself. "My name is Jayma, and this..." she puts out her right hand into which the ermine leaps, standing up on its hind legs to look out at the others, "... is my friend Twyl," A pair of small wings unfold from the ermine's back and it takes to the air momentarily before landing on Jayma's shoulders once again.
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As they near the harbor, the steadily increasing activity around them initially delights Twyl. He hops up on his haunches from his usual perch on his mistress's shoulders and strains to get a better look.
His delight slowly turns to circumspection, and then apprehension as the number of people running around increases, and the sounds of tools clanging and people shouting gets louder and louder. Despite the apparent calmness of his mistress and her constant soothing words, Twyl is a bit of a nervous wreck by the time they finally reach the boat.
Once on the main deck and away from the worst of the harbor noise and activity, Twyl begins to calm down. His mistress introduces them in her usual manner, but no sooner does he return to his roost on her shoulders, that he spots the owl. "Oh no, not again!" he thinks, but doesn't immediately panic like last time. For one thing, this owl seemed a lot smaller than Silence, and thus less likely to eat him. Also, Jayma's lack of concern and stroking hand convinces him that there is no danger from it.
Ah, it looks like the bird belongs to that strange sharp-toothed creature next to it. The owl was probably the creature's friend, like Twyl was his mistress's. He wonders if the owl will be friends with him too?
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Muzzo bounded over to the other goblin and smiled with his own set of razor-sharp teeth. His rough gray skin and black eyes matched the totem of his tribe, the Gonan Shark, whose hide vest he wore as protection against both the elements and damage. He is at home on the water, and under it, as on land, having grown up along the coasts of Andoran.
"I be Muzzo, clan Sharptooth. Who you? And who bird? Like birds, Muzzo does!" He reached his hand out to pet the owl, if it will let him.
then, he spots the flying weasel and rushes off in the other direction. "Fuzzy! Can Muzzo pet fuzzy?"
He can already tell that this is going to be a grand adventure!
As Mirian Raas began to speak, Muzzo reluctantly tore his attention from his newest animal friends and tried to pay attention. So many words. But, words were important. His mother had always said so, and she was right. "You think trip dangerous? What kind of danger? Anything good to eat? Why this trip important?" There, see? He could ask questions too!
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A male human, with short black hair and a goatee, makes his way onboard. He wears fine clothing in black and burgundy, with gold trim. A green snake is draped over his shoulders. He approaches Raas with a bow.
”Delorn Malix, Esquire”, he says in a rich baritone. ”It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. When I heard about this mission, I was intrigued by the alliance negotiations. I’d like to offer my services in this regard. Perhaps you could offer more details about the situation?”
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Not unlike Raznik, the little feral looking gnome coming down the docks makes his presence known. He elbows, shoulders and shoves his way through the crowd, refusing to make way for anyone or let anyone else pass through the straight line he takes to and up the gangplank. In fact, at one point a dockworker trips and drops a crate full of fruit, shattering the container and sending the contents rolling over and off the dock.
It seems like the gnome doesn't notice, but the mischievous grin that appears on his face right afterwards suggests otherwise.
He gives a nod toward Jayma. "Keep showing up on my missions and I'm going to start to think you're obsessed with me," he says.
The others get a brief wave before he settles in to listen to the briefing.
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"I be Muzzo, clan Sharptooth. Who you? And who bird? Like birds, Muzzo does!" He reached his hand out to pet the owl, if it will let him.
Raznik jumps up and down as Muzzo arrives. "Goblin! I Raznik! This is Bitey. He a " He goes quiet when Muzzo asks about his clan. "Clan Fangstone from near Lastwall...my clan was scattered. Raznik run. Have to live alone for a while and hunt for food. Pathfinders find him and take him in." He then grins. "I become Pathfinder!"
He looks over at Bitey who has taken notice of Twyl. The owl is tracking the ermine as it climbs up on Jayma's shoulders. "Bitey, no! Friends. Not food. You have snack." He points to the butchered squirrel.
Raznik looks up at Delorn, then looks around at the others. "Hey, who let tall one join?" He grins at him with a moth full of teeth.
Bitey scarfs another bit of squirrel down its throat in big chunks. It looks back to Twyl and bobs his head back and forth.
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As Zabu makes his way aboard, Jayma turns and smiles when she recognizes the gnome. Ignoring his comment, she says, "Why am I not surprised to see you here, Mr Creed? And, as usual, the last to arrive. Good to see nothing has changed."
Jayma and Zabu had not exactly started on the best of terms, but Jayma had gotten used to having the rough looking gnome around over the last couple of missions, and if not exactly overwhelmed with happiness to see him again, she was oddly pleased that he was coming along.
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"Couple of dings. One, 'ow long o' a trip ta dis island? Two, 'ow's de citrus supplies? Three, when's de last time dis contract was renewed? Supposed ta last dat long?"
"Trip we take a few weeks and we will supply all of the citrus, food and water you will need aboard." She motions to several barrels around the ship. I believe the last contract was negotiated about 600 years ago."[/b]
"What island like? Swampy? Rocky?"
"That and mainly thick forested regions."
"You think trip dangerous? What kind of danger? Anything good to eat? Why this trip important?"
“We simply don’t know the dangers. There hasn’t been much contact with the lands this far south in a long time. Traveling the seas, there could be pirates, sea monsters… Overland? Other than jungle predators, your guess is as good as mine.”
“Concerning the importance, to put it simply, Vidrian needs as many allies as it can get. It’s a new nation, and it’s already dealing with myriad problems from all directions. From pirates to the west and north, to an undead army from the east. Vidrian’s hoping opening up trade routes with Ekkeshikaar will mean it’ll gain a valuable ally”
A few of you know a bit of information about Vidrian’s trade history and the iruxi nations to the south.
[spoiler=GM Screen 2]
And even more of you know some information about the waters around the Garundi coastline.
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Ionic watches the others as they gather on the ship, curious as to who would be crewing it with him. He doesn't show any odd signs at a goblin joining them. He'd fought a few goblin pirates before (not to mention all the goblin Pathfinders he'd met) and knew how competent they can be. Then a colorful gnome, but one who seems to know their magics. It's when the second goblin and gnome, both looking like they know how to fight, that he raises an eyebrow at. It's not common for Ionic to be the tallest in a group of Pathfinders. He does give a small huff of relief to see Delorn approach the group, status quo restored, balance attained. Though the number of animals in the group does give him pause.
He strides up to everyone in turn, extending a rough and scared hand to each in turn. "Ionic Saltbeard. Nice ta meetcha." He gives Raznik a brief nod, giving Bitey space to do her feeding. "Lively owl ya got dere. Got much experience ona ship?" He watches Bitey for a moment, pulling a tiny bit of jerky out of a pouch and then tosses it next to the owl, but clearly not risking his fingers to her eponymous bites.
He then gives Jayma a similar nod, noting how her fashionable clothes might not enjoy the sea spray. "Hrmm, dat outfit okay ta get wet? Pixie's got some spare clothes, I dink. Unless dat's changed." He gives a small shocked expression at the wings on Twyl, but finihses fishing out some dried meat for her too. "Twyl seems suited ta a ship, dough."
Muzzo gets a nod as well, but not much in the way of words, just watching him interact with the animals and other goblin.
Ionic greets Delorn with a nod, but and then chuckles at the joke the man makes. "Glad I don't hafta fulfill shelf duty!"
The dwarf watches Zabu'S progress across the docks with a slightly incredulous look, not sure what to make of the second gnome, but greets him just the same when he comes on board. "Careful about not payin' 'ttention on deck. Terrible if ya barreled some'ne overboard."
Turning back to Raas, he gives the indicated barrels a quick look from where he's standing and seems satisfied that the new Captain seems to have his things together. "600 years's long time. We sure dey even wanna new contract? Know Sargava chased de last traders away. How dey feelin' 'bout it's replacement, Vidrian?"
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”Pathfinder regulations”, Delorn replies dryly, ”if, in the course of a mission, something is needed from a high shelf”
"Oh...." Raznik knew little about regulations, but there had always been some sort of rule that he seemed to be breaking as he went through Pathfinder training. He thinks back to when he had to have Bitey fly up and knock things down. Being able to get things from high shelves made sense. He nods and gives Delorn a thumbs up. "Ok! Good to have you Mr. Shelf-man"
The goblin turns to listen to Captain Benarry. He looks around the ship nervously at the mention of sea monsters. "Like huge fish and squids?" He checks out several crates where he could potentially hide. "Raznik and Bitey good in forests. We can hunt things in jungles. Maybe not so good on boats." He turns to Ionic. "We like ferries though. Does that count?"
Bitey pounces on the jerky thrown by the dwarf. He swallows the small piece whole, then looks back to Ionic and scratches the deck with his talon. His head swivels around to watch Twyl again, though it seems to cock it head to one side as the ermine flaps its little wings.
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Twyl is a little wary of the small owl at first and watches him carefully from the safety of his mistress's shoulders. When Ionic hands him a bit of jerky, he grabs at it eagerly, and before his mistress can call him off, stuffs it into his mouth and starts chewing. Yum!
He goes back to watching the owl. His mistress had apparently noticed his attentions, because she gives Twyl a mental message telling him it was ok to go say hello and see if the bird wants to be his friend.
Twyl doesn't need any further prompting and flies off her shoulders to land near the owl on the deck. He approaches carefully, twitching his nose in greeting, but ready to fly off at the slightest sign of danger.
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When Ionic mentions that Jayma's clothing might get wet, she laughs delightedly. "My dear Ionic. Your concern for my well-being and that of my clothing is truly touching. But please don't be worried; I can take care of such inconveniences with but the flick of my fingers and a few well-chosen words. Why, I can even do the same for you if you like. You need only ask."
Jayma had dealt with a number of goblins in her adventures and though she thought them rather odd creatures with rather odd habits, she had no antipathy towards them. So when Muzzo rushes up to see Twyl, she is not the least bit anxious about it and lets him pet her familiar to say hello. After all, Muzzo and Zabu were to be her main defenders on this mission, so it was best to keep them on friendly terms.
All this talk of sea devils was only of a passing concern to Jayma. Not because of the creatures themselves, but because she had never fought on the high seas before. She has a frisson of excitement at the thought and begins to hope that this sea voyage does not turn out to be quite as dull as the previous boat trips she's been on.
Jayma, being originally a noble from Cheliax, was no stranger to the world of diplomacy, intrigue and deception. She suspects that the actual treaty negotiations were well above their pay grade, but the details of the treaty making were still of interest to her. She echoes Delorn's question. "Like my new friend Delorn here, I too have some diplomatic facility. I would love to hear more about the negotiations. For example, how do the Vidrics hope to convince the Lizardfolk to become allies? My understanding is that they tend to prefer keeping to themselves."
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Zabu shrugs. "We must be on the same Venture Captain's short list," he answers Jayma's first question and only grins in response to her second.
He was always happy to SEE Jayma and after the way she accounted for herself on the last two missions, he's become glad to have her around, in general.
"You know we're going to a land full of bugs, right?" he teases.
He glazes over at the details of the mission, only paying attention when the dangers and potential fights are mentioned. He makes no comment but grins again, flexing his fingers.
When Ionic shakes his hand, Zabu squeezes more than a little harder than he has too. "Not terrible for me," he replies to the dwarf's warning.
He looks around then. "I'll admit, I don't know much about boats, but I'm pretty sure the wind out of these," he points to his mouth "isn't going to get us where we're going. Let's cast off the main sail and belay the mizzen and swab the scurvy already."
Bitey gives a low hoot as Twyl flies to the ground. The owl hops aggressively close, but stops as it considers the ermine's odd wings. While Twyl looked like food, nothing food-like had ever flown like that before. After a moment staring at each other, Bitey flies up to a set of rigging, looking down on the group. It stares at Twyl for a few more moments, until it hops to one side, making room for him.
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Twyl scoots back a little when the owl hops towards him menacingly. He unfurls his wings ready to leave, but holds off when the bird stops short. He watches as the owl then flies into the rigging. Wow, there was a whole playground of ropes and wood to enjoy up there. Seeing Bitey make room for him, he flies up and lands next to him on the rope. Fortunately, the rope is nice and thick and it only takes a few moments for him to get his balance. The view was much nicer up here. He chitters at the owl to express his happiness at finding a new friend.
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"The Vidric Council members have given us two chests of ancient relics from the lost iruxi city of Kutnaar. Repatriating the relics to the leaders of Ekkeshikaar should grease the negotiation’s wheels and help secure the desired trade agreement. Whatever the case, there’ll be a lot of meetings and deliberations. The journey’s far more interesting, and that’s what I need you all for.”
****
On the fourth day at sea, you notice a strange occurrence as your wayfinders begins to spin wildly and uncontrollably.
As the sun is finally beginning to set on the fourth day at sea, the Grinning Pixie is jolted suddenly. The ocean’s currents become inexplicably tempestuous, and the ship is pulled wildly off course at an accelerated speed. The helmsman of the Pixie shouts to the crew, “Hold on!” as the vessel speeds away from the convoy. The alarmed calls from the Glorious Payoff and the Sea Sparkle fade, and soon the other ships disappear entirely from sight.
Then the Grinning Pixie begins tilting again — it's getting alarmingly worse. The helmsman, Eras, is having a difficult time holding the rudder in place. His bare feet slip on the deck and his muscles bulge. His eyes are wide. He gasps.
If he slips, the wheel will spin and the ship will be completely out of control. Sailors are busy scrambling in the lines and lashing down loose gear — it’s up to you to help!
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He checks out several crates where he could potentially hide. "Raznik and Bitey good in forests. We can hunt things in jungles. Maybe not so good on boats." He turns to Ionic. "We like ferries though. Does that count?"
Ionic pauses for a second thinking about whether ferries would count or not... "Maybe. Similar in dey both travel on water. But completely different too. Just stay on da ship, 'kay? Fishin' out people sucks., 'specially if dey sinkin'."
Delorn cracks a grin at Ionic. ”You seem like someone who’s been on many a ship”, he says. ”I understand that we’ll be sailing into sea devil territory. Have you ever encountered them?”
Ionic gives a proud grin and comments, "Been sailin' 'n' piratin' for o'er hundred years!" His face falls, however, at the mention of sea devils, "But sea devils can be nasty. But only if dey can control ya ship."
He seems to pause at Muzzo's comments about the beasts and nods, "Good ta have someone who fought dem before! Helpful."
When Ionic mentions that Jayma's clothing might get wet, she laughs delightedly. "My dear Ionic. Your concern for my well-being and that of my clothing is truly touching. But please don't be worried; I can take care of such inconveniences with but the flick of my fingers and a few well-chosen words. Why, I can even do the same for you if you like. You need only ask."
The dwarf gives a shrug. "Seen a few who get livid over dere clothes. Salt water ain't good for dem."He does look down at the chainmail he's wearing that by the wear and tear on it can't be more than a handful of years old. "Didn't have dis last time went sailin'. Might actually take ya up on dat offer. Hate for it ta rust."
When Ionic shakes his hand, Zabu squeezes more than a little harder than he has too. "Not terrible for me," he replies to the dwarf's warning.
Ionic raises an eyebrow and squeezes right back with the same force. "Den you get to go fish dem out. 'cause we ain't leavin' people ta drown, an' I ain't cleanin' your messes."
He looks around then. "I'll admit, I don't know much about boats, but I'm pretty sure the wind out of these," he points to his mouth "isn't going to get us where we're going. Let's cast off the main sail and belay the mizzen and swab the scurvy already."
Ionic tries to stifle the laughter at the thought of casting off the main sail or swabbing a disease. "Casting off the sail's bad idea. If we got dat citrus asked about, den scurvy ain't a worry eider."
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Ioinc quickly gets his sea legs back after a few hours and tries to help with running the ship as best he can. He starts to help lash things down as fast as he can when the storm starts to rise. Catching sight of Eras fighting with the rudder, he tosses the rope he has in hand over the wheel and tugs in the direction that Eras is steering as hard as he can.
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After four days at sea staring out at an endless horizon of water, Jayma had pretty much lost hope of any excitement on this voyage. "How boring! Where are the sea devils I was practically promised? Any more of this and I'm in for a premature bleaching."
As soon as the weather starts turning ugly, Jayma sends a call out to Twyl to return to her and makes sure he's safe in her backpack. When things start getting alarmingly worse, she finds an out-of-the-way corner to jam herself into and hangs on for dear life. Despite the dire situation, she's enjoying herself for the first time in days. She smiles and laughs as the wind and water whip crazily around her, screaming in glee as the ship rises and plunges. "Finally! This is more like it. Weeee!"
She knows better than to try and help stabilize the ship. She would only get in the way, or worse, get thrown overboard.
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Raznik and Bitey generally make themselves a nuisance during the days after they depart. From playing with the navigator's tools to uncoiling ropes to treating the rigging as a rope swing, the goblin didn't seem to understand how important things aboard ship were. He also seems to endlessly ask Delorn if he can reach random things. He and the owl do, however, manage to catch two rats. Ioinc does have to stop him from building a fire on deck to cook them though. Bitey ends up eating them raw instead when the galley refuses the rodents.
When the weather turns, the goblin looks very nervous and huddles between some of the crates. While the crashing waves cause him to cry out, it's the pitching deck that elicits the most screams. They join Jayma's much more enthusiastic cries, but there's no mistaking which of them is terrified. Luckily Bitey has found a semi-dry hole while his master is left rolling around the deck.
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Muzzo is perfectly comfortable aboard the large ship, though he doesn't know much about sailing one. Still, it was interesting enough and he struggled to learn the ins and outs. When the ship flung itself across the ocean, completely against any tide or reason, he looked out at the sea in alarm. Then, he heard Ionic shouting and saw the helmsman floundering. Muzzo ran to the man, digging his feet into the slick boards and trying to keep the man from losing his grip on the wheel. Unfortunately, the goblin stumbled, nearly tackling the helmsman instead of helping him.
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Delorn spends the first few days enjoying the voyage. He looked forward to travel opportunities, so long as they were reasonably comfortable. With things now turning decidedly uncomfortable, he finds a space belowdecks to hunker down, and runs into Jayma.
”Great minds”, he says, as he grabs onto a rope.
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Zabu makes himself almost as much of a nuisance as Raznik and often in the same ways since he'll join the goblin in swinging around in the rigging, climbing the masts and generally treating the whole boat as a giant jungle gym.
He makes no offers to help with anything and even elbows Jayma at one point. "Isn't this better than that last mission? They actually wanted us to work then. I didn't join the Pathfinders to work. If I wanted a job, I'd be selling fruit somewhere."
Unlike the goblin, Zabu also makes a concerted effort to get into the booze and has little regard for other people's privacy. He has a habit of ransacking other's possessions when he gets bored.
He is also pleased when something interesting actually happens but does not run downstairs, instead, standing at the front of the ship, watching the water come.
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He makes no offers to help with anything and even elbows Jayma at one point. "Isn't this better than that last mission? They actually wanted us to work then. I didn't join the Pathfinders to work. If I wanted a job, I'd be selling fruit somewhere."
Jayma sighs in response. "I must admit, Mr Creed, that this has been a far more relaxing mission so far, though it could use a little pepping up in my view. Perhaps things will take a more exciting turn soon."
With things now turning decidedly uncomfortable, he finds a space belowdecks to hunker down, and runs into Jayma.
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During the first two days, Ionic spends about as much time helping run the ship as making sure that Raznik and Zabu don't kill or maim themselves, but after a few what he thought would be close calls he mostly leaves them alone, only occasionally shouting out warnings to move or lose some fingers, or grabbing them by the collar and sitting them down next to a pile of uncoiled rope to recoil.
He plops down next to Jayma on the morning of the third day and hands her some small rope to rebind with him quietly adding, "Careful 'bout lettin' captain see ya're bored. Don't know 'bout de new one, but Benarry would've had dousand different dings for ya to do. Wistful starin' ain't well taken on a ship."
When Zabu clearly takes up a position at the row of the ship during preparations, Ionic tosses him a rope that's been lashed to the mast and adds, "Might need dis! Ya go over, we ain't gonna get ta fish ya out." He indicates one he has tied around his own waist.
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The first time Ionic scruffs him, Zabu takes it with relative good humor, though he doesn't actually do any work. That's what the ship's crew is for.
The second time he does it, Zabu says: "You got one more time to do that. Then you're going to find out how hard it is to swim with no hands."
He does give the man a nod of thanks and tie the rope around his waist when the weather gets rough, though.
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Ionic whips the rope around the helm and pulls hard. The ship begins to level, only to lurch violently once more as Muzzon tackles Eras. Wriggling free of the goblin the helmsman gets back to the wheel and manages to wrestle control of the ship once more, just in time for the true threat....
An agonized scream pierces the sound of rushing water, and frantic shouts from the crew emanate from the opposite side of the ship. Devious cackling echoes over the chaos, and the lookout in the crow’s nest bellows, “Ready yourselves! Devils from the sea!”
Jayma
Ionic
Zabu
Raznik
Delorn
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Sea Devils
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Muzzo
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Jayma is having the time of her life, whooping with excitement as the ship is tossed about by the storm; occasionally squealing in delight as it pitches suddenly up and then down when a big wave crashes into it.
When the lookout calls out about sea devils, she looks around and sees them climbing over the gunwales. "About time!" she thinks to herself. She hadn't thought things could get any more thrilling, but she had been wrong.
Turning her attention to the closest sea devil, she points at it threateningly and screams at it over the noise of the storm and the ship.
She proceeds to move her arms in a complicated swirling motion moving them faster and faster. The rain about her gathers together and forms a small waterspout in the air before her. She then shouts out, "sayonara sea scoundrel," and thrusts her hands in the direction of the sea devil.
Instantaneously, the small waterspout transforms into a powerful blast of pressurized water that flies across the deck and smashes into the creature.
Out of nowhere, Bitey swoops down on the sea monster too. It bites at the creature with its sharp beak.
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Even without understanding Jayma's screaming and swirling arms the sea devil seems a little bit shaken. Jayma releases a pressurized burst of water that smashes into ne of the sea devils. It has so much force that it breaks numerous bones in the sea devil's body to include it's neck as the lifeless body falls back into the ocean.
Raznik pops his head up from behind a par of barrels. He sends off a pair of arrows from above as Bitey chases after. Both arrows strike with deadly accuracy.
Delorn comes topside and spots the wounded sea devil. Connecting his mind he absolutely shatters its mind, breaking it. The ceature slumps down to the deck.
Jayma
Ionic
Zabu
Raznik
Delorn
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Sea Devils
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Muzzo
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Ionic, seeing how capable everyone else on the team is, gives a grunt in acknowledgment and strides forward. He whips out his Dwarven waraxe in his right hand, deftly drawing it up and out across the front of the devil in pink hoping to Gozreh he does not fumble in front of every one else.
He then twists as he tosses the axe up into his hand properly, using the motion to hide his left hand drawing out his clan dagger, before spinning back around, dagger aimed for the torso of the devil.
He give a small flick of his beard, drawing the dagger back and flicking off the blood on it, glad he made a good showing of himself.
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Ionic swings his axe into the sea devil's leg and before the creature can react it finds a shallow dagger in its ribs.
Zabu enrages as he charges up the stairs, clawing at the sea devil above.
The sea devil ducks low avoiding the claws the sea devils claw their way to Jayma before anymore are tossed overboard. They gurgle as they coordinate to take you out one at a time, meeting in the middle.
Zabu and jayma are both receive light claw marks across their bodies. Though as the blood begins to fill the air one of the sea devils goes into a frenzy as Jayma continues to bleed.
Jayma (21/29; 1d4 Persistent Bleed 0/10)
Ionic
Zabu (56/56; +2 Temp HP)
Raznik
Delorn
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Sea Devils (Pink -20; 7 temp hp)
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Muzzo
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Jayma watches in some astonishment as the sea devils make a beeline for her, ignoring the others. "By The Many! Where in the blue blazes are my defenders?" When one of the creatures lashes out at her with its claws, she cries out, "Ow! Blast it!"
She looks down at the scratch marks across her upper chest. Her first thought is, "Thank the gods it missed the bustier," but then her pain and surprise transform into a cold focused anger. Giving the sea devil a look that would freeze the blood in a lesser creature, she shouts, "How dare you lay a hand on me, you scum of the sea. You'll pay dearly for your insolence."
First, she moves away from her attacker to give herself room to act.
As she moves, she spots a jerry iron on the deck that had come loose in the storm. She motions to it with her hand and with a practiced flick of her wrist and a "despicable devil deserves death," the jerry iron shoots across the deck and its butt slams into the side of the sea devil that attacked her.
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Muzzo howled in rage at their attackers, and he began to change. His head elongated, even as his eyes moved to either side. His already sharp teeth seemed to grow sharper, and there were more of them, sticking from the mouth of a head that greatly resembled that of his tribe's totem. With a bellow, he leaped forward and dove at the nearest Sea Devil, clamping his jaws around its arm and thrashing back and forth.