I'm heading out to GenCon starting early tomorrow, so I probably won't be posting much of anything until next Monday. See you then!
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The bard follows after Aero, seeking shelter from the archers, but continuing his song.
"Any friends o' yours, Em?", 'Left-Ear' asks as he reaches for an arrow. Without waiting for a response, he begins singing.
"Mind the flies," 'Left-Ear' says, far more concerned by the Expanse's insect life than anything else it might hide at the moment.
"Savage elves, eh?", 'Left-Ear' says with a grin. "Any friends o' yours, Em?"
"These buggers are not so tough," 'Left-Ear' snorts as the kech and its pet do little more than scratch him. "Just don't let them get their claws in ye, else ye end up like Dragonslayer!" He stabbed at the kech, but his attacks were merely tests of the kech's defenses - he was far more interested in staying alive than killing the beast. Mechanics: Fighting defensively against the kech in my square, granting me a -2 penalty to hit but a +3 to my AC, giving me AC 20 for this round. Another round of bard song, 18/20 remaining today.
"Ye heard the cap'n, men!", 'Left-Ear' cries, pulling his blade. "Repel the boarders! No quarter asked, no quarter given!" He then begins to sing loud and strong.
Patterwell nods to the captain. "Aye-aye, Cap'n. Let's hope we've seen the last of these damnable bugs." He looks around to make certain nobody is listening to him, then approaches the captain. "Just to be sure, we don't have any cursed idols on board, do we? I mean, there be some scuttlebutt goin' about. Three swarms over the last few days is either surprisingly bad luck, or somethin' be drawin' them to us."
"Now what on Oerth...", 'Left-Ear' mutters to himself as he listens to the wailing.
"What the hell do ye think I'm doing?", 'Left-Ear' says, spitting in the creature's face, his spittle stained crimson. "Come on, ye barnacle encrusted bastard, is that the worst ye can do?" The pirate stabs at the creature again, still focused on defense, but slowly backs away from it, trying to lead it away from Baolo and Aero. Mechanics: 5' step away from the gargoyle, leading it back towards Gruug and Ialda. Fighting defensively again, so my AC should be 19 this round. Rounds of bard song remaining: 7
"Come on, ye worthless excuse for a figurehead," 'Left-Ear' sneers, tossing aside his bow in favor of his rapier. "Do yer worst." He steps up to fight the monster, though his goal is defense, not offense. Distract the beastie, he thinks. Let Aero help out Baolo. Mechanics: Step up on the gargoyle to my west, and fight defensively. That gives me an AC of 19 for this round.
"Damned walking figureheads!", the pirate spits as he raises an arrow to his bow and takes aim at the one on his fellow Gozran. "This food bites back! Shove off!" He lets the arrow fly, but the shots bounce off the gargoyle's thick skin as well. Mechanics: Once Baolo has stepped away, I'll shoot at the same one. Do I get two rounds of attacks on it? If not, just ignore the second one. Still inspiring courage, of course.
"Sea gargoyles!", he cries. "Don't let them drag ye to the bottom, mates! Carve 'em up, an' chum the waters with their blood!"
"Boarders!", 'Left-Ear' cries, pulling his bow. "Great winged devils! Let's bleed them, me hearties, and show them what we be made of!" He begins singing a shanty to inspire his allies as he begins to string his bow and nock an arrow.
It doesn't take long for Patterwell to find his sea legs - if anything, he seems far more at home on the River Queen than he was on dry land. As the weather begins to turn, he finds an oil-soaked slicker to wear. "Go inside?!?", he says with a laugh. "As long as ye need an old deckhand like meself, I'll be here. How much further do ye expect the bend to be, Cap'n?"
"Aye, I thought that thing was going to swallow us up. A good thing that 'Dragonslayer' Gruug were here!" 'Left-Ear' smirks as he creates a soubriquet for the half-orc.
"Where be all these lizards be coming from?", 'Left-Ear' asks to no one in particular. "And how do they keep gettin' infected by demon-monkey plague?" The pirate opens his mouth in a silent scream - silent to everyone but the demon-dragon-thing, which hears a eardrum-shatteringly loud keening.
'Left-Ear' notes the pins in the lapels of his tablemates a moment too late, and laughs despite himself. "Sorry, mate, it be the others. I tried to tell them that yer coin spends jus' fine, but they've been bitten by a frightful beast named 'paranoia.' I'll let 'em know there were nothin' more to th' tale than what ye told me, an' I'm sure we'll be acceptin' yer accord soon enough. Drink up, lads, the next round is on me as well." He pats the merchant nearest him on the back, and stands to go pay the bartender. "Oh, one more thing, Master Graves," he says before he heads away. "There be another man I be lookin' fer. Yer Consortium has eyes an' ears all over th' place, so maybe ye might be able ta help me out on that as well. Th' brother of me current employer, th' Lady Vanderboren, killed a mate o' mine, an' I've sworn vengeance 'gainst him. If ye hear anything about his whereabouts, I'd be very gracious indeed." He punctuates this with a pat to his coinpurse. "Savvy?"
"Aye, I'll look into th' merchants. They didn't seem too happy with him - a bit o' coin an' a friendly ear ought to cheer their britches off." The pirate approaches the merchants after Faruq leaves, several mugs of grog in his hands. "Ye fellows look like ye could use a drink to wash down the bitter pill tha' scallywag asked ye ta swallow. Drink up, lads, for I be buying!" He seats himself at the table, passing the flagons around.
Once the Captain departs, 'Left-Ear' turns to his group. "What be the problem if ye judge him to be 'morally challenged'? A sinner's gold spends jus' as well as a saint's. An' I doubt they'd be enterin' into a contract with th' Lady if all they wanted to do was finish the job the lizards started. That'd be bad fer business, an' these boys be all about business. But, ye be right - we should find out if he be workin' with that rat bastard Vanthus. If he be, then we can follow this trail back and finish the job. I swear, I'll wear his guts for garters yet!"
"Twenny per day fer each o' us?", 'Left-Ear' says, hardly impressed by the figure. "Like ye said, we're a cut above the bully-boys ye'll find out 'n about in Eleder, an' tha' sum may be good fer them, but I'd be wantin' thirty per day fer our services. Anythin' less would jus' be insultin'."
I've already built a character for a friend's MM game, so I'll let some other folks get in on this one. Thanks for the offer, though!
"Aye, come on in, cap'n," 'Left-Ear' replies. "We'll have the servants bring ye some coffee black as midnight, and we can discuss what business ye have with us."
Louis coughs and sputters as he returns to life. "THE BLOOD!", he bellows, grabbing whomever brought him back from the brink of death. "IT CALLS TO ME!" He looks at his victim's neck, and can almost hear the blood pulsing, calling to him. "NO!", he cries, pushing himself away, clenching his fists and pounding the floor with his bare knuckles. "Control yerself, Patterwell! This damned curse ha'n't brought ye down yet! Ye can master it like anythin' else ye damn well please!" It takes a few minutes, but he finally returns to some degree of normalcy. "I'm sorry about that, mate," he says. "Curse. Nothin' for it but to get through it." He follows the group upstairs and gives Lady Vanderboren a small bow. "I don't believe we've met, lass. The name is Patterwell, an' from what I hear, yer brother ain't exactly interested in parley any longer. As it happens, my course be followin' yer tradewind - I aim to see him dead as well. Think we can come to some sort o' accord? Ye seem to be in the need for new help, as it happens." He glances at one of the chairs the captive Jade Ravens sat in just minutes ago, then back to her. "What say ye?"
Yep, nothing here really strikes my fancy other than grabbing one of the potions, but I think that goes without saying.
Sorry, I came down with a fever over the weekend and this is the first day I've been vertical for longer than a few minutes at a time. I'm just now getting caught back up on everything.
"Damnation!", 'Left-Ear' cries as the lizardfolk gets one last strike on him, staggering back as he feels the weight of his wounds. He turns to Baolo, and sees the Mwangi just as harried. "Alright, Devoraz. Ye don't want to listen to reason? Then ye'll die like the rest o' yer crew. At least they had the excuse to have been bitten by rabid demon monkeys first. Ye're just naturally dumber than a sack o' hardtack!" He steps up and stabs at the half-orc, hoping to end his life quickly. Mechanics: Move to L15. Attack Devoraz! The dice hate us this round.
"Come on, stand still, ye scaled scallywag! How else am I supposed to kill ye?!?" Mechanics: Trying again. If this fails, I'm buying us a new dicebot.
Louis shifts slightly to keep both battles in his sights, and attacks the lizardfolk he's been flailing at with his blade. "Come on, this thing's supposed to be magical - magick him, you worthless blade!" Mechanics: Move to L11.
As the lizardfolk charges him, 'Left-Ear' discards his bow again. "Damnable creatures, leave me be! I'm just wantin' a piece o' revenge, not yer scaly hides!" Mechanics:
Louis pulls another arrow and switches targets to the same lizardfolk that Baolo is firing at. "Tenacious, aren't they?", he asks as he lets another shaft fly. Mechanics: Attacking the one Baolo shot at as well.
"How many of these scaly bastards are in here, anyway?", Patterwell grumbles as he follows Baolo towards the other room, firing an arrow at the blackscaled lizardfolk. Mechanics: Move to M14, then fire an arrow at the big one.
Louis follows as well, his blade out and ready. There were undoubtedly more lizardfolk about, and hopefully there wouldn't be any more as deadly as the Huntress.
"Aye, that were a close one. I'm fearin' for Lavinia's safety now. Be a damn shame if the lizardfolk killed an' ate her afore she paid us."
'Left-Ear' turns to the bellowing half orc, still screaming at the retreating lizardfolk warrior. "Gruug! Heal Em, she got savaged pretty bad!" As he says this, he rushes towards Baolo. "No time to have a palaver with Shimye-Magalla yet, archer-man. There be revenge to be havin' still." He says a few arcane words and pours the last of his magics into Baolo.
'Left-Ear' is likewise startled, by many things. That the Huntress is finally dead. That she did not dissolve into a puddle of acidic goo. That his face is now splattered with the dark blood of a lizardfolk. Despite these startling things, he slashes once at the retreating warrior, more interested in turning his attention to his fallen compatriots than killing the lizard in flight.
No words escape the pirate's mouth this time. Too many of his allies have fallen to this unkillable foe. Instead, he concentrates, and tries to strike true once again. Mechanics: If I can 5' step into flank with Gruug, I will. If not, subtract 2 from my attack roll. Not that it matters...
"Come on, just explode and turn into acid already," 'Left-Ear' growls at the Huntress, thrusting his blade at her again. "You know you want to. All your friends be doing it." His blade penetrates her hide, but it's a flesh wound, a mere scratch compared to the rending that Ialda has been dishing out. Mechanics:
"Alright, enough of this playing at archer," 'Left-Ear' says, dropping his bow. "Prepare to receive boarders!" He gives a piratical warcry as he moves to outflank the Huntress, stabbing the lizardwoman in the back. Mechanics: Drop my bow, and move to R1, pulling my rapier as I go. Attack!
"Ah, a clear shot! I'll be takin' that!" The pirate fires another arrow at the Huntress, Mechanics: Shoot at the Huntress! Saving my remaining spell for whatever's inside.
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