I'm obviously late to the party....
Don't apologize, man. Real life comes first. It's the nature of play by post games that they tend to fizzle out. We, at least, made it to book 2.
I hope to see you all out there in the forums again, sometime.
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Oh, Tamesis has lost it. She goes about the celebration in a sort of detached, manic fugue. While far from the melancholy exile she exhibited on the trip back, the unfeeling air remains.
Tamesis chuckles, "See, that's why you're a good first mate. Get me out of my own head. Come on, there's libations to be partaken of."
I lost that entire post near the end and had to start over from scratch. *sobs* But yay, nihilism!
Tamesis pulls her lips back in a mirthless smile, "Everything is as it should be. The Chelish pirate hunter. The blow I took on the merchant vessel..." She runs her hand over the freshly healed wound in her abdomen, "...it reset my perspective. Reminded me of my place in this multiverse." She takes a moment, and releases a sigh, "The point is, there is no point. No purpose. We exist on this plane for such a short time, relatively speaking. Even the plane itself is finite. The world will burn, in time, washed away in the apocalypse. Long before that, though, our bodies will fail, and our souls will pass on to the greater wheel. Outer planes at conflict with each other, that will likely fall to ruin and destruction themselves, on a cosmic scale. "We will be judged and sent to whatever 'afterlife' suits us best. I'm sure your people have some grand, glorious demiplane waiting for you, with feasting and good company. Me, I have Abaddon to look forward to. Where souls are hunted and tortured before being eaten. My grandmother rules a quarter of the plane with an iron fist. And even if I fall into her domain, I won't get any special treatment. In fact, it may make me even more of a target." She takes another pause, looking down at the two ships in the harbor, "We must live in the moment. Take our joys, as fleeting as they can be, when we get them. We never know when the end will come, so pining over long term dreams is a waste of effort." She turns to face Sven fully, tilting her head up to lock eyes with the much taller man, "Mine is a path of destruction, Sven. Of wild rides and death and exhilaration. I'll never intentionally lead us to suicide, but you must understand, as I do, that this will all come to ruin, in time. We will outrun the twilight as long as we can, but we can't run forever."
Tamesis pauses a moment before responding to Sven, turning towards him ever so slightly as she speaks, "Nothing can be said
She sighs and looks back out over the sea, "We don't have a dry dock, so unless we sail to Rickety's, there's no point in keeping her. We might as well sell her, but that journey is long." "Perpetual cycles in a meaningless life
A pause, and she continues again, "We'll hold her, for now. Once we have at least one more prize, ideally two, we'll take them altogether to be sold. The inhabitants of the island can use it to escape, should we find our end in the waves before that happens." Her voice when speaking of the potential that they may set out and never return takes on an almost giddy air, far removed from the otherwise darker tone of the words themselves.
Deranged Mutterings of a Disturbed Mind:
"What fool asks For Whom the Bell Tolls.
There will be no bells or songs to mark your end, it will simply come silently, slowly, loudly, quickly and almost always painfully. There is no romance in death, no adventure, there is simply the end. You will not dream, you will not suffer, you will not help nor haunt the living and there will be no paradise. So was the world before you, so shall it be after. If you are lucky, perhaps you will be remembered for a time but in the end all are forgotten. Oh how we do scream and beg and pray for something more, some sliver of hope, some hint of purpose, how we do fight the meaninglessness. We scratch and claw and bite, but we will lose the fight, we never stood a chance." Tamesis disembarks the Sunset Challenger once docked, muttering softly enough to be considered for herself, yet loudly enough that it can be clear she doesn't care if anyone overhears. She greets their new allies with pleasant indifference, and claims the upper bedroom for herself that night. For the remainder of the day, and part of the night, she can be found on the ramparts, staring out at the sea without the Farglass, oft times muttering strange poetry in an assortment of languages.
"Claim her. And any of her crew that wish for it. Throw the rest overboard." Tamesis heads over to Sandara for some healing to close her bleeding wounds. She trusts Sven to get the party started, though she herself doesn't feel much like indulging in excessive libation. She feels vindicated and satisfied with their catch, but somehow disconnected from it. She retreats to her cabin to recenter herself overnight.
Man, what the hell are up with my dice?
"Not. Again." Tamesis bares her teeth and focuses her magic and her mind, casting a spell to guarantee her next shot to hit Sven's attacker.
Resolving to deal with her attacker once Sven is back on his feet, Tamesis shifts her aim to his attacker.
Yikes. I'm sorry to hear that. Take your time, man. I don't think anyone here will mind, so long as you don't just up and disappear on us.
Tamesis grunts as the arrows land, but grins wildly. Her eyes wide open and wild, she calls across the gap, "You'll be paying for that! Your souls are mine for dinner tonight!"
She draws back and lets fly, two arrows for two targets.
Sorry for going dark. Started my second playthrough of Three Houses. It's even more soul-devouring the second time. And yeah, the siege engine rules aren't all that great. If we can get cannons, on the other hand....
Tamesis briefly considers lighting the prey's sails alight, but with Kel's skills and their superior speed, there seems to be no point. She patiently awaits the grapple, preparing her buff spells for when they come into range.
Tamesis asks Sandara, Madiya, and Urgan to tend to the wounded when they can recharge, to bring them back up to working capacity. At sundown, she has the religious folks give a small ceremony for the fallen. When Sven calls out a new target, she sneers, "We shouldn't turn down the opportunity for plunder. Kel, if you please."
Once out of sight of the Chelish ships, Tamesis sighs in both relief and frustration, "Kel, take us home. Back to Tidewater." She sounds tired, or annoyed. Or both. Probably both.
Soooo, where are we at, game wise?
I'm pretty sure that Sven can punch through the hull of any ship if it stays still long enough, and he uses up all of his wild shape for the day. Have to deal with hardness, but eventually, I'm pretty sure he can do it.
Tamesis takes the wheel as the ships are ungrappled and gets the ship underway to flee the incoming vessel, though does issue an order for a parting gift, "Madiya! Light up the bait ship! Burn it down!" Trusting in her friends to handle the pursuing pirate hunter, she only allows herself the briefest glance backwards. When she sees the ship come to a sudden halt, she smirks and continues on their course, much calmer knowing they've escaped unscathed, even if they didn't manage to pick up any loot. Sometimes, it is better to withdraw to strike back another day.
"Son of a b%**@! Yeah, Kel, get Sven. See if you can cripple that incoming ship. Everyone else, back to the Challenger! We need to get out of here, now!"
Tamesis shakes her head at Sven, "Even with an ambush, we are not equipped to deal with a Chelish warship. I'm not willing to take that bet. I'd rather scuttle the damned thing and get out of here before whatever help they signaled for shows up."
Tamesis glares at the empty deck and growls under her breath, "You're right, Kel. As loathe as I am to admit it, this reeks of a trap. Sven! Are you able to scuttle the ship from below the waves? I'm not keen on getting trapped, here, but I also don't want them to be able to escape."
Some spellslingers throw fireballs. Tamesis thinks to herself as she keeps her pace, Some can lay waste to large swaths of their enemies at a time. And some can only attack a single foe with each attack. One would be far more useful in this particular situation, wouldn't it? But noooo. This has to drag out, because of what we have. Baring her teeth in frustration, she continues to support her men on the enemy ship in the only way she can. For now.
Silently wishing she could put more arrows downrange, faster, Tamesis keeps up the barrage as best she can.
Is there anything/anyone else we're still waiting on?
Yeah, I'm still here, too. Was just awaiting an update, but didn't want to pry.
Still scanning for an officer or other target of opportunity, Tamesis keeps firing into the line of marines.
Congratulations, Max! I hope all goes well for you, but you will be missed.
It absolutely does, and so does your Shocking Grasp. Or it should. At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon’s critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier. This is the text of Spellstrike. Emphasis mine.
Completely missing the fact that she is about to be bombarded by catapults, Tamesis focuses on the marines before her. She pulses the magic in her bow, changing the enhancement on it before quickly firing two shots at different targets.
Tamesis moves to the forecastle, charging her bow with a little extra power to account for the range. She draws back, targeting the poor failure of a pilot controlling the ship, hopefully putting him out of his misery (and hers).
Seeing the prey ship starting to flounder, Tamesis casts Cat's Grace on herself in preparation for boarding action. "We're almost on them, boys and girls! Don't let them slip away, now!"
"Bring her in! I want to feast on Chelish soul tonight!"
She turns to Urgan as he approaches, "Unless you have some magic that can slow them down, then work with the rest of the crew."
"All hands to the Challenger! We have a target!" Tamesis has preparations started before Sven even returns, and gives him a flat stare as he reports and asks such a foolish question, "Sven, in the time that you have known me, I feel you should at least know the answer to that question by now." Once preparations are complete, she has Kel take the wheel and take the ship out on its first strike from their new stronghold.
Tamesis takes up the farglass and begins searching the horizon for ships to attack.
Tamesis frowns at the suggestion of taking McCleagh with them, "We could, but it's dangerous. Even if we do it in good faith, and that's not a given, it's dangerous out there. He could get legitimately killed in battle by an enemy, and Agasta might just up and break off our arrangement for it." She takes a moment, her face brightening (or darkening, depending on how you want to look at it) as the circumstances of that dawn on her, "In which case, we would just take the tower by force and kill them all, like I wanted to in the first place." She nods suddenly, the smile on her face providing no warmth or merriment, "I love this plan! Let's do it!"
Tamesis has Buhayra stay in the tower, for now. She keeps the lugger anchored in the cove, for now, until she can decide what to do with it. To Sven, she nods, and provides a true smile, "Aye, life is good. I want to try out that farglass, if I'm honest. See if it's all it's cracked up to be. Besides, we probably should stay at least a couple of days, get the locals used to our presence. I am of a mind to kick the lady out of her bedchambers and claim them. Maybe she can share the sergeant's bed. That would certainly make him happy..."
Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm still here. I think another one of my posts may have been eaten, though. I've been teaching a training class at work, so I haven't been able to get on during the day, and I've been playing the new Fire Emblem game when I get home and my daughter goes to bed. So my attention has been elsewhere. Sorry. Congratulations on the potential promotion, though, DM! And to echo Sven, thank you for the transparency. Better to explore options ahead of time rather than just dropping without warning...
"Sounds like we have an accord, then?"
Tamesis makes some small talk, during the meal, but does her best to refrain from engaging too much and offending anyone. She knows all too well how easily she can inadvertently bruise egos and make enemies without meaning to. As much as she would prefer to roll through the tower in a wave of death and blood, her friends voted to remain peaceful, and she isn't about to betray that. When they lady makes her proposal, with clear eyes for Sven, Tammy can't help but smile and chuckle, just a bit. She makes a mental note of the sergeant's reaction, but leaves him be, for now. Instead she looks to Sven and quirks an eyebrow, "Looks like you have eyes for my First Mate, for this marriage, or am I mistaken? I would say that the proposal seems to be in the best interests of all involved. But I'm not about to volunteer my man for a marriage he's not interested in, even one of convenience. If he refuses, are you open to being wed to another of my crew? Or myself?" Without waiting for a reply, she address Sven, "And what say you? Is this something you would agree to." Again, without waiting for a reply, she returns to addressing the lady, "You have my approval for this deal, if we can come to an agreement on a spouse."
Looks like my post earlier got eaten. Reposting now.
Tamesis sits quietly and allows the others to speak, content to sit back and smirk, allowing for the illusion of power and control it creates.
"Changing hands a few times in two-HUNDRED years is hardly a sign of there being a flaw in the keep's defenses. I'm not sure how long gillmen live, but we have to remember that in terms of human lifespan, two centuries is actually a very long time. If anything, the fact that a fleet-less group was able to hold it against Harrigan speaks to its strength." Clearly outvoted, Tamesis relents on her drive to slaughter the lot, "Alright, fine. We will go in with intentions of peace, but keep your guard up. Be prepared to annihilate them, if their intentions are on ambush."
With Sven's reluctance to ambush the defenders of the keep, Tamesis calls the officers into her quarters and calls for a vote. Should they slaughter the inhabitants or try to reach a peaceful alliance? Tamesis votes to take the tower by force. Kill them, or force them to surrender.
And this is why cooperative storytelling is awesome. :) Colliding mindsets keep things interesting.
Realistically? There is absolutely no reason not to form an alliance, if the terms are beneficial to us. Tamesis is just evil, and sees them as a threat. To her, forming an alliance will result in her being stabbed in the back, because if the situations were reversed, that's what she'd do. She'd rather leave someone she actually trusts in charge. Also, everything dies eventually. The world will drown in flames. Destruction is her purpose.
Tamesis watches the interaction from the deck, happy to let Sven handle the discussions. Once the negotiations are finished, she smirks and pats Sven on the back, "Well done, Sven." She turns to Kel and has him pull the Challenger further out of the harbor so they can prepare. "Looks like you get to play the hostage after all, Baolus. Maybe don't hide your tools in your scarf, though. There are weapons that masquerade as scarves, they may take it just to be safe." Preparation time!: Surprise round is going to be critical. Sven can probably kill one easily, and I might be able to take out another, if we are allowed to keep our weapons.
Urgan: Do you have any spells that can shut down an enemy in the surprise round? Madiya: You have access to one of the best save-or-die spells right now, Hold Person. Kel: Charm Person isn't as good, but still probably useful if you can get it off before they get the save bonus. Just my thoughts on tactics. Anyone else have any thoughts?
"Come with us. Just in case they do let us in, I don't want to have to come get you."
Tamesis takes a long moment to consider before answering, running through possible outcomes in her mind. "We need to be able to get inside. Strongholds are strong from the outside, designed to resit external attacks. If we can get past the bulk of the defenses, we will face a much easier battle. It's not viable to get all of us to the roof entrance. So, we either need to sneak in through to front door, or get invited inside. "I rather doubt we're going to be able to sneak in. It's a stronghold, that front door is probably barred. If it can even be opened from the outside, I'll be disappointed. So I say we try to get them to invite us in. Once we're there, we can launch a surprise attack and wipe them all out. "Bring the Challenger into the harbor. Keep the weapons stowed and fly colors of parley. The lugger can hang back, but keep its weapons stowed, as well."
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