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"Call out what you see, crew!" Tsi' commands while pinning the gillman with one boot and threatening him with the pointy end of the trident. "Hako! You big lump! Leave the deck to the deckhands and do what you do best--knock some answers out of this fish!"
"Grab that last gillman! Something is still attacking the boat from below!" yells Tsi'. He swings at the gillman's legs, sweeping his trident.
Tsi' twirls his trident around to strike with divine perception at the grappling gillman.
Tsi' curses. "Shiprot! Otu nne gi!" He pauses, selects a gill-man, preferably one slightly concealed but not too far away, and utters words of divine power while holding his trident menacingly with one hand and feverishly gripping his pendants of Shimye-Magalla with the other.
As soon as the gillmen finish their attack, Tsi' will attack again.
"All hands to arms! For the Bonaventura!" shouts Tsi'kazochi. He moves towards the melee, trident out, then braces himself--literally--for combat.
"Mother of Storms!" Tsi' springs up.
Tsi' smiles beatifically and checks the ship's glass. A good omen. That should put the Cap'n back in sorts. A bit more time until Second Mate or Bos'n goes on watch, then I'll check on our friends in the hold. Once we're clear on deck and out of port perhaps we can let those poor devils stretch their legs, one at a time, he thinks.
Tentatively, Tsi'kazochi turns to the butterfly again.
"Helmsman! Bring 'er out of port! Mind the traffic! You, able seaman, check cargo again and make sure our guests are well stowed! I'll be below in a turn of the gla--" Tsi' stops, his watchstanding commands belayed by the sight of the butterfly. He kneels on the deck and lifts his three holy symbols of Shimye-Magalla to the butterfly, kissing the back of his hand and presenting them to it. "Ocean of Stars," he murmurs. He then recites a prayer in Mwangi. Polyglot:
Goddess of Luck, God of the Sea, Ocean of Stars above us and below, Guide us well in our journey as we return to your bosom. Always returning, always grateful, We delight in your gifts and bend to your whims. Shimye-Magalla, O Two-in-One, We hear your mighty wrath in the teeth of the storm, We hear your laughter in the trickle of all waters that return to you. Shimye-Magalla, we give of ourselves that we may receive you once again. Wave-crest to untold depths, Wind, water, light and dark, Shimye-Magalla, Ocean of Stars, We bow to you. Tsi' takes out his dagger and cuts off one of his locks, braided with white linen as clean and fresh as ocean-caps, and lets it fall off the deck and into the waters. He then turns to the crew. "Be of good cheer, and not afraid. We are blessed this day. Shimye-Magalla! His face is radiant.
Tsi' grins at the half-orcs as they are unceremoniously taken below decks. He breathes in fresh salt air and looks longingly out to the open water, away from the stink of the docks, and goes about his business as ship's cleric: checking water and stores, mending broken items, and so forth. "All's well to cast off here, Cap'n."
Tsi' laughs. "Ah, Captain, the fates are a capricious sort, but we have luck and those two massive half-orcs on our side. The crew has the Bonaventura ship-shape; as soon as our extra ballast arrives, we can push off and be closer to relieving ourselves of this cargo."
"Shimye-Magalla! Guide us to our berths! Ha ha!" Staggering himself, Tsi' barely manages to hoist up Captain Eron and unfailingly leads them North...
"I'm impressed they impressed you," puns Tsi'. "Mother of Storms, I could use that ale." He scans the room looking for his usual devotional objects: winsome females and games of chance.
Tsi'kazochi stands up...all six foot five of him...to wink at the half-orc. He flexes a rather small bicep and grins. "Hako, the fates were not exactly with me this evening...but I assure you, luck tends to follow me--and can help me slip through situations where someone...bulkier...may not be able to follow. If you follow me. It will be good to have you on my ship, although we may need to keep you walking the center by the mainmaist, lest we list hard to port or larboard should you walk towards the side. Ha ha! A great ballast you half-orcs are! Perhaps if we teach you two the Varisian Mirror Dance..." Tsi' mimes two dancers coming forward and back in symmmetry, eyebrows dancing with mischief.
"Make it a quartet of ales, Akh-Met, and all will be well." He nods at Hako and smiles. "You'd think they'd like us filthy half-breeds in this town." Tsi' then busies himself with his shirt, torn across his abdomen, and his cuts. Hand around his devotional objects to Shimye-Magalla, he mutters a mix of words in Celestial and Mwangi that sound like gentle winds on the waters.
His cuts fade and vanish.
Tsi' considers the young man in front of him. "I trust you not one bit, ill-gotten scion, and your supposed motives even less. Run home to daddy before I spank you with the flat of the blade."
He gestures at the lad, sheathing his starknife. "We'll be leaving Katapesh soon enough. Should you meet me on the open water, you'll be out of the range of any protections you may enjoy here. The ocean swallows many a fool; I suggest you steer clear of it."
"Our apologies, Akh-met...we can gladly take this outside," says Tsi' courteously. He reaches for the spiteful and spittleful young man.
Tsi' brandishes the starknife. "Speak true, and you won't find this in your guts...and I shall not strike as shallowly as you did, cur."
Tsi' snarls and rushes after the escaping man, starknife in hand. "Yaahhhh!" he cries, usual cleverness lost in incoherent anger.
Tsi' snarls. "Motherless dogs--taste my starknife!" He drives the wicked four-bladed instrument at his assailant, heedless of the pain in his abdomen.
Shiprot! thinks Tsi'. Instinctively he stands in front of Captain Eron to block attackers and draws his gleaming starknife. "Captain! Bore up and 'ware arms!"
"Two fine wheat ales, if you please, with some of those famous lemons you have in these latitudes. ...and perhaps a little extra honey wine for my Captain here," says Tsi'kazochi, first with a disarming smile, and then a glance at his longfaced boss. Tsi' glances around to take in the sights.
Kanthuun entertains Eron as Jerikal's comes within sight. "Captain! We should enjoy the time we have on shore. It's not like we've seen many nubile maidens out on the high seas, and Katapesh must be full of them! Unless you count mermaids, and if you're asking me, they really should be fish on top and..." He continues his icthyological speculations with Eron, taking in the evening sights.
His mother is a right looker, mused Tsi'. "I have...an errand to run..." Tsi' faded off to the left, whistling.
Also, this
bah, posted as Kanthuun! |