Beothall will attempt more diplomacy. Human, if you will not help then you must allow me to assist them. (Diplomacy roll = 7)
Viri unstoppers an ivory vial and quaffs a sweet, foamy potion. Then she leaps over the deck rail, disappearing from view. Instead of a splash, there is only a spongy bouncing sound when she lands.
The lifeboat is canting wildly near the rocks, about 100 feet from you. You may traverse 30 feet this round.
Aria wrestles with herself, only belatedly realizing that the strange, green-haired girl who was on deck with her a moment ago is now running across the surface of the nearby waves.
Beothall speaks in calm but firm tones to Sasha. Unfortunately, his fatigue, the mind-addling heat and his thick dwarven accent make him a less than ideal negotiator. Behind him, Ishirou stands rigid, awaiting Sasha's reply.
Under the deck, another dwarf is busy trying to escape the sinking ship. Dolph runs into the captain's cabin and shoves the foot locker through the damaged hull. It plunges into the brine and sinks like a stone.
Upon the clifftop, Sasha has formed her response to Beothall, and it consists of a prolonged raspberry. Unfortunately, this provocation was all that Ishirou needed. On Beothall's behalf, the Tian man strikes out with his katana...
...but despite her broken leg, the minx nimbly avoids the gleaming blade. Her eyes flashing with rage, Sasha's hand dives instinctively towards her hip, but her own weapon is not there (Sasha's masterwork rapier is back on the beach).
Viri is heading to the life boat as fast as she possibly can, calling over her shoulder to Aria, I've got another way, hold on as long as you can then head towards me if I don't make it back in time.
Dolph looks down into the choppy water, drinks the potion, which tastes vaguely of chlorine and rubber, and then fights every instinct in his dwarven body in order to jump into the water. It's a moment or two before he can actually bring himself to "breath" the water, and it feels very strange breathing something that tastes so strongly of salt, but after a few seconds, he gets used to it. He lets himself sink to the ocean floor--which shouldn't be a problem given that his lungs are full of liquid--then finds the crate and starts dragging it in the direction of the nearest beach. Between the crate's buoyancy and his own darkvision, it should be a piece of cake (he thinks, thus tempting fate to fart in his face again, as it has been doing since he stepped onto that godsforsaken boat).
With a gaping new wound in her hull, The Jenivere is sinking fast, but her throes are fierce against the greedy sea. The flooded flotsam below deck churns into a lethal whirlpool -- shattered crates and broken chairs, flailing like the arms of a hundred drowning beasts. Above, tatters of flayed sails flap their defiance, as the deck shudders and rises into its final dive.
Failing diplomacy, perhaps negotiation will prevail. Beothall will again entreat this woman into helping with their plight.
I will be able to heal your broken leg if you help me assist my companions...if it is not repaired properly, you will never walk on it again, and will not survive long here
Running as best she can across the choppy waves, Viri reaches the lifeboat at the end of her turn. Next round, she will begin the cumbersome process of pushing it back towards the ship.
Aria remains paralyzed with indecision.
Beothall's carefully worded ultimatum seems to have an effect upon Sasha. She tosses the rope into his hands and slips down off the boulder. "I'll be your pal, baldy, but this a@+$+!&!--" (referring to Ishirou) "--doesn't get off so lightly."
In the blink of an eye, Sasha is now holding Ishirou's katana. Taken aback, the Tian man goes on the defensive.
Meanwhile, on the rocky floor of the ocean cove, Dolph fights to convince his body that he is not, in fact, drowning. He hoists the metal box onto his back and begins staggering over the rough terrain, through the brine towards the shore.
Behind him, the Jenivere crumbles, sending shards of its hull spinning out in all directions.
A collection of bubbles floats out of the sea containing Dwarfish swear words.
Viri is gonna keep on keepin on till she can get Aria with the boat.
Beothall will grunt a thanks out and try to use the rope to assist the waterlogged ones.
[Use Rope check = 14!]
Viridian struggles behind the lifeboat, fighting the waves that seem determined to send it in any direction besides the one you choose. Although your feet remain magically suspended above the waves, the rest of you is soaked through and through with sea spray, and you squint and blink seawater from your eyes, and try to keep your goal in view.
The Jenivere no longer resembles a ship: now, tilted almost vertically, it's more suggestive of a giant snake's tail, lashing about as it is led inexorably to ground. From Viri's vantage on the water, the ship's sole remaining passenger is hidden behind the tumbling mizzen sails.
"Aria!" Viri shouts, "Come towards the boat!" But there is no response. The ship-tail thrashes one last time and disappears beneath the surge.
On the cliff above, Beothall would have had a clearer view, and may have been able to see Aria's position when the ship sank. But he is involved in securing Aria's saffron fabric to the boulder. By the time he has affixed the makeshift rope, and brought the free end to the cliff's edge, there is no one left below to save.
Beside him, Sasha fiercely with her stolen blade. Ishirou sees only the sun's flash on his katana, then looks down wide-eyed to see a spreading gash across his chest and belly.
Sasha clucks her tongue. "Y'see, when people point their swords at me? They kinda sorta die."
Dolph sees none of this, of course. Nor does he see the chunk of timber from the Jenivere's hull as it careens towards him through the murky surf. The blow is softened only slightly by the water.
Dolph gasps in pain--a truly bizarre sensation when you have saltwater in your lungs--and tries to fight the sudden stars in front of his eyes and keep pushing the chest. He can see down here, but there isn't much to see, so he tries to gage which way the beach is based on the motion of the water and whether the sea bed goes up or down (he does up, obviously), all the while preying to the great gods of steel that this stuff he drank lasts long enough.
Viridian stares in shock as the ship sinks below the waves, having seen Aria on the deck she is under no illusions as to what has happened, the swirling vortex created by the sunken ship is near impossible to escape.
Her eyes move from the ship to the cliff and rest on Sasha, the line of her mouth hardening and a flash of anger in her eyes. This woman's antics and irresponsibility has caused the death of a friend, there's no room for mistrust when everyone needs to pull together to survive. Chances are she would cause more deaths down the line, as the current battle above the waves suggests.
For the second time that day she begins to chant an incantation and her fingers flare with multi-hued lights, rushing towards Sasha standing high above.
Blood from Dolph's head wound forms a dark, shifting nimbus in the turbulent waters. The dwarf is stalwart and continues shoving the chest towards the shore...but the taste of his blood in the water attracts a greater threat than drowning.
From in between the jumble of sharp, algae-slick rocks, numerous ochre shapes begin to stir. Faintly through the water, you can hear the clicking of mandibles and claws. Suddenly the ocean floor seems alive with sea scorpions -- the nearest one is less than ten feet from you.
Dolph sloooowly turns to look at the scorpions. He hefts his shield for a moment, readying himself, but then thinks better of it. He's alone, he's not been taught to fight underwater, and he's in these creatures' natural environment. With considerable regret (and faint hope that they can come back for it) he lets go of the chest and moves as quickly as possible up the beach with his shield on his arm (not leaving that behind!). If any scorpions get in his way, he'll bang them with his targ (hence the term "targbanger").
Beo will continue to scan the water for signs of survivors. The one walking on the water and spellcasting seems to be okay, but there were others, and they may still need help. Wait! ...Were those dwarven curses??
[Perception = 14]! (woo!)
The arcane energy spits from Viridian's fingertips, spinning wild like fireworks before striking their target on the side of the head. Sasha careens backwards, dropping the sword and landing in a heap beyond the boulder. She is still conscious, but seems dazed by the unexpected attack.
Ishirou's belly wound is bleeding heavily, and he needs one hand to hold his guts in. The other blood-streaked hand flails desperately towards his fallen katana.
Beothall scans the water, praying for further survivors. Just when he is about to give up hope, his prayers are answered; a gleaming dome, like a giant pearl, is bobbing along through the shallow waters near the beach.
As all eyes turn to watch, the dome rises higher, revealing a pair of bushy eyebrows, then a broad flat nose. Finally Dolph emerges from the surf, a squat cursing Venus, swinging his polished shield to ward off sea scorpions.
Viridian is at least momentarily distracted from her attacks on Sasha (you no longer have a line of sight on her in any case). She cups her hands to her mouth and shouts across the waves to Dolph: "What happened to the chest?!?"
Is still there! We go back for after we kill these things!
Dolph works his way up the beach until he reaches somebody who's on his side. Fighting off the scorpions alone does not appeal to him.
On Beothall's next round, he will cast a Cure Minor Wounds on Ishirou and bandage the slash as best he can [Heal check = 16]
Please stay and watch the woman and try not to move very much. I will help the others.
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Beothall tears a strip from the saffron rope and ties it tightly around Ishirou's belly. The wound is no longer bleeding out, but he still seems very weak. Nonetheless, he scrambles over to Sasha, and snatches his katana from her. She stares at the ground, still dazed.
Ishirou stands up, in obvious pain. "I watch woman. She move, she die." He spits a blood-flecked wad of saliva onto her back.
Beothall, you notice something for the first time: between the shredded strips of Sasha's jerkin, you can see that the pale girl has a tattoo, square between her shoulder blades. It is bright red, and looks like two long insect legs clasped together.
Dolph staggers onto the beach, mere feet from where he awoke, parched and disoriented, only half an hour earlier.
Apart from a few scattered objects, and the demolished bodies of three sea scorpions, the beach is empty. There is no sign of Gelik the gnome or Aerys the half-elf -- nor indeed of Jask, although the shackles that once imprisoned him lie open in the tawny grass, a few feet from the jungle, which looms above you like a living fortress.
You wring the salt water from your sopping beard and turn around. Wavering ochre shapes are advancing through the retreating tide. This is not a safe place.
Dolph peers through the bright light and blinding beach through squinted eyes trying to find someone friendly, or at least humanoid. If he can see Boethall ministering to Ishirou, he'll move towards them as quickly as possible [double-move on rough terrain, I assume], and explain that more scorpions are coming. If the scorpions overtake him, he'll use his shield defensively [total defence] but keep moving to higher, safer ground.