Seraphis looks at the crewmate and nods "By chance did you see a man run down here? He's wanted for child abduction." his grip remains steady on sword and shield as he waits for the man to hopefully be able to point him to the right door to go through.
"Err... not that I know of," the crew member says. Looking inside the room more closely, Seraphis can see that the crewmate is not alone. Despite the commotion on the deck, some crew members are sleeping on their hammocks or beds. "I heard the commotion upstairs, but thought it was just the day crew being rowdy again."
Despite trying to be quiet, the sound of Cob's wings is quite distinct. He can hear no sound coming from the first room on the right. Yet, something feels amiss. The corridor becomes too quiet all of a sudden. Drexon also suddenly cannot hear any more rustling sounds coming from the area. The mage definitely knows someone is trying to find him.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cob sighs then shakes his head.
"Look, you know we're here. We know you're behind the door," Cob says. "We can come in blasting, kill you and finish this, or you can come out, give yourself up, tell us what's going on and we go easy on you."
The crew member looks around in confusion and shakes his head. "All the night crew are accounted for," he shrugs. He then frowns a little. "Well, Timmy was here a second ago before the commotion, but he went out to grab something downstairs. Hadn't returned yet."
The corridor before Cob and Drexon remain quiet before Drexon feels something building up inside the mage's mind. A sense of desperation bleeds out from the previously well-kept mind of the mage, allowing you to pinpoint that the mage is in one of the rooms on the left. The mind quickly fades again as a cold determination fills it before you can no longer locate the mage's mind. You attempt to find the mind again, but you don't have to.
After Cob's taunt, the second ajar door to the left opens by itself. A soft chuckle can be heard as the form of the mage slowly appears in the middle of the corridor. Yet, something is definitely wrong. There is no sense of desperation or any sign of surrender from the mage. Instead, a manic spark fills his eyes.
"Meddlesome brats," the mage curses. He lets out a disappointed sigh and shakes his head. "No matter. This is only a small setback. I am sure the others will be able to pick up the slack. This has been an annoyance at best anyway. I know from the start that the fool from Erdelun was working for his own gain. Your presence here is only proof." He pauses before looking far behind Cob and Drexon. "You want to save the kids? Let's see if you can do it."
Looking more closely at the mage, both of you notice that blackened veins can be seen slowly crawling up the mage's neck as he speaks. His parlour is turning a dark purple as if his very blood has changed colour. Sparks of eldritch lightning, reminiscent of the oppressive feeling you felt before you ended up in this period, travel up and down his legs as his back contorts unnaturally. Before long, his entire body slowly becomes gaseous and arches of lightning pour out of his very pores. With a manic grin, he rushes in a straight line toward the back of the ship. The mage somehow vaporizes himself and becomes a bolt of lightning, keen on blasting anything in its path in his death rattle.
As the mage blasts forward, the room where he came from is wide open. You can spy a body slumped on the wall inside. Papers and books are strewn about on the floor, some of them look important and filled with diagrams of something.
{{I will give Cob and Drexon a choice unless you have some other thing in mind. Make a Dex save or take the full brunt of the damage. If you make a Dex save and fail, a couple of the children may not survive. If you take the full brunt of the damage, all the children will survive. Either way, the ship will be damaged and you will have to rush to save what can be saved before the ship sinks. I will tell you in advance that this is a high damage dice and I rolled the damage already in Discord. You halve that if you succeed the Dex save.}}
Drexon stands rooted to the spot, having found the mage's mind and delved in. But he did not find what he had expected, and such was his focus in deciphering the strange thoughts, it was too late by the time he realised what was happening.
"Open up a path? A path to what?", he mutters under his breath, as the mage's final words and ultimate transformation occur.
Looking past the mage, he sees the body, which might explain some of what he read in the mage's mind, and then the lightning connects with him and he is thrown back against the wall. He takes the full brunt of the energy discharge, and is left barely clinging to consciousness.
(OOC: Drexon chooses not to do the dex Save and instead hopefully ensure the survival of all the children. Depending of course on what Cob chooses I suppose)
Cob finds himself mesmerized by the change in the man's veins and colouring. He's so intrigued by it all that he almost doesn't register what is happening until its too late.
Drexon moving himself into position to take the brunt of the explosion causes Cob to dive to the side, figuring someone was going to have to drag the gambler out of there if things go badly.
While he avoids some of the explosion, the blast of energy still catches Cob hard and almost causes him to blackout. He blinks a couple of times and looks over at Drexon.
Drexon coughs and splutters a bit, and his voice is low and weak as he replies to Cob.
"Barely".
He looks about to see what destruction the lightning bolt caused to the ship.
"We need to find the children, and gather up the evidence. And he was looking for something before he.....", his voice trails off into another coughing fit. He instead speaks into Cob's mind, "He was looking for something important, we need to find it".
He reaches out with his mind to see if there is anyone else hiding down here.
Senni is still on the deck of the ship when he feels the explosion and sees the lightning leave the ship. He shouts back to Lorgar. "There seems to be a situation on board here. How many people can you fit on your boat? You might be getting a temporary crew as well as the children as I trust the captain here when he claims to have no knowledge. He could have attacked us but didn't"
Cob helps Drexon up then darts into the room the suicidal mage just came out of and checks on the body that is in there. Assuming it's dead he looks around for anyone else, or any drawers, cabinets or shelves that don't appear to have been searched yet.
McGee is about to start climbing about the other ship when he hears Senni calling back that this ship may start needing to load passengers... On one hand it sounds like perhaps they found and rescued the kids, on the other hand that could mean space on this here ship could be lacking soon enough. Maybe he should just stay on board here and help the others aboard. If nothing else, it guarantees his spot back home, no?
From the deck of the Cobalt Restitution, McGee and Senni can hear the yell of the captain, cursing to the hells and back as the explosion rocks the ship. Some of the crew of the Cobalt Restitution immediately move to fully unfurl the sail in the hope that the ship can at least survive the journey back to the port. Some others run downstairs to survey the damage, but it is not looking good even from the outside. The lower hull of the ship appears charred with some panelling turning to ash as the explosion happens. Water seeps into the lower deck as the ship rocks.
"Yer ship, can it fit thirty?" The captain of the Cobalt Restitution peered down toward the Everingham. There is hesitance in his question, but Lorgar nods, understanding that he would also be reluctant to give up the Everingham no matter how damaged she is. Yet, the crew's livelihood is more important.
"I'll be right beside you," Lorgar says. "Tell the unneeded crews to board. And the children. Get the children here quickly." He gives a nod to Senni and to Amber. "Prepare for boarding. Set an area toward the bow in case we have some injured."
Amber nods and quickly goes below deck and immediately comes out with some blankets and a healer's bag.
Seraphis, you feel the explosion below as the ship rocks and causes you to stumble to the floor. Most of the night crews immediately wake up with yells and confusion. As you gain your bearing, you hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching you, all the while yelling hurriedly.
"Get your arse on the deck," a rushing crew member shouts. "Explosion below! Cap's planning to evacuate. The others are trying to salvage and see the damage, but they're not confident that the ship will last till the port." The crew member disappears even before he finishes his sentence, rushing to other places on the ship.
Below, Cob and Drexon, both of you can see that the mage's death rattle had damaged the hull of the ship. Some of them have turned to ashes, allowing some water to come in whenever the ship rocks. The ship's ribs seem to creak louder with each passing moment. In the background, the sound of sobbing children fills the lower deck accompanied by the rushing footsteps of the ship's crew rushing to where you are now.
Knowing time is limited before the water damages any evidence here, both of you rush into the rooms and begin searching. Cob, looking at the dead body, you think he was one of the Cobalt Restitution's crew members. His skin appears dried out and pale as if his very lifeblood had been pulled out, yet you cannot see any sign of spilt blood in the room. The body doesn't even have any open injury on it. Drexon, apart from the children and the crews rapidly approaching from upstairs, you cannot feel any other minds in the vicinity.
"Coast is clear, only crew and kids left", Drexon mentally sends to Cob as he enters the rooms looking for evidence and more importantly whether the mage was frantically searching for.
He grunts a little in the pain from the lightning burns as he moves around, but focuses as best he can on the search.
"Sucked the life right out of this poor bastard," Cob thinks back.
Investigation: (20+3) = 23
As he finishes looking around, he calls out loudly "Alright kids, we're getting out of here. Everyone start heading up top. Lots of friends up there and we'll keep you safe."
McGee plays Cruise Director and helps people aboard from the other ship. If they look like they know how to handle a ship he may direct them to the captain for orders, but many he just instructs to find a place to sit and stay out of the way...
Senni will assist with McGee, while also trying to help coordinate people leaving with the captain of the Cobalt Restitution. He also turns to that captain. "Are you planning on going down with your ship? Or are you willing to come with us back to shore? I am willing to testify that you and your crew were unaware of the true nature of the cargo you were smuggling, and despite not actively apprehending the kidnappers, you allowed us to do so without attacking us."
Seraphis just looks around realizing his companions have left and nods to the sailors as he heads back to the deck hopefully to regroup with his companions.
With how cluttered the room is, and with how injured they are, Drexon and Cob have a little difficulty finding anything. However, with a little bit of strong gusts from Cob's wings, some of the detritus parted away to reveal something that the mage was probably looking for. A small journal with an incredibly ornate cover lies partially hidden under the body of the dead crew member. You don't have time to look at it; just take it with you before leaving to get the children out.
A few moments later, Seraphis, McGee, and Senni can see Drexon and Cob escorting 9 children from below the ship. Most of them are well-dressed and you wouldn't expect them to be a victim of a kidnapping if not for how skittish they are.
A prideful glare is directed toward Senni by the captain of the Cobalt Restitution, but it quickly melts into resignation as the children come up to the deck. He hesitates for a moment, looking into the eyes of the crew still surrounding him, and shakes his head.
"Abandon ship!" He yells, and the crew members quickly salvage anything they can and move it to the Everingham. His decision comes in time as the ship is starting to sink and list to the side.
In no time at all, every member of the Cobalt Restitution is aboard the Everingham. Lorgar, with the help of the crewmates, sails a little bit away to not be dragged under by the sinking ship. He let the crews say their goodbye to the vessel before starting the journey back to the port. Unfortunately, with the many additions to the ship, it is moving slowly. It is also not as comfortable with so many people on board. Still, you have survived for another day and achieved your goal of rescuing the children.
{{I cannot remember how many children I said there were. Sorry. But my notes said there should be 10 children. One of them is already on the deck so that left nine coming up with you. If I said any other numbers during your time on the ship or combat, retcon them. Ten total is the correct number.}}
Drexon had given up on finding whatever the mage was looking for and was about to leave the room when Cob comes up trumps.
"Amazing, that's got to be it", he sends across the telepathic link excitedly, but he knows there is no time to waste right now.
When they eventually make it to the Everingham with the kids, he slumps to the deck, obviously fried within an inch of his life and barely holding it together. And it isn't just his body that is suffering, the emotions all around him are quite overwhelming, from the frightened children to demoralised sailors watching their ship sink.
"We did it", he says to Cob, Senni, McGee and Seraphis. "I just hope this means more than just slowing them down", he adds.
(OOC: I believe we learned that seven children were needed for the ritual, and it makes sense to have spares)
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Seraphis looks at the crewmate and nods "By chance did you see a man run down here? He's wanted for child abduction." his grip remains steady on sword and shield as he waits for the man to hopefully be able to point him to the right door to go through.
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
"Err... not that I know of," the crew member says. Looking inside the room more closely, Seraphis can see that the crewmate is not alone. Despite the commotion on the deck, some crew members are sleeping on their hammocks or beds. "I heard the commotion upstairs, but thought it was just the day crew being rowdy again."
Despite trying to be quiet, the sound of Cob's wings is quite distinct. He can hear no sound coming from the first room on the right. Yet, something feels amiss. The corridor becomes too quiet all of a sudden. Drexon also suddenly cannot hear any more rustling sounds coming from the area. The mage definitely knows someone is trying to find him.
Cob sighs then shakes his head.
"Look, you know we're here. We know you're behind the door," Cob says. "We can come in blasting, kill you and finish this, or you can come out, give yourself up, tell us what's going on and we go easy on you."
Persuasion: 18
Drexon carries on moving forward, not relying on hearing to find the mage, but scanning for their thoughts.
He stops short of the first doorway, not wanting to be directly outside it as Cob calls out to the mage.
Special: Concentration on Detect Thoughts approx 50 seconds remaining
Seraphis nods "Would you mind looking around and pointing out if anyone down here isn't apart of the crew?"
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
The crew member looks around in confusion and shakes his head. "All the night crew are accounted for," he shrugs. He then frowns a little. "Well, Timmy was here a second ago before the commotion, but he went out to grab something downstairs. Hadn't returned yet."
The corridor before Cob and Drexon remain quiet before Drexon feels something building up inside the mage's mind. A sense of desperation bleeds out from the previously well-kept mind of the mage, allowing you to pinpoint that the mage is in one of the rooms on the left. The mind quickly fades again as a cold determination fills it before you can no longer locate the mage's mind. You attempt to find the mind again, but you don't have to.
After Cob's taunt, the second ajar door to the left opens by itself. A soft chuckle can be heard as the form of the mage slowly appears in the middle of the corridor. Yet, something is definitely wrong. There is no sense of desperation or any sign of surrender from the mage. Instead, a manic spark fills his eyes.
"Meddlesome brats," the mage curses. He lets out a disappointed sigh and shakes his head. "No matter. This is only a small setback. I am sure the others will be able to pick up the slack. This has been an annoyance at best anyway. I know from the start that the fool from Erdelun was working for his own gain. Your presence here is only proof." He pauses before looking far behind Cob and Drexon. "You want to save the kids? Let's see if you can do it."
Looking more closely at the mage, both of you notice that blackened veins can be seen slowly crawling up the mage's neck as he speaks. His parlour is turning a dark purple as if his very blood has changed colour. Sparks of eldritch lightning, reminiscent of the oppressive feeling you felt before you ended up in this period, travel up and down his legs as his back contorts unnaturally. Before long, his entire body slowly becomes gaseous and arches of lightning pour out of his very pores. With a manic grin, he rushes in a straight line toward the back of the ship. The mage somehow vaporizes himself and becomes a bolt of lightning, keen on blasting anything in its path in his death rattle.
As the mage blasts forward, the room where he came from is wide open. You can spy a body slumped on the wall inside. Papers and books are strewn about on the floor, some of them look important and filled with diagrams of something.
{{I will give Cob and Drexon a choice unless you have some other thing in mind. Make a Dex save or take the full brunt of the damage. If you make a Dex save and fail, a couple of the children may not survive. If you take the full brunt of the damage, all the children will survive. Either way, the ship will be damaged and you will have to rush to save what can be saved before the ship sinks. I will tell you in advance that this is a high damage dice and I rolled the damage already in Discord. You halve that if you succeed the Dex save.}}
Drexon stands rooted to the spot, having found the mage's mind and delved in. But he did not find what he had expected, and such was his focus in deciphering the strange thoughts, it was too late by the time he realised what was happening.
"Open up a path? A path to what?", he mutters under his breath, as the mage's final words and ultimate transformation occur.
Looking past the mage, he sees the body, which might explain some of what he read in the mage's mind, and then the lightning connects with him and he is thrown back against the wall. He takes the full brunt of the energy discharge, and is left barely clinging to consciousness.
(OOC: Drexon chooses not to do the dex Save and instead hopefully ensure the survival of all the children. Depending of course on what Cob chooses I suppose)
Cob finds himself mesmerized by the change in the man's veins and colouring. He's so intrigued by it all that he almost doesn't register what is happening until its too late.
Drexon moving himself into position to take the brunt of the explosion causes Cob to dive to the side, figuring someone was going to have to drag the gambler out of there if things go badly.
While he avoids some of the explosion, the blast of energy still catches Cob hard and almost causes him to blackout. He blinks a couple of times and looks over at Drexon.
"You still with me here," Cob asks.
Drexon coughs and splutters a bit, and his voice is low and weak as he replies to Cob.
"Barely".
He looks about to see what destruction the lightning bolt caused to the ship.
"We need to find the children, and gather up the evidence. And he was looking for something before he.....", his voice trails off into another coughing fit. He instead speaks into Cob's mind, "He was looking for something important, we need to find it".
He reaches out with his mind to see if there is anyone else hiding down here.
Con Save: 13+5=18 (Keeps concentration on Detect Thoughts)
Senni is still on the deck of the ship when he feels the explosion and sees the lightning leave the ship. He shouts back to Lorgar. "There seems to be a situation on board here. How many people can you fit on your boat? You might be getting a temporary crew as well as the children as I trust the captain here when he claims to have no knowledge. He could have attacked us but didn't"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Cob helps Drexon up then darts into the room the suicidal mage just came out of and checks on the body that is in there. Assuming it's dead he looks around for anyone else, or any drawers, cabinets or shelves that don't appear to have been searched yet.
McGee is about to start climbing about the other ship when he hears Senni calling back that this ship may start needing to load passengers... On one hand it sounds like perhaps they found and rescued the kids, on the other hand that could mean space on this here ship could be lacking soon enough. Maybe he should just stay on board here and help the others aboard. If nothing else, it guarantees his spot back home, no?
From the deck of the Cobalt Restitution, McGee and Senni can hear the yell of the captain, cursing to the hells and back as the explosion rocks the ship. Some of the crew of the Cobalt Restitution immediately move to fully unfurl the sail in the hope that the ship can at least survive the journey back to the port. Some others run downstairs to survey the damage, but it is not looking good even from the outside. The lower hull of the ship appears charred with some panelling turning to ash as the explosion happens. Water seeps into the lower deck as the ship rocks.
"Yer ship, can it fit thirty?" The captain of the Cobalt Restitution peered down toward the Everingham. There is hesitance in his question, but Lorgar nods, understanding that he would also be reluctant to give up the Everingham no matter how damaged she is. Yet, the crew's livelihood is more important.
"I'll be right beside you," Lorgar says. "Tell the unneeded crews to board. And the children. Get the children here quickly." He gives a nod to Senni and to Amber. "Prepare for boarding. Set an area toward the bow in case we have some injured."
Amber nods and quickly goes below deck and immediately comes out with some blankets and a healer's bag.
Seraphis, you feel the explosion below as the ship rocks and causes you to stumble to the floor. Most of the night crews immediately wake up with yells and confusion. As you gain your bearing, you hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching you, all the while yelling hurriedly.
"Get your arse on the deck," a rushing crew member shouts. "Explosion below! Cap's planning to evacuate. The others are trying to salvage and see the damage, but they're not confident that the ship will last till the port." The crew member disappears even before he finishes his sentence, rushing to other places on the ship.
Below, Cob and Drexon, both of you can see that the mage's death rattle had damaged the hull of the ship. Some of them have turned to ashes, allowing some water to come in whenever the ship rocks. The ship's ribs seem to creak louder with each passing moment. In the background, the sound of sobbing children fills the lower deck accompanied by the rushing footsteps of the ship's crew rushing to where you are now.
Knowing time is limited before the water damages any evidence here, both of you rush into the rooms and begin searching. Cob, looking at the dead body, you think he was one of the Cobalt Restitution's crew members. His skin appears dried out and pale as if his very lifeblood had been pulled out, yet you cannot see any sign of spilt blood in the room. The body doesn't even have any open injury on it. Drexon, apart from the children and the crews rapidly approaching from upstairs, you cannot feel any other minds in the vicinity.
{{Cob and/or Drexon, make an Investigation check.}}
"Coast is clear, only crew and kids left", Drexon mentally sends to Cob as he enters the rooms looking for evidence and more importantly whether the mage was frantically searching for.
He grunts a little in the pain from the lightning burns as he moves around, but focuses as best he can on the search.
Investigation (with guidance): 6+2+2=10 (Passive: 12)
"Sucked the life right out of this poor bastard," Cob thinks back.
Investigation: (20+3) = 23
As he finishes looking around, he calls out loudly "Alright kids, we're getting out of here. Everyone start heading up top. Lots of friends up there and we'll keep you safe."
McGee plays Cruise Director and helps people aboard from the other ship. If they look like they know how to handle a ship he may direct them to the captain for orders, but many he just instructs to find a place to sit and stay out of the way...
Senni will assist with McGee, while also trying to help coordinate people leaving with the captain of the Cobalt Restitution. He also turns to that captain. "Are you planning on going down with your ship? Or are you willing to come with us back to shore? I am willing to testify that you and your crew were unaware of the true nature of the cargo you were smuggling, and despite not actively apprehending the kidnappers, you allowed us to do so without attacking us."
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Seraphis just looks around realizing his companions have left and nods to the sailors as he heads back to the deck hopefully to regroup with his companions.
Campaigns:
Wildemount: The Felderwin Irregulars (2020) - Balassar Silverstone - Dragonborn Fighter (Rune Knight) Lv. 5 | Rise of TIamat - Aiwin Aralana - Wood Elf Fighter/Ranger (Arcane Archer/Gloom Stalker) Lv. 9
With how cluttered the room is, and with how injured they are, Drexon and Cob have a little difficulty finding anything. However, with a little bit of strong gusts from Cob's wings, some of the detritus parted away to reveal something that the mage was probably looking for. A small journal with an incredibly ornate cover lies partially hidden under the body of the dead crew member. You don't have time to look at it; just take it with you before leaving to get the children out.
A few moments later, Seraphis, McGee, and Senni can see Drexon and Cob escorting 9 children from below the ship. Most of them are well-dressed and you wouldn't expect them to be a victim of a kidnapping if not for how skittish they are.
A prideful glare is directed toward Senni by the captain of the Cobalt Restitution, but it quickly melts into resignation as the children come up to the deck. He hesitates for a moment, looking into the eyes of the crew still surrounding him, and shakes his head.
"Abandon ship!" He yells, and the crew members quickly salvage anything they can and move it to the Everingham. His decision comes in time as the ship is starting to sink and list to the side.
In no time at all, every member of the Cobalt Restitution is aboard the Everingham. Lorgar, with the help of the crewmates, sails a little bit away to not be dragged under by the sinking ship. He let the crews say their goodbye to the vessel before starting the journey back to the port. Unfortunately, with the many additions to the ship, it is moving slowly. It is also not as comfortable with so many people on board. Still, you have survived for another day and achieved your goal of rescuing the children.
{{I cannot remember how many children I said there were. Sorry. But my notes said there should be 10 children. One of them is already on the deck so that left nine coming up with you. If I said any other numbers during your time on the ship or combat, retcon them. Ten total is the correct number.}}
Drexon had given up on finding whatever the mage was looking for and was about to leave the room when Cob comes up trumps.
"Amazing, that's got to be it", he sends across the telepathic link excitedly, but he knows there is no time to waste right now.
When they eventually make it to the Everingham with the kids, he slumps to the deck, obviously fried within an inch of his life and barely holding it together. And it isn't just his body that is suffering, the emotions all around him are quite overwhelming, from the frightened children to demoralised sailors watching their ship sink.
"We did it", he says to Cob, Senni, McGee and Seraphis. "I just hope this means more than just slowing them down", he adds.
(OOC: I believe we learned that seven children were needed for the ritual, and it makes sense to have spares)