Kotar tosses the spear into the sea and recovers his sword, striking at the unarmed sahuagin and slicing it across the belly.
Archimedes maintains his watch from the sky, notifying Durnham that there are still no new arrivals to be concerned about.
Brandon keeps his cool to attack the sahuagin in front of Ressys and runs it through, leaving a pool of spreading entrails on the ship’s deck.
From overhead, Qidira tries to snipe at one of the mob attacking Ressys. She struggles ot find a safe angle though, and looses her bolt more in hope; it flies far wide and into the sea.
The four surviving sahuagin see that they are now outnumbered, with more sailors reaching deck and the tenacious defenders proving to be a harder opponent than they expected. One of them gives a loud, gurgling shout and all four disengage from the battle, jumping overboard and into the frothing sea below.
The ship’s crew rush to the sides and look for signs of the erstwhile raiders, firing crossbows into the grey water. One, a deckhand called Mallen who you remember for his ribald tales of life on the Menagerie Coast, cries over to you “No sign of them!”
The deck is slick with blood, mostly sahuagin, and the sounds of battle have been replaced by the crashing of the Remorhaz through the ice cold water.
Durnham leans on his staff panting for a moment. He looks around at the remainder of the battlefield as he catches his breath. He’ll nudge the body on the ground in front of him with his boot to make sure it’s dead before leaning down to search it for any belongings. 22 Investigation
Ressys, in wolf form, leaps forward growling as the creatures flee the deck. As he reaches the edge he howls loudly, a final send off for the defeated foes.
His form then begins to shift as the features of the wolf slowly morph back into the shape of the tall Firbolg, his hide armor and fur cloak taking back form. He then stands and the wounds that were upon the wolf form have disappeared and Ressys himself is uninjured.
"That is always a satisfying way to fight, to take the form of nature herself and rend and bite."
He watched in silence as the fishmen jumped back into the sea, escaping as suddenly as they had attacked. The crew tried to give some kind of pursuit by firing their crossbows and soon Mullen shouted that the enemies had disappeared. Kotar waited for a second, then another to finally decide sheathing his sword.
“Anyone’s hurt?” The goliath asked walking through the bloodied deck, half surprised that at the end of the night he had barely been hurt. Nothing but a scratch remained over his skin. A short rest and he could even say that no fight had happened at all. “By the way, nice fight you two.”
He said to Qidira and Ressys. Both of them absolutely destroyed the piscine assailants. Of Brandon and Durnham he could not speak because of the simple fact that they fought outside of his field of vision, but he wouldn’t be surprised to know both of them had their fair share of kills. Maybe I could have got some if I used the big weapons. He said to himself, a little bit disappointed for not falling a single enemy. Well, there are days like that too. Hunting had taught him as much. For now it was far more important to deal with the aftermath.
Durnham nudges one of the dead raiders with his foot, satisfying himself that it is dead before searching the body. At first it seems to have nothing of value, just crude cloth wrappings and leather straps. On closer inspection, however, he notices that the necklace the creature is wearing contains a couple of valuable pearls worth 30gp each.
The sailors at the deck’s edge cower instinctively from Ressys’ wolf form, and only relax slightly as he resumes his firbolg form. Mallen smiles weakly and says “I was so caught up in the attack that I didn’t even notice there was a dire wolf on deck; I’m glad you’re on our side”
The sailors start to clear the deck even before Orsik ascends the ladder to start barking orders. His sword belt is only half-fastened, shirt buttoned unevenly in the rush to join battle. He surveys the scene, satisfied that the crew and passengers suffered no losses.
“Rare to see them this far north, but not unheard of. Might be their tribe is running low on food or other resources. Good work my friends, I can see now why Elro trusts you in the cold wastes of Eiselcross”
He nods respectfully at Kotar and Ressys, give playful thumps to Durnham and Brandon and ruffles Qidira’s hair before heading for the ship’s wheel. Once there he removes the guiding ropes and starts bellowing orders to the crew.
“Come on, you sea dogs! Let’s put some pace on and get out of this area before sharks smell the blood!”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Woohoo!" Qidira cheers from the rigging and climbs down quickly assessing status of the people on board then over to the bodies to sort out usable items and, of course, any potential valuables they may have been carrying, careful not to slip on the the slick deck. investigation7 .
She smiles at Kotar as he strolls the deck checking for injured and givens him the local equivalent to a thumbs up. "Didn't mean to steal you're glory back there, there was quite a group of them at the tail end of the ship and was worried you'd miss it. We sure show'd them!"
As the Captain emerges, she grows quiet and respectful dodging a little out of the way of the ruffle but happy to break the tense mood with a giggle. Promptly followed by moving out of the way or helping as the situation requires. Being sure to gather up any bolts and searching the bodies before they are swept overboard for the sharks as she can without interrupting work progress.
@DM May I get a time of day estimate? And maybe some experience?
Durnham approaches Orsik as Archimedes flaps down to land on his shoulder. “Uhm… does that happen often? Will we need to watch for more of them seeking revenge or maybe uh… something else finding us?”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Brandon walks over to the side of the boat, joining the sailors in searching the dark waters for any sign of the retreating creatures. He wipes the blood off of his sword before sheathing it, and stares in wonder as Ressys returns to his normal form. “That was impressive, you threw them around like rag dolls. The wolf was wounded, are you truly not injured?” He looks around at the others “Is everyone alright?”
Brandon helps the sailors clear the deck, taking the time to search through the bodies before tossing them overboard. Perception 7
@Jynne: It was the start of bunk time when the attack happened, so late evening/night time. No XP I’m afraid, we’re doing milestone levelling)
Orsik scratches his head as he answers Durnham: “Well, not often as such. Many runs we don’t see anything more dangerous than a dolphin, occasionally we get beasts of the sea or air trying to grab a snack. Got robbed by pirates once, nice folk they were. These things aren’t vindictive or resourceful enough to come after us – this was most likely a raiding party and they’ll end up feeding the tribe themselves for their failure”
Nobody is able to find any other information or valuables on the bodies and they are dumped unceremoniously into the icy sea. Orsik addresses as many of you as are still within earshot:
“Now it’s late, I’d recommend you return to your cabins until morning. We’ll leave extra sentries on in case there are other raiding parties”
The Remorhaz ploughs on through the frigid depths, heading ever closer towards the mysterious archipelago of Eiselcross.
Ressys smiles at Brandon. "An effect of the magic. The wounds are of the wolf not of me, so they do not remain. If I am injured and then change shape when I return my previous injuries are still there. It is taxing and so can only be done a couple of times a day and only for a period of time. But still very useful. That is not the only beast I can take the shape of, but is a very useful one, especially for combat. But Orsik is right, time to hit the sack. Hopefully the rest of the voyage is less eventful."
Ressys heads for the cabin and removing his armor rolls up in his cloak to sleep.
Qidira hops down from the crate she was sitting on giving attention the Captain at his reminder of the late hour and heads back to her cabin. Taking shifts with Durnham to get resettled in the room, she carefully lays a couple articles of clothing out to dry as much as possible and climbs back up to her bunk sleeping in others.
Durnham grimaces at the captain’s description of the raider’s fate. “Um… thank you for the warning. I’ll uh… have my friend look to the sky as well for warnings of future attacks again.” He nods to Orsik and then heads back down into the cabin waiting outside for Qidira to ready herself.
He nods to Resyss as he goes towards his cabin. “That was terrifying winter. I’ve never seen a wolf so large. Do wolves that big live out on the ice?”
Brandon nods at the Captain’s suggestion, which is not really a suggestion at all no matter how kindly worded, and heads back to his cabin below decks. He strips out of his chain shirt and takes some time to clean and care for his armor and equipment before climbing into the bunk. He thinks back to the shadows he called before the fight and how they slowed the spear thrust, how had he known to do that?
As he drifts off to sleep, his dreams are visited again by the raven, answering his question and more as it shares some of the secrets of the Shadowfell.
Forgetting that Durnham would likely not have any way of knowing that she was off to sleep, she climbs back down quickly to open up the door to the room again a small bit before climbing back up to her bunk and closing up the draped fabric. Once she hears him come in, she drifts off to sleep.
As you settle down for the night, adrenaline slowly seeping from your system, you hear the crew working at a steady pace to clear the deck and keep the ship straight on course.
Artemis soars overhead, scouting for danger around the ship, but nothing disturbs your sleep for the night. The next morning you rise to a bright sunny day, although still freezing cold and demanding the wearing of thick winter clothing in order to avoid freezing to any bare metal fixtures on the ship.
The morning brings Qidira out bundled up like an over-dressed child again, having poked her head out of the room, then right back in to put on another layer. The only thing visible at the moment would be her eyes as she quickly moves out onto the deck to watch the ship function like a finely tuned instrument. Having retrieved her fishing gear from Durnham the prior night, she tosses a line in the water hoping for similar luck fishing while she scans the waters for more scaly creatures.
Qidira continues to move through a routine of fishing, eating, tinkering and learning as much as she can from the other crew on the ship. Keeping a cautious eye out for more of the creatures as she fishes.
As the days go on, she decides to alter the form of the latest songbird to that of a frog with feathery looking wings, she tweaks and fidgets with it constantly trying to find a way to make it react to tiny insects. Though not having any to test it with, she dangles little string pieces with insect looking creatures on the end of it - put together with bits of string/wire. Eventually it reacts to one and she dances with delight. Although never able to make it truly fly, the wings seem to help it stay aloft a little bit longer. She tucks it away anxious to test it on the real insects that have often pestered at camp. She works on the little lighter and the music box, tuning and adjust it to make the tune longer and longer adding detail as she makes use of the various costume jewelry pieces she's determined lack much value as anything else.
Later one evening after dinner in the Galley, she takes out her dice and rolling them around on the table looks curiously at Brandon. "Care for a game?"
Should the frog be beyond her abilities as an artificer/tinker she could find that it won't react with consistency or was just lucky in her experiments - dm's discretion of course.
Not sure how rules work for dice in 5e, any suggestions?
Durnham grimaces at the captain’s description of the raider’s fate. “Um… thank you for the warning. I’ll uh… have my friend look to the sky as well for warnings of future attacks again.” He nods to Orsik and then heads back down into the cabin waiting outside for Qidira to ready herself.
He nods to Resyss as he goes towards his cabin. “That was terrifying winter. I’ve never seen a wolf so large. Do wolves that big live out on the ice?”
"There are arctic-dwelling wolves as large as a dire wolf but have snow-white fur and pale blue eyes. They are stronger than the dire wolf whose shape I can take. More monster than beast they are, very fierce, a dangerous creature." Ressys answer Durnham.
During their continuing travels Ressys spends his time watching the stark beauty of the sea, and watching for any beasts that may reveal themselves in the sea.
Kotar returned to his room thankful for Durnham’s watchful eye and for the creatures’s timing. Half an hour later and piscine monster would have found him without armor. Not that it would make that much of a difference, considering the attacks he suffered. The creature had taken advantage of the moment between his attacks and neither armor no shield had kept him safe. The last strike then was so uninspired that even the wizard’s familiar would be able to avoid it. All in all, the battle had been a lesson. I need to depend less on the shield, I need to trust more in the larger weapons. It was his specialty, after all.
Sleep came fast and in the following days the goliath kept his routing. Physical training in the morning, weapon maintenance soon after and mental training for the rest of the day. If he managed to dominate the Echo technique, he would be able to both fight with shield on hand while wielding glaive or maul. He was sure of that much.
The strangest part of everything that happened, or, maybe, the most fortunate, is how little the fight did affect their journey. A blessing amidst bad luck, he decided hoping these figurative good winds lasted the whole travel.
Initiative order: Ressys 19, Kotar 19, Archimedes 18, Brandon 13, Qidira 9, Sahuagin 9, Sailors 8, Durnham 4
Kotar tosses the spear into the sea and recovers his sword, striking at the unarmed sahuagin and slicing it across the belly.
Archimedes maintains his watch from the sky, notifying Durnham that there are still no new arrivals to be concerned about.
Brandon keeps his cool to attack the sahuagin in front of Ressys and runs it through, leaving a pool of spreading entrails on the ship’s deck.
From overhead, Qidira tries to snipe at one of the mob attacking Ressys. She struggles ot find a safe angle though, and looses her bolt more in hope; it flies far wide and into the sea.
The four surviving sahuagin see that they are now outnumbered, with more sailors reaching deck and the tenacious defenders proving to be a harder opponent than they expected. One of them gives a loud, gurgling shout and all four disengage from the battle, jumping overboard and into the frothing sea below.
The ship’s crew rush to the sides and look for signs of the erstwhile raiders, firing crossbows into the grey water. One, a deckhand called Mallen who you remember for his ribald tales of life on the Menagerie Coast, cries over to you “No sign of them!”
The deck is slick with blood, mostly sahuagin, and the sounds of battle have been replaced by the crashing of the Remorhaz through the ice cold water.
Durnham leans on his staff panting for a moment. He looks around at the remainder of the battlefield as he catches his breath. He’ll nudge the body on the ground in front of him with his boot to make sure it’s dead before leaning down to search it for any belongings. 22 Investigation
Noob
Ressys, in wolf form, leaps forward growling as the creatures flee the deck. As he reaches the edge he howls loudly, a final send off for the defeated foes.
His form then begins to shift as the features of the wolf slowly morph back into the shape of the tall Firbolg, his hide armor and fur cloak taking back form. He then stands and the wounds that were upon the wolf form have disappeared and Ressys himself is uninjured.
"That is always a satisfying way to fight, to take the form of nature herself and rend and bite."
He watched in silence as the fishmen jumped back into the sea, escaping as suddenly as they had attacked. The crew tried to give some kind of pursuit by firing their crossbows and soon Mullen shouted that the enemies had disappeared. Kotar waited for a second, then another to finally decide sheathing his sword.
“Anyone’s hurt?” The goliath asked walking through the bloodied deck, half surprised that at the end of the night he had barely been hurt. Nothing but a scratch remained over his skin. A short rest and he could even say that no fight had happened at all. “By the way, nice fight you two.”
He said to Qidira and Ressys. Both of them absolutely destroyed the piscine assailants. Of Brandon and Durnham he could not speak because of the simple fact that they fought outside of his field of vision, but he wouldn’t be surprised to know both of them had their fair share of kills. Maybe I could have got some if I used the big weapons. He said to himself, a little bit disappointed for not falling a single enemy. Well, there are days like that too. Hunting had taught him as much. For now it was far more important to deal with the aftermath.
Durnham nudges one of the dead raiders with his foot, satisfying himself that it is dead before searching the body. At first it seems to have nothing of value, just crude cloth wrappings and leather straps. On closer inspection, however, he notices that the necklace the creature is wearing contains a couple of valuable pearls worth 30gp each.
The sailors at the deck’s edge cower instinctively from Ressys’ wolf form, and only relax slightly as he resumes his firbolg form. Mallen smiles weakly and says “I was so caught up in the attack that I didn’t even notice there was a dire wolf on deck; I’m glad you’re on our side”
The sailors start to clear the deck even before Orsik ascends the ladder to start barking orders. His sword belt is only half-fastened, shirt buttoned unevenly in the rush to join battle. He surveys the scene, satisfied that the crew and passengers suffered no losses.
“Rare to see them this far north, but not unheard of. Might be their tribe is running low on food or other resources. Good work my friends, I can see now why Elro trusts you in the cold wastes of Eiselcross”
He nods respectfully at Kotar and Ressys, give playful thumps to Durnham and Brandon and ruffles Qidira’s hair before heading for the ship’s wheel. Once there he removes the guiding ropes and starts bellowing orders to the crew.
“Come on, you sea dogs! Let’s put some pace on and get out of this area before sharks smell the blood!”
"Woohoo!" Qidira cheers from the rigging and climbs down quickly assessing status of the people on board then over to the bodies to sort out usable items and, of course, any potential valuables they may have been carrying, careful not to slip on the the slick deck. investigation 7 .
She smiles at Kotar as he strolls the deck checking for injured and givens him the local equivalent to a thumbs up. "Didn't mean to steal you're glory back there, there was quite a group of them at the tail end of the ship and was worried you'd miss it. We sure show'd them!"
As the Captain emerges, she grows quiet and respectful dodging a little out of the way of the ruffle but happy to break the tense mood with a giggle. Promptly followed by moving out of the way or helping as the situation requires. Being sure to gather up any bolts and searching the bodies before they are swept overboard for the sharks as she can without interrupting work progress.
@DM May I get a time of day estimate? And maybe some experience?
Durnham approaches Orsik as Archimedes flaps down to land on his shoulder. “Uhm… does that happen often? Will we need to watch for more of them seeking revenge or maybe uh… something else finding us?”
Noob
Brandon walks over to the side of the boat, joining the sailors in searching the dark waters for any sign of the retreating creatures. He wipes the blood off of his sword before sheathing it, and stares in wonder as Ressys returns to his normal form. “That was impressive, you threw them around like rag dolls. The wolf was wounded, are you truly not injured?” He looks around at the others “Is everyone alright?”
Brandon helps the sailors clear the deck, taking the time to search through the bodies before tossing them overboard. Perception 7
@Jynne: It was the start of bunk time when the attack happened, so late evening/night time. No XP I’m afraid, we’re doing milestone levelling)
Orsik scratches his head as he answers Durnham: “Well, not often as such. Many runs we don’t see anything more dangerous than a dolphin, occasionally we get beasts of the sea or air trying to grab a snack. Got robbed by pirates once, nice folk they were. These things aren’t vindictive or resourceful enough to come after us – this was most likely a raiding party and they’ll end up feeding the tribe themselves for their failure”
Nobody is able to find any other information or valuables on the bodies and they are dumped unceremoniously into the icy sea. Orsik addresses as many of you as are still within earshot:
“Now it’s late, I’d recommend you return to your cabins until morning. We’ll leave extra sentries on in case there are other raiding parties”
The Remorhaz ploughs on through the frigid depths, heading ever closer towards the mysterious archipelago of Eiselcross.
Ressys smiles at Brandon. "An effect of the magic. The wounds are of the wolf not of me, so they do not remain. If I am injured and then change shape when I return my previous injuries are still there. It is taxing and so can only be done a couple of times a day and only for a period of time. But still very useful. That is not the only beast I can take the shape of, but is a very useful one, especially for combat. But Orsik is right, time to hit the sack. Hopefully the rest of the voyage is less eventful."
Ressys heads for the cabin and removing his armor rolls up in his cloak to sleep.
Qidira hops down from the crate she was sitting on giving attention the Captain at his reminder of the late hour and heads back to her cabin. Taking shifts with Durnham to get resettled in the room, she carefully lays a couple articles of clothing out to dry as much as possible and climbs back up to her bunk sleeping in others.
Durnham grimaces at the captain’s description of the raider’s fate. “Um… thank you for the warning. I’ll uh… have my friend look to the sky as well for warnings of future attacks again.” He nods to Orsik and then heads back down into the cabin waiting outside for Qidira to ready herself.
He nods to Resyss as he goes towards his cabin. “That was terrifying winter. I’ve never seen a wolf so large. Do wolves that big live out on the ice?”
Noob
Brandon nods at the Captain’s suggestion, which is not really a suggestion at all no matter how kindly worded, and heads back to his cabin below decks. He strips out of his chain shirt and takes some time to clean and care for his armor and equipment before climbing into the bunk. He thinks back to the shadows he called before the fight and how they slowed the spear thrust, how had he known to do that?
As he drifts off to sleep, his dreams are visited again by the raven, answering his question and more as it shares some of the secrets of the Shadowfell.
Forgetting that Durnham would likely not have any way of knowing that she was off to sleep, she climbs back down quickly to open up the door to the room again a small bit before climbing back up to her bunk and closing up the draped fabric. Once she hears him come in, she drifts off to sleep.
As you settle down for the night, adrenaline slowly seeping from your system, you hear the crew working at a steady pace to clear the deck and keep the ship straight on course.
Artemis soars overhead, scouting for danger around the ship, but nothing disturbs your sleep for the night. The next morning you rise to a bright sunny day, although still freezing cold and demanding the wearing of thick winter clothing in order to avoid freezing to any bare metal fixtures on the ship.
The morning brings Qidira out bundled up like an over-dressed child again, having poked her head out of the room, then right back in to put on another layer. The only thing visible at the moment would be her eyes as she quickly moves out onto the deck to watch the ship function like a finely tuned instrument. Having retrieved her fishing gear from Durnham the prior night, she tosses a line in the water hoping for similar luck fishing while she scans the waters for more scaly creatures.
Qidira continues to move through a routine of fishing, eating, tinkering and learning as much as she can from the other crew on the ship. Keeping a cautious eye out for more of the creatures as she fishes.
As the days go on, she decides to alter the form of the latest songbird to that of a frog with feathery looking wings, she tweaks and fidgets with it constantly trying to find a way to make it react to tiny insects. Though not having any to test it with, she dangles little string pieces with insect looking creatures on the end of it - put together with bits of string/wire. Eventually it reacts to one and she dances with delight. Although never able to make it truly fly, the wings seem to help it stay aloft a little bit longer. She tucks it away anxious to test it on the real insects that have often pestered at camp. She works on the little lighter and the music box, tuning and adjust it to make the tune longer and longer adding detail as she makes use of the various costume jewelry pieces she's determined lack much value as anything else.
Later one evening after dinner in the Galley, she takes out her dice and rolling them around on the table looks curiously at Brandon. "Care for a game?"
Should the frog be beyond her abilities as an artificer/tinker she could find that it won't react with consistency or was just lucky in her experiments - dm's discretion of course.
Not sure how rules work for dice in 5e, any suggestions?
"There are arctic-dwelling wolves as large as a dire wolf but have snow-white fur and pale blue eyes. They are stronger than the dire wolf whose shape I can take. More monster than beast they are, very fierce, a dangerous creature." Ressys answer Durnham.
During their continuing travels Ressys spends his time watching the stark beauty of the sea, and watching for any beasts that may reveal themselves in the sea.
Kotar returned to his room thankful for Durnham’s watchful eye and for the creatures’s timing. Half an hour later and piscine monster would have found him without armor. Not that it would make that much of a difference, considering the attacks he suffered. The creature had taken advantage of the moment between his attacks and neither armor no shield had kept him safe. The last strike then was so uninspired that even the wizard’s familiar would be able to avoid it. All in all, the battle had been a lesson. I need to depend less on the shield, I need to trust more in the larger weapons. It was his specialty, after all.
Sleep came fast and in the following days the goliath kept his routing. Physical training in the morning, weapon maintenance soon after and mental training for the rest of the day. If he managed to dominate the Echo technique, he would be able to both fight with shield on hand while wielding glaive or maul. He was sure of that much.
The strangest part of everything that happened, or, maybe, the most fortunate, is how little the fight did affect their journey. A blessing amidst bad luck, he decided hoping these figurative good winds lasted the whole travel.
Durnham will head to bed after his conversation with Ressys. He will stay up some to study his books before turning in to get some rest.
Noob