Joren is relieved to hear that all has been quiet other than the two attacks he knows about. Though he wonders if he should be worried that it is too quiet.
In the end, he is not sure. His final conversations while still in Talmouth involve trying to arrange for Jean Lou's remains to be preserved, magically if possible, so they can be returned to his homeland in the Dalmodh Plains to those who knew him best. If that appears unfeasible, Joren pays gold to arrange for an honorable burial for the goliath expat here in Talmouth with his possessions either buried with him or sent back home as seems appropriate.
He tenses when he hears mention of the Khorinian goliaths attacking across the western Veil, and his hand strays to the hilt of the Dunamis Blade, but he remains otherwise stoic, waiting to see if the guardsman responds to Ashley's question regarding how common such incursions are.
As Ashley pulls the group aside to tell them about Vilus following them out of the city, Joren nods, but adds quietly: "Just being sure, though - we are not walking out of the city. We are taking a ship from the docks. Hopefully you are meaning he will find a way to be sneaking onto our vessel?"
"Common? Heavens no. They haven't attempted an incursion since they were rebuffed by the Order of the Blue Lady, and that was before Cambria even became a nation."
Checking the house to make sure it is clear, the guards then help with retrieving items and transporting them to the docks. Once there, Ashley sees that among the crews of people still working to clear the burnt wreckage and debris from the fires that took place days ago, there is one pier and one ship in particular that stand intact. She recognizes where she had worked to clear the worst of the flames that night, and can see the fresh planks of wood used to repair the worst of the damage to both. One of the men she'd seen by the ship that night is aboard the deck. He points the group out as they approach, and nudges one of his fellow sailors. More of the crew starts to appear at the edge, and they wave and cheer down.
A few sailors still on the pier, loading up the last of the supplies, also pause their work and wipe sweat from their brows to watch the incoming group. They make room as Captain Fennel marches the group right up past them, and then signals for everyone to stop. Going alone, he walks up the gangplank where he is met by a tall, bald orc with greenish bronze skin. Both of his tusks look to have been snapped off, and are hanging from his earlobes as accessories. An off-white rag is tied around his head to keep sweat from his eyes. He and Captain Fennel exchange a handshake a a few words before a large pouch of coin is handed from captain of the guard to captain of the ship.
"Come aboard, come aboard!" the orc hollers down. "Welcome to my ship, the Madrigal! Named for the wife I hope someday to have! I'll be your captain, Torm, but you can call me Captain Torm."
Ashley smiles and waves back at the crew on the ship that seems to have survived the best of the situation they dealt with. She's glad something seems to have gone alright due to their presense. Sometimes she wondered if they brought bad luck with them.
She finds she has a bit of trepidation about boarding the ship. With the adrenaline running high before as they fought Marigold and her cult, it wasn't an issue. But now? And knowing they were traveling quite aways, it all became quite a weight for the fire genasi. Water was obviously not her safe space. But she swallowed hard, nodded at the Captain and walked aboard.
The tension in Joren's muscles relaxes slightly as the guardsman confirms that the goliaths have not invaded through the veil this far west any time recently, and that the last time they did cross over, the Blue Lady's faithful drove them back. Yet he can't help but think...
Though that might be giving the Khorinian goliaths all the more reason to ally with Razmus if that is where the majority of the trans-oceanic fleet is going... if they consider the Blue Lady their enemy, then they may be more likely to be making common cause with HER enemy...
Joren notices Ashley's look of slight trepidation as she boards the ship. "Needing no worries, Ash," he drawls in his usual deadpan. "Good news being, if we are tumbling overboard, it's me this Splint armor will be dragging down to the depths while you unarmored types are floating like twigs."
He looks up at the hearty orc with a respectful inclination of his head. "Captain Torm. Glad to be boarding the Madrigal. May we be having, ah... fair winds and following seas." Being from an inland nation, he hopes he got that little saying right...
The warrior begins to scan the shore for anyone that Vilus may be masquerading as so he can allow them up the gangplank.
Captain Torm raises an eyebrow at Joren's expression, but doesn't comment on it. As sailors roll barrels up the gangplank or work on untangling nets and coiling rope, Torm says, "The journey should take us no more than a week or so, weather permitting. I do apologize, while we are proud of our ship, and grateful for its sparing, you can see it is but a humble fishing vessel. We're not as fast as a merchant's vessel, and will be sticking to the coastline. Any of you used to sailing?"
Ashley turns to Joren, mouth agape, and looks at his splint armor in a new light, "Well that doesn't make me feel any better! Maybe you should take it off while we are aboard?"
She tries to focus on the captain's words but most of it doesn't really make sense other than what one could who is ignorant could pull from the words. At his question she has to stifle a guffaw as she tries to find a place on board that keeps her away from the edge and has a seat on the floor.
Samir follows the others onto the vessel, absently clutching at his bag with one hand. He nods at those that await them on board and again at the Captain's question. "I've done a bit of sailing, yes, though not overly much. More often my time on the water has been on the canal itself rather than on the open ocean. But enough to know I don't get seasick, thankfully. any assistance we might be on the journey, you need only ask, Captain. My friends and I are incredibly grateful for your assistance." With that he gives a tight smile and moves further onto the deck, looking around himself at the ship but with a look in his eyes that says that his thoughts are elsewhere.
"Only sailing thrice before including the time you know about," Joren admits to the captain, "and only ever being a passenger or guard, not a deckhand."
He looks ruefully at Ashley, not having wanted to alarm her. "I think even if I am sinking in my armor, swapping with my echo can be keeping me near the surface. I was not meaning to alarm you. If we are hugging the coast, it is seeming fairly safe to me, fishing vessel or no."
Then in a lower voice. "Seeing our missing, Watcher-touched friend join us yet?"
Somehow, Joren suspects that after all this, Vilus is probably standing right behind him...
An amused and familiar voice rings out in your head,
"No matter how quiet you are, I can read your lips, and I'm likely not the only one with that ability. Yes I'm onboard, and I'll remain hidden until we depart."
As he looks round for the source, the ship is being loaded and stocked by a plethora of unfamiliar faces, some of them taking notice of him some simply getting on with their jobs, as it nears completion and they start getting ready to set sail.
Joren knows he can reply telepathically regardless, but can't get an exact pinpoint on where or who Vilus may be.
On the deck of the ship, the smell of fish is heavy but not overpowering. Marion boards the ship last, and looks around with wonder and curiosity. "Well isn't this a grand adventure," she says as the wind blows her shoulder-length hair back.
A man walks up behind her, shirt slung over his sun-browned shoulders, and says, "Might want to doff the armour and keep it below decks. Within a day, all the joints will be gunked up with salt, and I would imagine that to be a nightmare to maintain." Then he walks past her and begins to climb limberly up the rigging.
Captain Torm stands up on the quarter deck and says something to his first mate, who then begins shouting orders to cast of from the dock and let out some sail. The ship starts to slide forward. Back down on the pier, the guardsmen salute as the boat slips past. Back and forth men run, attending their tasks, manning ropes and sails. The captain walks back up to the group and leads them below deck, past rows of hammocks. "I am sorry we don't have more accommodations. You'll have to make do like the rest of the crew. Claim any open bunk. We eat at sunrise and sundown. I've got to get back up top, but if you have any other questions, you can ask my First Mate, Haymitch." Captain Torm starts to tromp back up the stairs as Marion begins to unstrap her greaves and wrap them carefully in her cloak.
Down below with the hammocks, Ashley isn't sure she likes that much better than on the open deck or not. Claiming an open bunk she sets down her pack and tries to settle into her sea legs as they call it. She's sure she has questions to ask of Haymitch, but right now, she's just trying to keep it all together. She is finding the sea life is definitely not for her.
She watches her friends to see if they do anything that might help her settle a bit more as she figures this isn't going to be a short trip.
Joren only shakes his head and grumbles a little to himself, pointedly not replying as he hears Vilus' voice in his head.
The grumbles grow a little louder when he realizes what might happen to his armor if he doesn't keep it stowed.
The bunks, he has no problem with, having slept in tight quarters while on the march, and he guesses he will be fine with the food situation as well for the same reason, but once the vessel is well under way, he does track down First Mate Haymitch to go over the ship's defenses if willing.
Sails are unfurled, and crewmen rush around the deck attending to their tasks as the ship begins to make its way slowly across the bay. Joren finds Haymitch standing on the quarter deck next to the helmsman, shouting out an occasional order to his men. "Ah, Joren, I take it. Defenses? Well we have swords in case a pirate ship tries to board, but the patrols usually keep them at bay, and a fishing vessel like this is not much of a target. Pirates are unlikely to risk lives for some fish when they could score a merchant vessel. That being said... patrols and merchants have been slowing to a trickle, so it's not unthinkable that there could be some hungry and desperate pirates out there. Our first and best line of defence is spotting them. We are small and agile, so if we have warning we can keep distance. Otherwise... well I hope you are as good with that sword as they say." He chuckles. "All in all though, I wouldn't be over worried."
As the ship leaves the bay, the winds pick up and the ship starts to rock as it crests the larger waves of the open waters. Ashley is used to uncertain footing from the burning sands, but somehow the sway of the sturdy wood underfoot is as different from the shifting of sand as can be. (Everyone make me a Dex and Con Save to see how you fare. If both rolls are under ten, you'll have disadvantage on anything using strength or dex)
Joren listens stoically to Haymitch's explanation, grunting noncommittally as to whether he is good with his sword.
"Other than desperate pirates, not to be alarming the crew, but it is always possible we are encountering another cultist ship or two. If that is happening, do not forget. In addition to me and other swords and bows, you are having some short range artillery in the form of my friends."
He settles in for the coming days at sea, not entirely comfortable and a little grumpy, but more or less finding his sea legs.
Malachi leans against the rigging, eating an apple and watching the water slide by as the boat slips away from the dock and picks up the wind. Raised along the Venn Canal, he was no stranger to ships, used to the floating barges and smaller craft that shuttled trade between the sister cities or points further inland and had little trouble finding his sea legs.
His ears perk up as Joren talks with the First Mate, Haymitch, on the ship’s defenses and he makes his way over and asks his own questions. “What do you know of Skaeld Rock? Will we be traveling close by on the way? There are rumors that the cultists have ships in that area as well.”
After the conversation, he makes his way among the crew, making friends and looking for a dice game to join among those off watch.
"Skaeld Rock?" a passing sailor says, crossing his heart. "Cursed place that. If you ask me, those cult bastards are welcome to it."
Haymitch cuts him off. "Not cursed. Don't go spreading superstitious nonsense like that aboard the captain's ship. You'll jinx us all." He turns back to Malachi. "The island isn't cursed, but it is surrounded by some nasty currents. There is a regional storm, the Black Squall that happens from time to time. It changes the winds and currents, and if you get caught out too far from the coastline, you almost certainly end up getting pulled in and dashed upon Skeald Rock. But it's still a bit too early in the year for a Black Squall."
Ashley feels a chill run down her spine as Haymitch describes the Black Squall. They had sandstorms like that, but at least you could find cover back home, though they sure lasted an age. Here... out on this water? What would they do?
That is when she spots it, while she is looking out on the horizon trying to see the land..."Haymitch!! There's something in the water. Um, a lot of somethings and they appear to be fins heading towards us!" she points towards the large fins that are cutting through the water, making their way closer as the twist and swerve.
"Ah damn," Haymitch curses. "Lupoe, go fetch the captain."
"Aye aye," a young man rushing by shouts before running off. A moment later, the captain is out from his quarters. He looks at the sharks and measures the distance. "An inauspicious beginning to our journey. Haymitch, have some men roll 2 barrels of salted fish to the aft of the ship and prepare to dump them if those bull sharks start to threaten the ship. Hopefully they'll take the bait and let us sail on in peace. We'll fish to replenish our stores later if we must."
Malachi leans over the railing, looking over toward the direction Ashley is pointing, and spotting the shark’s fins cutting through the water, the dark shadows of their bodies moving under the surface. “Bull sharks? Surely they are not a threat to a vessel this size?”
He pauses as the sharks grow larger as they close the distance to the ship. “These are a little bigger than normal. They can give boats a nasty bump, stay away from the edge and hold onto something if they get close. Push or scare them away if you can.” Malachi readies himself to cast a spell if the bull sharks get within 60 feet of the ship.
Feeling somewhat naked without his splint armor, Joren squints at the sharks' approach and then at Ashley and Malachi. With a brief nod at Haymitch's diversion with the fish, Joren loops one arm through the rigging and summons his echo 30' from him, just above the water's surface towards the sharks. He draws his Dunamis Blade, ready to attack non-lethally (as he always does with crocodiles, blind cave bears, sharks, any beast). He mutters grumpily:
"With our luck, could be some fishermen unwittingly polymorphing themselves into sharks, as we were seeing with the crocodile in Tensmith..."
Joren is relieved to hear that all has been quiet other than the two attacks he knows about. Though he wonders if he should be worried that it is too quiet.
In the end, he is not sure. His final conversations while still in Talmouth involve trying to arrange for Jean Lou's remains to be preserved, magically if possible, so they can be returned to his homeland in the Dalmodh Plains to those who knew him best. If that appears unfeasible, Joren pays gold to arrange for an honorable burial for the goliath expat here in Talmouth with his possessions either buried with him or sent back home as seems appropriate.
He tenses when he hears mention of the Khorinian goliaths attacking across the western Veil, and his hand strays to the hilt of the Dunamis Blade, but he remains otherwise stoic, waiting to see if the guardsman responds to Ashley's question regarding how common such incursions are.
As Ashley pulls the group aside to tell them about Vilus following them out of the city, Joren nods, but adds quietly: "Just being sure, though - we are not walking out of the city. We are taking a ship from the docks. Hopefully you are meaning he will find a way to be sneaking onto our vessel?"
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court
"Common? Heavens no. They haven't attempted an incursion since they were rebuffed by the Order of the Blue Lady, and that was before Cambria even became a nation."
Checking the house to make sure it is clear, the guards then help with retrieving items and transporting them to the docks. Once there, Ashley sees that among the crews of people still working to clear the burnt wreckage and debris from the fires that took place days ago, there is one pier and one ship in particular that stand intact. She recognizes where she had worked to clear the worst of the flames that night, and can see the fresh planks of wood used to repair the worst of the damage to both. One of the men she'd seen by the ship that night is aboard the deck. He points the group out as they approach, and nudges one of his fellow sailors. More of the crew starts to appear at the edge, and they wave and cheer down.
A few sailors still on the pier, loading up the last of the supplies, also pause their work and wipe sweat from their brows to watch the incoming group. They make room as Captain Fennel marches the group right up past them, and then signals for everyone to stop. Going alone, he walks up the gangplank where he is met by a tall, bald orc with greenish bronze skin. Both of his tusks look to have been snapped off, and are hanging from his earlobes as accessories. An off-white rag is tied around his head to keep sweat from his eyes. He and Captain Fennel exchange a handshake a a few words before a large pouch of coin is handed from captain of the guard to captain of the ship.
"Come aboard, come aboard!" the orc hollers down. "Welcome to my ship, the Madrigal! Named for the wife I hope someday to have! I'll be your captain, Torm, but you can call me Captain Torm."
Ashley smiles and waves back at the crew on the ship that seems to have survived the best of the situation they dealt with. She's glad something seems to have gone alright due to their presense. Sometimes she wondered if they brought bad luck with them.
She finds she has a bit of trepidation about boarding the ship. With the adrenaline running high before as they fought Marigold and her cult, it wasn't an issue. But now? And knowing they were traveling quite aways, it all became quite a weight for the fire genasi. Water was obviously not her safe space. But she swallowed hard, nodded at the Captain and walked aboard.
The tension in Joren's muscles relaxes slightly as the guardsman confirms that the goliaths have not invaded through the veil this far west any time recently, and that the last time they did cross over, the Blue Lady's faithful drove them back. Yet he can't help but think...
Though that might be giving the Khorinian goliaths all the more reason to ally with Razmus if that is where the majority of the trans-oceanic fleet is going... if they consider the Blue Lady their enemy, then they may be more likely to be making common cause with HER enemy...
Joren notices Ashley's look of slight trepidation as she boards the ship. "Needing no worries, Ash," he drawls in his usual deadpan. "Good news being, if we are tumbling overboard, it's me this Splint armor will be dragging down to the depths while you unarmored types are floating like twigs."
He looks up at the hearty orc with a respectful inclination of his head. "Captain Torm. Glad to be boarding the Madrigal. May we be having, ah... fair winds and following seas." Being from an inland nation, he hopes he got that little saying right...
The warrior begins to scan the shore for anyone that Vilus may be masquerading as so he can allow them up the gangplank.
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court
Captain Torm raises an eyebrow at Joren's expression, but doesn't comment on it. As sailors roll barrels up the gangplank or work on untangling nets and coiling rope, Torm says, "The journey should take us no more than a week or so, weather permitting. I do apologize, while we are proud of our ship, and grateful for its sparing, you can see it is but a humble fishing vessel. We're not as fast as a merchant's vessel, and will be sticking to the coastline. Any of you used to sailing?"
Ashley turns to Joren, mouth agape, and looks at his splint armor in a new light, "Well that doesn't make me feel any better! Maybe you should take it off while we are aboard?"
She tries to focus on the captain's words but most of it doesn't really make sense other than what one could who is ignorant could pull from the words. At his question she has to stifle a guffaw as she tries to find a place on board that keeps her away from the edge and has a seat on the floor.
Samir follows the others onto the vessel, absently clutching at his bag with one hand. He nods at those that await them on board and again at the Captain's question. "I've done a bit of sailing, yes, though not overly much. More often my time on the water has been on the canal itself rather than on the open ocean. But enough to know I don't get seasick, thankfully. any assistance we might be on the journey, you need only ask, Captain. My friends and I are incredibly grateful for your assistance." With that he gives a tight smile and moves further onto the deck, looking around himself at the ship but with a look in his eyes that says that his thoughts are elsewhere.
"Only sailing thrice before including the time you know about," Joren admits to the captain, "and only ever being a passenger or guard, not a deckhand."
He looks ruefully at Ashley, not having wanted to alarm her. "I think even if I am sinking in my armor, swapping with my echo can be keeping me near the surface. I was not meaning to alarm you. If we are hugging the coast, it is seeming fairly safe to me, fishing vessel or no."
Then in a lower voice. "Seeing our missing, Watcher-touched friend join us yet?"
Somehow, Joren suspects that after all this, Vilus is probably standing right behind him...
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court
Joren:
An amused and familiar voice rings out in your head,
"No matter how quiet you are, I can read your lips, and I'm likely not the only one with that ability. Yes I'm onboard, and I'll remain hidden until we depart."
As he looks round for the source, the ship is being loaded and stocked by a plethora of unfamiliar faces, some of them taking notice of him some simply getting on with their jobs, as it nears completion and they start getting ready to set sail.
Joren knows he can reply telepathically regardless, but can't get an exact pinpoint on where or who Vilus may be.
On the deck of the ship, the smell of fish is heavy but not overpowering. Marion boards the ship last, and looks around with wonder and curiosity. "Well isn't this a grand adventure," she says as the wind blows her shoulder-length hair back.
A man walks up behind her, shirt slung over his sun-browned shoulders, and says, "Might want to doff the armour and keep it below decks. Within a day, all the joints will be gunked up with salt, and I would imagine that to be a nightmare to maintain." Then he walks past her and begins to climb limberly up the rigging.
Captain Torm stands up on the quarter deck and says something to his first mate, who then begins shouting orders to cast of from the dock and let out some sail. The ship starts to slide forward. Back down on the pier, the guardsmen salute as the boat slips past. Back and forth men run, attending their tasks, manning ropes and sails. The captain walks back up to the group and leads them below deck, past rows of hammocks. "I am sorry we don't have more accommodations. You'll have to make do like the rest of the crew. Claim any open bunk. We eat at sunrise and sundown. I've got to get back up top, but if you have any other questions, you can ask my First Mate, Haymitch." Captain Torm starts to tromp back up the stairs as Marion begins to unstrap her greaves and wrap them carefully in her cloak.
Down below with the hammocks, Ashley isn't sure she likes that much better than on the open deck or not. Claiming an open bunk she sets down her pack and tries to settle into her sea legs as they call it. She's sure she has questions to ask of Haymitch, but right now, she's just trying to keep it all together. She is finding the sea life is definitely not for her.
She watches her friends to see if they do anything that might help her settle a bit more as she figures this isn't going to be a short trip.
Joren only shakes his head and grumbles a little to himself, pointedly not replying as he hears Vilus' voice in his head.
The grumbles grow a little louder when he realizes what might happen to his armor if he doesn't keep it stowed.
The bunks, he has no problem with, having slept in tight quarters while on the march, and he guesses he will be fine with the food situation as well for the same reason, but once the vessel is well under way, he does track down First Mate Haymitch to go over the ship's defenses if willing.
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court
Sails are unfurled, and crewmen rush around the deck attending to their tasks as the ship begins to make its way slowly across the bay. Joren finds Haymitch standing on the quarter deck next to the helmsman, shouting out an occasional order to his men. "Ah, Joren, I take it. Defenses? Well we have swords in case a pirate ship tries to board, but the patrols usually keep them at bay, and a fishing vessel like this is not much of a target. Pirates are unlikely to risk lives for some fish when they could score a merchant vessel. That being said... patrols and merchants have been slowing to a trickle, so it's not unthinkable that there could be some hungry and desperate pirates out there. Our first and best line of defence is spotting them. We are small and agile, so if we have warning we can keep distance. Otherwise... well I hope you are as good with that sword as they say." He chuckles. "All in all though, I wouldn't be over worried."
As the ship leaves the bay, the winds pick up and the ship starts to rock as it crests the larger waves of the open waters. Ashley is used to uncertain footing from the burning sands, but somehow the sway of the sturdy wood underfoot is as different from the shifting of sand as can be. (Everyone make me a Dex and Con Save to see how you fare. If both rolls are under ten, you'll have disadvantage on anything using strength or dex)
Joren listens stoically to Haymitch's explanation, grunting noncommittally as to whether he is good with his sword.
"Other than desperate pirates, not to be alarming the crew, but it is always possible we are encountering another cultist ship or two. If that is happening, do not forget. In addition to me and other swords and bows, you are having some short range artillery in the form of my friends."
He settles in for the coming days at sea, not entirely comfortable and a little grumpy, but more or less finding his sea legs.
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court
Malachi leans against the rigging, eating an apple and watching the water slide by as the boat slips away from the dock and picks up the wind. Raised along the Venn Canal, he was no stranger to ships, used to the floating barges and smaller craft that shuttled trade between the sister cities or points further inland and had little trouble finding his sea legs.
His ears perk up as Joren talks with the First Mate, Haymitch, on the ship’s defenses and he makes his way over and asks his own questions. “What do you know of Skaeld Rock? Will we be traveling close by on the way? There are rumors that the cultists have ships in that area as well.”
After the conversation, he makes his way among the crew, making friends and looking for a dice game to join among those off watch.
"Skaeld Rock?" a passing sailor says, crossing his heart. "Cursed place that. If you ask me, those cult bastards are welcome to it."
Haymitch cuts him off. "Not cursed. Don't go spreading superstitious nonsense like that aboard the captain's ship. You'll jinx us all." He turns back to Malachi. "The island isn't cursed, but it is surrounded by some nasty currents. There is a regional storm, the Black Squall that happens from time to time. It changes the winds and currents, and if you get caught out too far from the coastline, you almost certainly end up getting pulled in and dashed upon Skeald Rock. But it's still a bit too early in the year for a Black Squall."
(Everyone give me a perception check)
Ashley feels a chill run down her spine as Haymitch describes the Black Squall. They had sandstorms like that, but at least you could find cover back home, though they sure lasted an age. Here... out on this water? What would they do?
That is when she spots it, while she is looking out on the horizon trying to see the land..."Haymitch!! There's something in the water. Um, a lot of somethings and they appear to be fins heading towards us!" she points towards the large fins that are cutting through the water, making their way closer as the twist and swerve.
"Ah damn," Haymitch curses. "Lupoe, go fetch the captain."
"Aye aye," a young man rushing by shouts before running off. A moment later, the captain is out from his quarters. He looks at the sharks and measures the distance. "An inauspicious beginning to our journey. Haymitch, have some men roll 2 barrels of salted fish to the aft of the ship and prepare to dump them if those bull sharks start to threaten the ship. Hopefully they'll take the bait and let us sail on in peace. We'll fish to replenish our stores later if we must."
Malachi leans over the railing, looking over toward the direction Ashley is pointing, and spotting the shark’s fins cutting through the water, the dark shadows of their bodies moving under the surface. “Bull sharks? Surely they are not a threat to a vessel this size?”
He pauses as the sharks grow larger as they close the distance to the ship. “These are a little bigger than normal. They can give boats a nasty bump, stay away from the edge and hold onto something if they get close. Push or scare them away if you can.” Malachi readies himself to cast a spell if the bull sharks get within 60 feet of the ship.
Feeling somewhat naked without his splint armor, Joren squints at the sharks' approach and then at Ashley and Malachi. With a brief nod at Haymitch's diversion with the fish, Joren loops one arm through the rigging and summons his echo 30' from him, just above the water's surface towards the sharks. He draws his Dunamis Blade, ready to attack non-lethally (as he always does with crocodiles, blind cave bears, sharks, any beast). He mutters grumpily:
"With our luck, could be some fishermen unwittingly polymorphing themselves into sharks, as we were seeing with the crocodile in Tensmith..."
Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall| Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles| Xarian(Fighter1):NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil| Soren(Druid5):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft| Nivi(Rogue4):Raiketsu's CoS| Ophelia(Sorcerer3):Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request| Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return| Sabetha(Monk3):Bedlymn's Murder Court