As Chatcho stands next to Branch and she starts getting the feeling of dread, she leans over and under her breath, "Something isn't right. This man, no, something is definitely off. Warn the others with that special talent of yours."
She steps forward, towards Philip to be next to Aluve, "Troublesome, you say? What do you mean by that? Please, do tell us more about this place. We're actually fine right here and since we've apparently joined with your ship, let's have this discussion now, shall we? Because you're right, we are curious as to where we are and honestly, who you are. Such as, why don't we start with why you have prisoners aboard your ship?"
Aluve starts to become frustrated with the man. As he about to speak Branch steps up and beings a line of questioning. A proud smirk begins to crawl across his face for her boldness. He turns back to Chatcho and give him a nod of understanding, letting him know he understood their suspicion and they were on the same page. After Branch shot her questions Aluve adds...
"There is not going to be a situation at this point where we come with you. We are not your average crew. We do not require your protection. Please answer my friends questions."
Han glances nervously between the crew opposite them and the prisoners on their deck. Pulling out his lute and just lightly strumming a gentle tune he wait with baited breath for the man answer to Branches questions rather curious and nervous about the current situation but at the ready. Keeping an eye on the rest of the crew’s movements trying to gage if they’ll become hostile or not.
A thin smile spreads across Phillip's lip. Across the small gap, his crew grow noticeably uneasy, some of them not-so-subtly reach for or move to stand near tools that could be used as weapons at a moment's notice. "Saboteurs." He pronounces slowly, without even looking at the prisoners in question. "I told you, there are savages in those woods. Just so happens that my crew and I caught a few of them trying to sneak aboard a few nights ago. It's why we're here, you understand? We believe they have some kind of camp up here." His tone turning sour, and a frown appearing on his face, he continues, "People keep going missing."
Finally, he half-turns to look at the two prisoners tied where they are. "It's a damned shame. For what we know, they used to be just like you or I. Uprooted from their lives, and stolen away to this strange place. But something happened with them, they lost all sense of decency. There are a few villages along the river, we travel it and try to bring trade and safety where we go. But do they want to trade, pay or barter? No!" He spits in the prisoner's general direction, and turns back to Aluve and Branch. "Instead they raid and pillage and burn, and do their utmost to steal what is ours, and destroy what they cannot." The woman struggles at her bonds now again, incensed by the man's accusations. A frustrated, muffled cry reaches their ears from underneath her gag.
Allowing a moment of pause for his revelations to sink in, Phillip then speaks again. "You have made your stance clear, and I understand. I fear, however, that you might not understand yourself. There is nothing up here. We stand now at the edge of the known world, if you turn around and travel upstream you will find nothing but dangerous wilderness for as many leagues as your supplies will carry you. If you continue your current heading, back downstream, you will eventually reach civilization, but without me they won't open the gates for you for the fear that you will attack. You'll be stuck between here and the savage nothing. So please, I ask only once more. I implore you to see reason. We are not your enemy, and I want nothing but to see you saved from this wilderness."
Hanson watches the man speak, trying to judge what his true intentions are, and comes to the sour conclusion that he's hiding something. For what it's worth, he seems genuinely interested in helping them, or at least not harming them, but there's more to it that he simply refuses to address. His crew's unease subsides slowly as he speaks, many of them releasing the grip they'd taken on their weapons. They seem more wary than hostile, none of them will make the first move, but they will follow their captain and defend themselves if need be.
Aluve paused for a minute. He feels deep down that these prisoners could just be free people, trying to fight back against an oppressive invader forcing their way across the land. He knows they have few options though and they couldn't really do anything from where they were.
"Give me a second please Captain Phillip, I need to discuss this with my friends over here....Jack, I need you to stand down for a minute, dont say or promise anything to these people.
Aluve turns away to find the others in the party. " I am not convinced that this guy is 100% genuine or can be trusted....but we are not in the best situation here....yes we can survive, but we dont have any idea where we are. What should we do?"
Branch smiles as they all huddle together trying to figure things out. "Well it seems to me, unless he is outright lying, he has already told us what we need to know. Upstream there is nothing, downstream there is civilization. I am also wondering why he wants nothing but to see us saved from the wilderness? I do not trust this man at all, honestly I would like to hear from the prisoners."
She is quiet a moment, then asks "Think there is any way for you all to distract the crew while I try and free the woman? She obviously has something to say." Branch then turns to Chatcho, "Or can you communicate both ways? Can you ask her telepathically? Or can you only tell people things, not get responses? Sorry not sure how that all works." she says kind of looking him up and down.
"In general though? My vote is that we cannot trust this man. Basically, he makes my skin crawl. Did you see how the rest of the crew was just about ready to attack? What was that all about?"
"Agreed, I don't like the idea of going into a fortress where we are at their mercy, at least out here if a fight broke out we would have a much better chance at winning....in fact I feel like we have the upper hand. Perhaps we can make some demands.....I like the idea Branch had. Is that something you can do Chatcho?"
Archibald steps up. "Let me do it. I don't understand much of what's going on, but I can do this. I only know that if we go through this gate he mentions, we will be trapped as much as protected. Free the woman. Save her from the clutches of this man if you think he's wicked."
Archibald steps up the captain, clearing his throat. "We are in need of trade, as a matter of fact, and you are one for trade, yes? Show me what you have. And a map. And perhaps something to drink. I happen to be a duke's son, you know, so I don't care for the stench of criminals. Where is your cabin?"
He heads across to the other ship, like he owns the place.
Chatcho exaggerates a deep breath and strokes his illusory beard, careful not to pierce the illusion. He responds to Aluve and Branch.
She needs to be willing to accept me into her chak/holds knowledge/mind. Assuming she is, she would then need to be proficient in chaka/mind-power/The Way to respond. I suppose I can ask for a sign...
Chatco holds an illusory human finger up to signify a moment is needed. He chooses the longest one, the middle, to connote the importance of his task. He reaches out to the female captive as Archibald heads toward her ship.
Hello, Dras/female-who-requires-sleep/foreign woman. My g'tok-dra/mixed clutch with those-who-rely-on-sleep/distinguished party and I are not convinced you are justifiably bound. Please make eye contact with me, the tall, bearded, draj/male-who-requires-sleep/foreign man if you can hear me.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As Chatcho basically gives the group the bird, Branch is busting a gut inside, but does a fairly good job keeping it inside. Figuring that the woman, even if she can understand the bug-man, she wouldn’t be able to communicate back, she starts formulating a plan on how to sneak around the rest and get over there.
As Archibald declares his plan, she slips out of the group and over to the side and as she is trying to figure out the best way, Archibald boldly walks over in the midst of their group and gives a perfect distraction. Smiling, she moves ahead with her plan. She sneaks up behind the woman prisoner, and attempts to free her, starting with removing her gag.
(going to do the stealth check first, and once there - if she makes it - let me know what we’re looking at to see what Branch can do?)
Aluve casts Misty Step, He disappears in a mist and reappears near the prisoners and Branch. He pulls out his dagger and attempts to free one of the prisoners.
As Archibald tries to step past, Phillip reaches out to grab his arm and hold him back before he can cross over. "Cabin?" The man scoffs, gesturing across his ship, "There be no cabin, if you want to sit and talk prices we'll have to move to yours." His gesturing then extends to The Berronar's aft cabin, notably where Zue, their own prisoner, was being kept. Branch seizes the moment, with most everyone now gazing towards the rear of the ship, she moves to the forward section and crosses over. Moving in the opposite direction as they had been, she steps from the forward quarter of The Berronar to the aft quarter of the stranger's ship. Unfortunately, she misjudges the distance and the sound of her boot striking the stranger's deck rings out with a hollow thud.
One of the strangers--a man who had been seemingly guarding the prisoners--turns to look at her, confused. It seems to take him a moment to recognize what has happened, and Aluve makes his move then. A cloud of mist, not entirely unlike what had swallowed the ship during the night, envelops him. An identical cloud forms behind the sailor that had noticed Branch, and Aluve steps out of it, wasting no time in slashing the restraints of the nearest, the woman.
Before he can move on to the other prisoner one of her arms grabs onto his shoulder while the other pulls the gag free. She looks him in the eye and speaks in a strange, lilting accent, "Escape this vessel. I can take care of him." At the sound of her speech, Branch can see the sailor's expression adopt a grim horror. He clearly recognizes the speaker and immediately turns around to face her and Aluve, reaching for an axe stashed in his belt. His weapon doesn't even clear the belt, however, before she speaks again.
"Ekarflautr adurna owaise gath."
As they had with Zue, the unmistakable words of power seem to thrum with energy, echoing in the air and branding itself in the minds of all present. Immediately, the world answers the call. The ships buck violently, wooden railings splintering as the two hulking masses grind against each other, and then strain apart. Some force pushes up from underneath, forcing the two ships to pull at their restraints, threatening to snap at any minute and allow the two ships to separate, stranding anyone on the wrong side. Thrown to the floor by the sudden motion, Phillip stands back up as quick as he can, and races for the safety of his own ship, determined not to be stuck on the wrong side of the divide. The man who had joined him on the Berronar does much the same thing.
Chatcho reaches inside his component pouch for rose petals. No, I'd risk putting the clutch tosleep. Chatcho begins the somatic motions to summon magic missile. I don't think I want to end their knowledge. Stumped, Chatcho self-consciously rubs the back of his thorax breaking and ultimately dropping the human guise.
Branch's eyes widen as she hears the foreign words spoken from the prisoner and the reaction thereafter. Man, I hope we didn't just doom us all... She looks at Aluve, nods sharply in agreement, and runs as fast as she can over to their ship, wondering what is going to happen next.
Han untrusting of the captain and his crew reacts slowly lost at the sudden action of the group. Grabbing a rope near by ready to throw it out to Aluve or Branch if they need help getting back to the ship.
Phillip flings himself over the two damaged railings even as Aluve and Branch cross in the other direction. Still reeling from the sudden movement, the two crews can only turn to watch each other as, finally, the two ships separate with sounds of rope snapping, and wood splintering. People are sent sprawling to the deck. For a moment, it seems as if the two prisoners would be left behind on the stranger's ship after all. But as the crews of both ships recovered from all the violent motion, she reached and and grabbed hold of the other, and spoke more words that the air failed to carry over the distance suddenly created between them.
Then, much in the same way Aluve had, the two of them emerged from a mist that formed on The Berronar's deck. A single beat of the heart later, a thunderclap swept over. Some explosion had taken place the moment the two prisoners left. Men fell from the deck, and the tarpaulin shelter had been destroyed. The tarp fluttered loosely in the air, the wood around the area splintered and broken.
Finally spent, the woman nearly collapses where she stands, breathing heavily. Her compatriot holds her up, however, even as he removes his own gag. "Haul the anchor!"He cries, in the same strange accent as the woman, "Hoist the sail! It will take them a minute, but they'll be coming back for us!" Taken aback, the crew look to Jack, who in turn, looks to the rest of the party, dumb-struck. Still panting and noticing his hesitance, the woman lifts her head to finally lock eyes with Chatcho, and a message sears itself into his mind, blowing past his every defense.
It is crude, compared to the careful and gentle methods of his own mind. For the brief moment they are connected, he can feel the ache in her every joint, the strain of her muscles and the rope-burn on her wrists, all dulled by the extensive exhaustion that grips her. Then the feeling is gone and the message comes, ringing like a gong in his head.
We must flee, they want to steal your ekarflautr/oak-float/boat. They will kill us all this time, we have proven too difficult to manage. Please, usven chetowa/sage of the unsight/illusionist, convince them to flee!
Branch, usually is pretty good at handling the unknown, is a bit freaked out about the current circumstance. As the prisoners suddenly appear on their deck she isn't sure what to do, she stands at attention and ready for anything that might attack, but worried it is going to be something that she won't be able to handle. When the woman says they will be coming back for us, that really gets her moving, and she looks for Jack, hoping they are in motion as things progress.
She looks around and makes sure that all of her new, well crew, is with her. Seeing that, she breathes a sigh of relief and waits for the next action that is needed.
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As Chatcho stands next to Branch and she starts getting the feeling of dread, she leans over and under her breath, "Something isn't right. This man, no, something is definitely off. Warn the others with that special talent of yours."
She steps forward, towards Philip to be next to Aluve, "Troublesome, you say? What do you mean by that? Please, do tell us more about this place. We're actually fine right here and since we've apparently joined with your ship, let's have this discussion now, shall we? Because you're right, we are curious as to where we are and honestly, who you are. Such as, why don't we start with why you have prisoners aboard your ship?"
Aluve starts to become frustrated with the man. As he about to speak Branch steps up and beings a line of questioning. A proud smirk begins to crawl across his face for her boldness. He turns back to Chatcho and give him a nod of understanding, letting him know he understood their suspicion and they were on the same page. After Branch shot her questions Aluve adds...
"There is not going to be a situation at this point where we come with you. We are not your average crew. We do not require your protection. Please answer my friends questions."
Han glances nervously between the crew opposite them and the prisoners on their deck. Pulling out his lute and just lightly strumming a gentle tune he wait with baited breath for the man answer to Branches questions rather curious and nervous about the current situation but at the ready. Keeping an eye on the rest of the crew’s movements trying to gage if they’ll become hostile or not.
Perception: 19
Insight: 19
A thin smile spreads across Phillip's lip. Across the small gap, his crew grow noticeably uneasy, some of them not-so-subtly reach for or move to stand near tools that could be used as weapons at a moment's notice. "Saboteurs." He pronounces slowly, without even looking at the prisoners in question. "I told you, there are savages in those woods. Just so happens that my crew and I caught a few of them trying to sneak aboard a few nights ago. It's why we're here, you understand? We believe they have some kind of camp up here." His tone turning sour, and a frown appearing on his face, he continues, "People keep going missing."
Finally, he half-turns to look at the two prisoners tied where they are. "It's a damned shame. For what we know, they used to be just like you or I. Uprooted from their lives, and stolen away to this strange place. But something happened with them, they lost all sense of decency. There are a few villages along the river, we travel it and try to bring trade and safety where we go. But do they want to trade, pay or barter? No!" He spits in the prisoner's general direction, and turns back to Aluve and Branch. "Instead they raid and pillage and burn, and do their utmost to steal what is ours, and destroy what they cannot." The woman struggles at her bonds now again, incensed by the man's accusations. A frustrated, muffled cry reaches their ears from underneath her gag.
Allowing a moment of pause for his revelations to sink in, Phillip then speaks again. "You have made your stance clear, and I understand. I fear, however, that you might not understand yourself. There is nothing up here. We stand now at the edge of the known world, if you turn around and travel upstream you will find nothing but dangerous wilderness for as many leagues as your supplies will carry you. If you continue your current heading, back downstream, you will eventually reach civilization, but without me they won't open the gates for you for the fear that you will attack. You'll be stuck between here and the savage nothing. So please, I ask only once more. I implore you to see reason. We are not your enemy, and I want nothing but to see you saved from this wilderness."
Hanson watches the man speak, trying to judge what his true intentions are, and comes to the sour conclusion that he's hiding something. For what it's worth, he seems genuinely interested in helping them, or at least not harming them, but there's more to it that he simply refuses to address. His crew's unease subsides slowly as he speaks, many of them releasing the grip they'd taken on their weapons. They seem more wary than hostile, none of them will make the first move, but they will follow their captain and defend themselves if need be.
Aluve paused for a minute. He feels deep down that these prisoners could just be free people, trying to fight back against an oppressive invader forcing their way across the land. He knows they have few options though and they couldn't really do anything from where they were.
"Give me a second please Captain Phillip, I need to discuss this with my friends over here....Jack, I need you to stand down for a minute, dont say or promise anything to these people.
Aluve turns away to find the others in the party. " I am not convinced that this guy is 100% genuine or can be trusted....but we are not in the best situation here....yes we can survive, but we dont have any idea where we are. What should we do?"
Branch smiles as they all huddle together trying to figure things out. "Well it seems to me, unless he is outright lying, he has already told us what we need to know. Upstream there is nothing, downstream there is civilization. I am also wondering why he wants nothing but to see us saved from the wilderness? I do not trust this man at all, honestly I would like to hear from the prisoners."
She is quiet a moment, then asks "Think there is any way for you all to distract the crew while I try and free the woman? She obviously has something to say." Branch then turns to Chatcho, "Or can you communicate both ways? Can you ask her telepathically? Or can you only tell people things, not get responses? Sorry not sure how that all works." she says kind of looking him up and down.
"In general though? My vote is that we cannot trust this man. Basically, he makes my skin crawl. Did you see how the rest of the crew was just about ready to attack? What was that all about?"
"Agreed, I don't like the idea of going into a fortress where we are at their mercy, at least out here if a fight broke out we would have a much better chance at winning....in fact I feel like we have the upper hand. Perhaps we can make some demands.....I like the idea Branch had. Is that something you can do Chatcho?"
Archibald steps up. "Let me do it. I don't understand much of what's going on, but I can do this. I only know that if we go through this gate he mentions, we will be trapped as much as protected. Free the woman. Save her from the clutches of this man if you think he's wicked."
Archibald steps up the captain, clearing his throat. "We are in need of trade, as a matter of fact, and you are one for trade, yes? Show me what you have. And a map. And perhaps something to drink. I happen to be a duke's son, you know, so I don't care for the stench of criminals. Where is your cabin?"
He heads across to the other ship, like he owns the place.
Deception? 19
Paladin - warforged - orange
Chatcho exaggerates a deep breath and strokes his illusory beard, careful not to pierce the illusion. He responds to Aluve and Branch.
She needs to be willing to accept me into her chak/holds knowledge/mind. Assuming she is, she would then need to be proficient in chaka/mind-power/The Way to respond. I suppose I can ask for a sign...
Chatco holds an illusory human finger up to signify a moment is needed. He chooses the longest one, the middle, to connote the importance of his task. He reaches out to the female captive as Archibald heads toward her ship.
Hello, Dras/female-who-requires-sleep/foreign woman. My g'tok-dra/mixed clutch with those-who-rely-on-sleep/distinguished party and I are not convinced you are justifiably bound. Please make eye contact with me, the tall, bearded, draj/male-who-requires-sleep/foreign man if you can hear me.
As Chatcho basically gives the group the bird, Branch is busting a gut inside, but does a fairly good job keeping it inside. Figuring that the woman, even if she can understand the bug-man, she wouldn’t be able to communicate back, she starts formulating a plan on how to sneak around the rest and get over there.
As Archibald declares his plan, she slips out of the group and over to the side and as she is trying to figure out the best way, Archibald boldly walks over in the midst of their group and gives a perfect distraction. Smiling, she moves ahead with her plan. She sneaks up behind the woman prisoner, and attempts to free her, starting with removing her gag.
(going to do the stealth check first, and once there - if she makes it - let me know what we’re looking at to see what Branch can do?)
Stealth 12
Aluve casts Misty Step, He disappears in a mist and reappears near the prisoners and Branch. He pulls out his dagger and attempts to free one of the prisoners.
Roll Slight of Hand/Stealth : Natural 20 + 1 = 21
As Archibald tries to step past, Phillip reaches out to grab his arm and hold him back before he can cross over. "Cabin?" The man scoffs, gesturing across his ship, "There be no cabin, if you want to sit and talk prices we'll have to move to yours." His gesturing then extends to The Berronar's aft cabin, notably where Zue, their own prisoner, was being kept. Branch seizes the moment, with most everyone now gazing towards the rear of the ship, she moves to the forward section and crosses over. Moving in the opposite direction as they had been, she steps from the forward quarter of The Berronar to the aft quarter of the stranger's ship. Unfortunately, she misjudges the distance and the sound of her boot striking the stranger's deck rings out with a hollow thud.
One of the strangers--a man who had been seemingly guarding the prisoners--turns to look at her, confused. It seems to take him a moment to recognize what has happened, and Aluve makes his move then. A cloud of mist, not entirely unlike what had swallowed the ship during the night, envelops him. An identical cloud forms behind the sailor that had noticed Branch, and Aluve steps out of it, wasting no time in slashing the restraints of the nearest, the woman.
Before he can move on to the other prisoner one of her arms grabs onto his shoulder while the other pulls the gag free. She looks him in the eye and speaks in a strange, lilting accent, "Escape this vessel. I can take care of him." At the sound of her speech, Branch can see the sailor's expression adopt a grim horror. He clearly recognizes the speaker and immediately turns around to face her and Aluve, reaching for an axe stashed in his belt. His weapon doesn't even clear the belt, however, before she speaks again.
"Ekarflautr adurna owaise gath."
As they had with Zue, the unmistakable words of power seem to thrum with energy, echoing in the air and branding itself in the minds of all present. Immediately, the world answers the call. The ships buck violently, wooden railings splintering as the two hulking masses grind against each other, and then strain apart. Some force pushes up from underneath, forcing the two ships to pull at their restraints, threatening to snap at any minute and allow the two ships to separate, stranding anyone on the wrong side. Thrown to the floor by the sudden motion, Phillip stands back up as quick as he can, and races for the safety of his own ship, determined not to be stuck on the wrong side of the divide. The man who had joined him on the Berronar does much the same thing.
Chatcho reaches inside his component pouch for rose petals.
No, I'd risk putting the clutch to sleep.
Chatcho begins the somatic motions to summon magic missile.
I don't think I want to end their knowledge.
Stumped, Chatcho self-consciously rubs the back of his thorax breaking and ultimately dropping the human guise.
Aluve turns to Branch. "We have to get off this ship.....run"
Aluve stands, he tries to push the guard away to make some space. He waits a few seconds, not wanting to leave without Branch.
Strength: 6
Branch's eyes widen as she hears the foreign words spoken from the prisoner and the reaction thereafter. Man, I hope we didn't just doom us all... She looks at Aluve, nods sharply in agreement, and runs as fast as she can over to their ship, wondering what is going to happen next.
Aluve runs after Branch, back to the ship.
Archibald goes to the rail to try to catch anyone trying to leap back aboard
Paladin - warforged - orange
Han untrusting of the captain and his crew reacts slowly lost at the sudden action of the group. Grabbing a rope near by ready to throw it out to Aluve or Branch if they need help getting back to the ship.
Phillip flings himself over the two damaged railings even as Aluve and Branch cross in the other direction. Still reeling from the sudden movement, the two crews can only turn to watch each other as, finally, the two ships separate with sounds of rope snapping, and wood splintering. People are sent sprawling to the deck. For a moment, it seems as if the two prisoners would be left behind on the stranger's ship after all. But as the crews of both ships recovered from all the violent motion, she reached and and grabbed hold of the other, and spoke more words that the air failed to carry over the distance suddenly created between them.
Then, much in the same way Aluve had, the two of them emerged from a mist that formed on The Berronar's deck. A single beat of the heart later, a thunderclap swept over. Some explosion had taken place the moment the two prisoners left. Men fell from the deck, and the tarpaulin shelter had been destroyed. The tarp fluttered loosely in the air, the wood around the area splintered and broken.
Finally spent, the woman nearly collapses where she stands, breathing heavily. Her compatriot holds her up, however, even as he removes his own gag. "Haul the anchor!" He cries, in the same strange accent as the woman, "Hoist the sail! It will take them a minute, but they'll be coming back for us!" Taken aback, the crew look to Jack, who in turn, looks to the rest of the party, dumb-struck. Still panting and noticing his hesitance, the woman lifts her head to finally lock eyes with Chatcho, and a message sears itself into his mind, blowing past his every defense.
It is crude, compared to the careful and gentle methods of his own mind. For the brief moment they are connected, he can feel the ache in her every joint, the strain of her muscles and the rope-burn on her wrists, all dulled by the extensive exhaustion that grips her. Then the feeling is gone and the message comes, ringing like a gong in his head.
We must flee, they want to steal your ekarflautr/oak-float/boat. They will kill us all this time, we have proven too difficult to manage. Please, usven chetowa/sage of the unsight/illusionist, convince them to flee!
Branch, usually is pretty good at handling the unknown, is a bit freaked out about the current circumstance. As the prisoners suddenly appear on their deck she isn't sure what to do, she stands at attention and ready for anything that might attack, but worried it is going to be something that she won't be able to handle. When the woman says they will be coming back for us, that really gets her moving, and she looks for Jack, hoping they are in motion as things progress.
She looks around and makes sure that all of her new, well crew, is with her. Seeing that, she breathes a sigh of relief and waits for the next action that is needed.