"There's as many adventures to be had at sea as there is water in it, so you never know what we'll run into kid. Just work on controlling that power, and your duties about the ship, and the rest will work itself out." Bruz says before the lad is enchanted.

Earlier

Nimar's face turned a deep red at Rook's words. A vein throbbed in his forehead, snaking its way up into the creases of his bald scalp.

"You marked me hull? YA DID WHAT?!" Spittle sprayed the face of the aasimar as the dwarf shouted. Without warning, Nimar grabbed the boy by the ear and began to pull him towards the stairs to the hold.

Strength check for grapple: 15

"Yer going to scrub all that chalk off, boy, and tell me who put ye up t' this! If ye wanted t' help me, ye should've just bleedin' asked me!"

Intimidation check: 20

He was overreacting, he knew, but he had found in the past that the fastest way to make a sailor out of a landlubber was to scare them into submission and drill the information in. The chalk prank was a classic and one which the boatswain himself had fallen for in his youth, over two centuries ago, and witnessed many times since.

It was still funny.

Now

Nimar had to shield his eyes from the bright light of the magic. The flash blinded and disoriented him, and he lost his path to Rook. Stumbling around on the deck, he yelled, "Oi, boy! D'ya wanna be food fer the fishies?! Wake up, yer lily-livered bastard!"

By the time his vision returned, the woman and her magic were gone. What remained in her place, he saw, was the black sword in Rook's hands.

"Gond's hammer! What's going on? You a'reet, boy?"

Nimar prowled up and down the bulwark, scanning the night sea for signs of the nymph. He hefted his warhammer and shield with a readiness to fight.

Perception check: 11

Earlier, with Nimar:

"Ok ok, I'll clean it off.  I was just helping.  You don't need to know where all the bad spots are?  Er, ah, no one told me to.  I just wanted to help.  I, ah, I heard it was something you need to do on a new ship, that's all."  He keeps making side glances looking for Bruz.  He hopes, if nothing else, his new muscle bound friend gets a laugh out of it.  He will not utter the name Bruz as his father told him to be loyal to his mates and not to be a rat, unless of course they were up to something truly nefarious.

Later, with Carolinas and the others:

Rook is suddenly resting and calm, under the influence of the Suggestion spell.  A stream of information begins pouring out of him via the emotionless, slightly deeper voice of the lad due to the absence of the excitement and nervousness that had been present since he joined up.  The spell aids him in remembering the words recently spoken to him that his panic had otherwise blocked out.

"The first voice in the water was Waverest the Stiller of the Dead.

Father had trapped it by retreating to land and not setting out upon the sea ever again.

I was to choose Waverest's form and serve the Raven Queen.

Someone will return to Father and lay waste to all he holds dear if I do not.

The second voice, from the light, said this was anticipated and not to be afraid.

Mother asked Chauntea to help me.

The blade is a Hexblade, made to kill undead.  It must be used and fed or it becomes a bane to the one it is bonded to.  It has gone insane due to Father's neglect.

Chauntea will protect me from its madness until I can slay an undead and return the blade to its proper state.

The blade will serve me once it is right, and it will grant me power to fight against the dark.

Father told me of his great sword with black metal and silver edges.  He did not mention any runes.  He said it was gone.

Father said he would never return to the sea, and refused to take me to sail anywhere.  He said he was too old and too sick, but he seemed like neither to me, back then, at least.

Father said we had to move and take the name Smith.  He said not to tell anyone our real name is Ca'Frey.  He never seemed to want to tell me everything about his days on merchant ships.  I think this is why.  He said it was to keep us safe."

Rook stops speaking and immediately falls into a deep slumber.

Earlier:

Bruz hears Nimar's bellows all the way from his cabin and smiles with a laugh, exchanging a glance with Sebastian. Welcome aboard, kid. He thinks to himself.

After hearing Rook's exposition, Carolinas pulls a blanket over him and gives him a couple light pats on his chest.

He sits down, takes out a pipe and stuffs some tobacco in it then lights it, taking a couple puffs and says to everyone present, "Well, there you have it."

He props his feet up on a bucket beside him with a look of mild pride on his face and looks to see if anyone has anything to say about what Rook just said.

Sal keeps an eye on the resting rook. "It seems that the gods have chosen another servant, willing or not." She comments. She then looks to Carolinas. "Thank you for your assistance. Let us hope he sleeps well."

Carolinas says, "Certainly appears so. He'll wake up in eight hours and feel well-rested." he continues puffing his pipe.

Sal will take her leave, content that Rook is resting well. She'll return to the captain and report on the information that has unfolded. "Apparently your crewman Rook is in a pact between Chauntea and The Raven Queen. His blade he gained is made to defeat the undead. I am unsure if this is an omen for things to come, but I advise keeping a lookout. Who knows if a ghost ship could be out in the waters in the night." After making her report, she will bid the captain good night and return to her quarters. She will redo her prayers to Mystra before going to sleep.

The Captain takes the report and responds "If this..boy... is the best that the Gods choose, there may be a bigger problem. You and the others that rallied around him - are you his friends?"  He adds, suspicious.

"He is a member of the crew, captain." Sal responds. "That is my family."

Carolinas will stay with Rook so he can be close by in case something else comes up.

Carolinas will go to Bruz and says, "Have a strong drink stashed away? I need a nap after that ordeal."

The rest of the night passes without serious incident. Rook sleeps soundly, although there may be others onboard ship who do not because of what occurred. The rest of the group spend their night as they would, sleeping or worrying as their personalities dictate, but dawn arrives without consideration of either. The day lightens to a still ocean, nary a breeze to fluff the sails or drive the ship. Warm ambient air hints at the possibility of wind, but nothing manifests to aid the Keel. The Captain arises with the dawn as well as any crew assigned to duty (All except Rook get to roll Wisdom DC 8 to not sleep in, as you are all on duty in the morning. Those in grouped cabins can wake the others that don't succeed - if they wish). The Captain does check on Rook in the morning but, seeing him still asleep from the magical command he assigns the boy's duties to others. From the master deck, the Captain and Master Ripple talk for a few moments with Ripple nodding and stepping to the aft of the deck. 

"Ware the sails, tighten the lines as they bear!" Calls out Master Glass and, with a few curious looks from the newer crew members, the deck hands jump to the tasks. Once in position, Master Ripple starts chanting, his skin visibly outshining the dawn's light as he gathers his own magics, and a wind begins blowing. Slowly at first, but with increasing force, the breeze fills the sails and starts to drive the ship forward. Not as fast as if a natural wind had done the task, but certain and steady, the Silken Keel slides through the still waters at a couple of knots. He keeps this steady breeze going for most of the hours of the morning. 

 OOC Anything unusual you want to do during the morning, please post. You all have duties as assigned or RP'd, but there's always time for small things. :) After a while (probably the day) I'll keep the story going. 

Eventually Rook wakes from his eight hour slumber.  He looks around the room and sees Carolinas sitting with him.  "Did, did anything else happen?  Is the Captain going to kick me off of the ship?!"  The boy sits up and rubs his forehead.  "I haven't slept like that in a while, although I didn't have the best dreams.  Where is everyone?  What time is it?  Oh no, should I be working?!!!"  The boy sees the sun peaking in and starts to hurry to get dressed and ready to work but slows again when he sees the sword lying on the far side of the bunk.  He reaches over and touches the flat of the blade with his palm, wondering what to make of all of this.

Sal will be up early and possibly come over to check on Rook in the morning. She'll politely knock on the cabin door rather than entering uninvited, just in case any of the men are changing.

Archimedes hoots at Rook waking up, which jolts Carolinas out of a light sleep.

Carolinas says, "Rest easy lad, nothing else happened. It's morning currently, you slept for a good eight hours or so. Your duties were assigned to other crew members for today. I don't believe you are in danger of being removed from the ship. Though it might be best to see the captain before doing anything, just to answer any questions he may have. I will come along with you, if you wish. I think if you show an eagerness to report to your duties then that will resonate with the brass nicely."

He stands up and stretches, his old bones creaking and cracking, "Well, what do you say?"

Wisdom DC to not oversleep: 11

Bruz wakes up and gets dressed, waking any others in his cabin who are not up by the time he leaves for duty. He cooks a simple breakfast of fish and vegetables from the cold storage box the junior wizards maintain in the galley. After cooking breakfast, he spends an hour doing his own exercises on the main deck, moving through martial forms with slow ease. He was "rehydrating" from his exercise with one of his aleskins when one of the officers found him and put him to work.

Rook nods at Carolinas and Archimedes and simply says "yes, I should speak to him, you're right."  "I'm ready to work again.  I don't want to be kicked off the ship.  Maybe the others will be ok with me if I get back to work right away."  The young lad looks at the sword on his bunk, deciding to leave it there rather than dragging it all over the ship as a reminder of the previous night's events.  He simply throws the sheet over it and begins to exit the room.  Behind him, out of his view, black tendrils of something akin to smoke rise from under the sheet and dissipate as the sword disappear from this plane of existence.

Rook says softly as they exit "Carolinas, do you think Father did something bad to cause this?"  "I think Father is a good man, but I don't understand why this is happening."

The still confused and unknowing warlock makes his way about the ship to try to find the Captain.

(As mentioned above, Sal went to check on Rook early to see that he managed to recover)

"Well you seem to be getting your spring back into your step." Sal comments as Rook leaves the room. "I suppose a good night's sleep is what you needed."

     Upon arriving into the presence of the Captain, he leads you into his Navigation room, sits down and says "Rook, I'l have no curses or the like aboard my ship, so you need to be true with me: Is this HexBlade a threat to this ship or crew? We've been going over what little we know, and normal Hexblades are boon to those who wield them, yet this one was not normal when it arrived. Do you disembark at our next port, or can you do your duties? Have you some new skills or magic brought by the Blade?"

    The morning drifts into the afternoon, but before lunch makes the rounds, Master Ripple stops bringing forth the winds. He drops to one knee for a bit and takes a long drink from a water skin provided by Master Glass who was waiting nearby. After a minute, he rises back up, his skin tone much subdued and goes down to his cabin. While the breeze he called forth was enough to send the ship further on it's journey, it was sufficient to bring the ship into a better zone, where natural wind picks up the sails and sends her onward. Now moving at a proper pace, the Keel moves steadily through into the night. 

OOC - Not heard from Cubic or Nimar for a while, but the adventure continues. If you've anything to post before night falls on the ship, feel free to do so. FYI Master Ripple was using a modified Gust.