Elustran Days

The night passes as peacefully as it can. As the night goes on, and the four of you drift off to sleep, you hear the distant howl of the beasts. It echoes continuously for around an hour before silencing for the rest of the evening. The young pup, Captain, is visibly unnerved by the howls. He hides underneath Wick’s bed whimpering softly until cared for. Alijurn, meanwhile, ensures that no one has a full night’s rest as he drags each and every assigned butt out onto the dock for ALIJURN’S BOOTCAMP! 

Alijurn, how are you going to be training this crew?

Wick, what will you be doing this day?

Ashe and Dahme’dre, same question!

Alijurn kicks open the door to the crews cabin and let's out a draconic roar. "Still sleeping!? We have work to do, boys. Get up and get ready to wrestle." Alijurn gets out on the main deck and strips off his shirt baring his scaled torso. He has a few scars and some of the copper scales on his back has taken a green hue. He intructs the crew to do the same as he walks back and forth in front of their line-up.

"It has come to my attention that we're being stalked by shadowy hounds, that's good. Why? Because we know what we're up against. Lucky for you i've fought my fair share of rabid dogs during police razzias. So. First things first." Alijurn raises his arms forward into a defensive position and gestures with a "come hither" motion to one of the men. "Attacking dogs usually try to drag or push you down on the ground. This way they get the upper hand as we no longer have the height advantage and most of us can't fight well when downed like this.. So.." Alijurn goes to grapple his opponent of choice and push him to the ground. Athletics: 22

As Alijurn gets low, describing how to properly handle an attack from a wild hound, there is a flash of mottled grey. In an instant, a small Picardy Shepherd has latched itself onto the snout of the dragonborn! Letting out a furious roar, Alijurn attempts to pull the mutt free, but IT WON’T BUDGE!

Meanwhile, the crew that is supposed to be training are on the floor laughing as Captain and Alijurn are locked in a grapple!

In the end, Captain sits victoriously upon the chest of the broken dragonborn. The rest of the training session is filled with belly rubs and shame in equal measure.

Dahme'dre struggles to keep busy. She can't stand sitting around watching the tides pass her by. She helps with the helm, observes Alijurn's training session, has tea with Ashe, and even plays a round of chess with Wick.

Quote from BDaddLy >>

Dahme'dre struggles to keep busy. She can't stand sitting around watching the tides pass her by. She helps with the helm, observes Alijurn's training session, has tea with Ashe, and even plays a round of chess with Wick.

 (Given that the helm would be the most difficult part- sorry Wick- we’ll have the skill check be that!)

Dahme’dre once again tests her mettle at the helm! Like last time, it is a veritable breeze as she pilots the ship throughout the clear, shifting void of the astral plane. There’s something refreshing to the experience and you can certainly see why Thuluku has a passion for it. You grow comfortable with the experience... Too comfortable! As you fly, you notice that the environment around you has grown brighter and faint ripples of white light trace by the ship. Thuluku emerges from her quarters and gives a wary eye. “Dahme’dre, take it slow. Its a ‘weird web.’ Best to be careful in this scenario.”

Roll Stealth with.... One Time Proficiency!

(I wouldn't know about that! Wick plays a crafty game of dragonchess- 23 on deception!)

Wick and Cappo bond significantly over the picardy's triumph over Alijurn (sorry, Kweinir). Assuming that there is something like a first mate on this ship, the gnome and dog stand near at hand learning their trade. (In the off-chance that the party obtains a ship of their own, navigator seems like a good role for him)

Survival: 13 (+1 from guidance)

Dahme'dre hums softly (Stealth: (2)6)

In the morning, Wick decides to learn something useful and become a navigator! He struts into Thuluku’s chambers and states his desire to learn! Thuluku grins, “Great! Trippinboar will get you started immediately!” Before you can ask who that is, Thuluku simply gestures behind you to her first mate... THE OLD GNOME! “Eh? Oh look at ya sonny, navigating the world like a proper old gnome! Come on, got another o’ my special brew freshly made! Yer gonna love it!” And so, Wick is dragged off by Waddle Trippinboar, the bi-eyepatched gnome firstmate of The Scylla.

That leads us to this situation.

Quote from BDaddLy >>

Dahme'dre hums softly (Stealth: (3)15)

 The ship gently drifts through the field, careful not to disturb the gentle strings of light that drift about it. As you do, you see small translucent wisps of light snake throughout the astral space around you. They harmlessly drift about the crew. Some land on the ship and dissolve into a shimmer of stardust, while others just pass by, carried by the astral winds. It is hard to imagine that such a peaceful scene could be dangerous, yet Thuluku stands on edge until you have safely passed through.

Quote from JcAndD >>

In the morning, Wick decides to learn something useful and become a navigator! He struts into Thuluku’s chambers and states his desire to learn! Thuluku grins, “Great! Trippinboar will get you started immediately!” Before you can ask who that is, Thuluku simply gestures behind you to her first mate... THE OLD GNOME! “Eh? Oh look at ya sonny, navigating the world like a proper old gnome! Come on, got another o’ my special brew freshly made! Yer gonna love it!” And so, Wick is dragged off by Waddle Trippinboar, the bi-eyepatched gnome firstmate of The Scylla.

That leads us to this situation.

A dawning expression of horror steals across Wick's face as he's pulled away by Trippinboar. He makes a series of futile gestures at Captain who (I imagine) grins and pants like an idiot, sits back on his haunches, and looks on impassively as Wick's day is ruined. 

Ashe spends the morning lazing about with her books and Cupcake. She very possibly tortures Cupcake, lightly of course, as she attempts to split Cupcake magically. At some point, due to the spider's protestations no doubt, Ashe will surrender.

She joins Dahme'dre for their daily tea session and questions her friend about how manning the helm has been going. "I am glad to see we have not crashed. Soon, you may be able to captain your own ship. Perhaps even while we continue our, hm, escapades."

Ashe, give me a very literal Animal Handling check.

12

Quote from LaRue >>

3

 The experiments are a... learning experience to say the least. You learn many things about Cupcake, such as she is cute and adorable. She harbors the hate of ten thousand men in her soulless eyes. Oh! And she makes a cute little squishy noise when you boop her. That one was a really important one. However, nothing that quite gets you closer to cloning the spider.

 "Frankly... It's incredible. The freedom, the power..." Dahme'dre answers, "A sense of freedom is something a truly cherish." 

She pushes a piece of biscuit toward Cupcake and Mondra'goran

If a scaled creature could turn red because of anger Alijurn certainly would. He tries to push the  dog off of his chest but just can't quite seem to get him off. He always leaps back on. "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!?" he yells at the crew. "Stopp faffing about and get back to work. Training is OVER!" He grudginly walks up to the helm and stops by Thuluku, still a little flustered over the incident earlier. 

"I can never get used to this plane. Nothing makes sense, lawless, but not chaotic..." He peers out into the nothingness of lights and colours. "What are we looking at here?"

Quote from Kweinir >>

If a scaled creature could turn red because of anger Alijurn certainly would. He tries to push the  dog off of his chest but just can't quite seem to get him off. He always leaps back on. "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!?" he yells at the crew. "Stopp faffing about and get back to work. Training is OVER!" He grudginly walks up to the helm and stops by Thuluku, still a little flustered over the incident earlier. 

"I can never get used to this plane. Nothing makes sense, lawless, but not chaotic..." He peers out into the nothingness of lights and colours. "What are we looking at here?"

 Thuluku sighs a bit of relief as the ship leaves the field, “Don’t worry too much, Mr. Aliababoon, the crew hardly takes anything seriously, but they’re committed. As for what we were looking it, It was a weird web. Essentially, a drifting colony of psychic elementals. They’re opportunistic hunters, so that could’ve gone bad. However, Ms. d’Rhaine did a fine job of guiding us through safely.”

With that, the next day of your journey comes to a close. Early next morning, Thuluku is out on deck making preparations for the final jump to Everywhere. She’s commanding her crew, ensuring that the ship will be well-prepared for the travel. Once again, the four of you help out. Most of the crew has grown at least somewhat fond of you. The Grouper Group has taken to playfully razzing Alijurn after his fateful duel with the Divine Hound. Thuluku regularly gets together Wick to discussing matters over a game or two, though he can’t seem to shake Trippinboar, the ever-present third wheel. Meanwhile, Dahme’dre has proven to be popular amongst the crew for her conversation. Most of the crew is respectfully wary of Ashe, not because she’s a drow, but because Ashe, as an entity, is terrifying. However, the Sea Elves at least provide some interesting conversation, and there’s always Cupcake for when people begin grating on her nerves.

And so, The Scylla takes off for the final jump in your journey. At this point, it has almost become normal. Really, after the first, its pretty easy to get a hang of. The runes light, the wheel’s spin, the ship glides back, and the boom detonates... The boom detonates... The boom- Where’s the boom? There’s supposed to be a plane-shattering boom. The four of you turn to look toward the runes, that seem to pulse and flicker, changing from their trademark blue to a golden hue and then back again. Thuluku looks down confused, “The he-“ In an instant, everything goes off at once as the world goes dark for the four of you. A wave of force passes through your mind, body, and soul. As consciousness leaves your body, you hear a cacophonous boom echo in the back of your minds and...

You each have a vision.

Wary of the Shadow Hounds lurking just beyond reality, Dahme'dre readies a spell, holding an Eldritch Blast Ready for whatever threat lies ahead... Then disaster errupts. She loses concentration along with consciousness...

Wick had been nervously gripping his lute, ready to turn invisible if and when the hounds appear.