The Wandering Archipelago (D&D 5e)

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:58 am

While Korrik and Kal practice their moves on the deck, the two crew pause in their duties to watch and bet on the combatants, each cheering for one or the other and laughing in good spirits as each blow is landed and they swap coins.

Varsk swings carefully out of his hammock and heads to the galley for a hearty breakfast of fruit, spiced eggs and bread, which he takes up to the top deck to eat. Spotting Raina on the quarterdeck, leaning casually on the tiller, he climbs up and asks her opinion on the routes past Lovers Pass and into the Morley waters:

"I can't tell you much specifically I'm afraid since I've never been there. But if they're anything like our patch you want to keep your eyes open. Watch out for deep pools of water, and hanging vines, because they're often where snakes and big alligators like to hide, and don't trust anything that seems magical. I think you know better than to take anything from Family holdings, but even if you avoid the mines, the magics out there are old and wild and it's hard to predict. Oh! Be alert for the hissing swarms too - they're not magic or anything, but uf you hear them coming, you need to find cover fast, or get the hell away from wherever you are. They don't travel too far from their nests, but they'll strip the flesh off your bones before you know you're dead if they catch you.

Otherwise, just be careful. These forests are ancient and there are more folk who call the woods home than you'd find in half the cities humans have built. Some might help you, others will hurt you, but mostly, we find they keep to themselves."

Gwen spends a couple of hours practicing her magic with Mehriv, creating illusory targets for the two of them to try and hit. The crew watch with curiosity, but keep their distance, especially when Mehriv unwittingly unleashes a stream of dark, smoking tendrils across the deck and curl and writhe around before exploding into a mess of flopping fish.

Raina shouts down from the quarterdeck:
"You'd better not be planning on destroying my ship before lunch master Mehriv!"

The crew sigh and set to cleaning the deck unprompted though neither look particularly happy about it.

The ship's cat appears from somewhere below decks at the unexpected bounty and spends a happy few seconds pouncing on the little animals and making them explode in puffs of multicoloured smoke.

Rodgeir · Post by **Rodgeir** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 8:24 am

"Hissing swarm... great. Thank you for the advice."

Following the fish incident Varsk will make his way to Mehr.

"Where'd you learn that? The magic...not the fish...thing."
_______
(A while later, after lunch?)

Varsk approaches Syli (purposely from the front so she can see him coming).

"Which city you drag yourself out of? Where I'm from we didn't have many elves. None in gutters. Nah...there it was mostly humans. A few like me a few like him (gestures in Kerriks direction). "

Varsk gives her a humorless grin.

"You had a chance to talk with the kids back in town?"

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Arch Lich Burns · Post by **Arch Lich Burns** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 8:28 am

"Well I think that is enough practice for you or you might summon something else!" After lunch Gwen goes to a remote place on the ship and brings out her book. She makes sure there is nobody is around before she starts chanting in an alien tongu from the words written on the book.

Dlover · Post by **Dlover** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 8:36 am

"I assure you, captain, that the odds of worse than a minor inconvenience happening are as good as impossible." Weary from his practice, Mehr conjures a mage hand, sweeping it through the fish to disperse them to smoke before they make too much mess for the crew to clean.

Mehr shrugs at Varsk's question, "Practice and experimentation. The Turajin clan is gifted with sorcerous prowess, and I am no exception. With the power an in-born talent, it simply takes practice to learn."

Nioca · Post by **Nioca** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:46 am

Syli stares out at the river, lost in thought. Her dreams of the gnome had been bothering her ever since she woke up, thoughts of her changing her form plaguing her mind. That was the missing piece, wasn't it? The one thing she never could quite master. Urkish had done it once or twice... heh, but unlike the gnome, his transformations were a little more impressive.

Her attention got drawn to the sparring match, and in turn, the magical hijinks on the deck. As Korrik was knocked to the deck and Mehriv conjured a swarm of seafood, Syli could only chuckle. "Boys." She said with a smirk, shaking her head. Her eyes land on the cat the comes up on deck, batting at the fish...

...hmm.

...that could wait til later, though. Heading up to the quarterdeck, Syli decides it's time to ask some questions. "So... you said you had a favor in mind for us," She says to Raina. "Mind letting me in on what it is?"

Later on...

Syli glances up as the half-orc approaches her with his queries. "It's much the same in Rhul, really. I think I only actually saw one or two other elves on the streets... quite a few half-elves, though."

However, when he asks his second question, she again winds up seeming to scrutinize him, as if something had sent up a red flag in response...

((Would Syli perhaps recognize his voice? Perhaps from a back alley when the group first landed?))

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thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:47 am

((sure - I'll let you and Varsk decide on that one between you, but it's fine by me))

Raina smiles broadly as Syli climbs up to the quarterdeck.

"So how do you like the ship? I hope you were comfortable enough last night?"

In response to the question, her smiles fades and she looks tired again.

"... Well... It's a long shot I suppose, but the long and short of it is that my father is sick. He should be running this ship, but about about a month ago we were excavating a new site around some ruins and... Well I don't really know what happened. He was off on his own, then came back spluttering and coughing like he could hardly breathe. We took back to the ship to recover, and he seemed ok for a couple of days. Then the sickness seemed to take hold and he was coughing up blood and not able to eat... We barely got him back to town. We've had someone from the temple visit him every day, and so far they've managed to keep him alive, but he's not getting better. Every morning, he's as bad as ever. It spooked the crews so we're working the camp at barely half capacity and it's all we can do to at the healers.

So that's the favour. If you hear of anything while you're in the Morley's lands that might help us, you will have more than repaid this small trip east."

-------

Downstairs, Gwen finds an out of the way space to read her book, trying to find the words that she heard in her dreams... Eventually she finds a passage that seems familiar, and she can almost feel the voices in her mind again, but then she's hit with a wave of nausea and they are gone...

Rodgeir · Post by **Rodgeir** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:02 pm

To Mehr:

Born in talent, eh. Varsk will worry his upper lip with a tusk seemingly considering something before changing the topic, Where is your dwarf cleric...Darrâ”œâ•ck?
I would think you'd want your entire team for a trip to the wilds.

_____

Later with Syli.

Saw some elves and half's but none on the streets. Shrugging, he'll wipe some sweat from his brow with an equally sweaty forearm.

Not really bothering to notice Syli reaction Varsk continues, "Was nearly the first thin' I did when I got off the boat. The kids always know what is happenin' in a town. Funny goin' from the gutter on one town to jump in another. Never quite get it out of ya. Varsk chuckles dryly.

Once they are done with their conversation Varsk will go below deck and lean against the hull below water to try and help with the heat.

Arch Lich Burns · Post by **Arch Lich Burns** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:24 pm

Gwen shakes her head, cursing under her breathe. She gets the feeling her partron is playing with her. One might normally be dettered from such task when they have a hangover, but Gwen had a taste of the knowledge in the book. Frantic, she searches through the book again for the familiar words once more, ignoring her surroundings around her as she desperatly searches for answers she longs for. She speaks slightly louder in the alien language, partially in hopes her patron can hear her even if she knows it was more or less moot without the proper words.

Flaw: I'd risk too much to uncover a lost bit of knowledge

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:27 pm

((Varsk - I'll take a perception check from you please))

Post by **WearsHats** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:55 pm

"My apologies," Kal says, offering Korrik a hand up. "I guess I got a little too wrapped up in my own technique. Shall we get to work on mending that shirt?"

When he has a chance, Kal will ask around about that hill. He'll also search his own memory for a good while.

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:34 pm

Kal and Korrik make short work of mending Korrik's shirt. Kall tries to remember anything about the hilltop, but comes up short. None of the other people on board seem to know what he's talking about - even Raina doesn't seem to have seen anything resembling what Kal saw, and apparently never has, despite her familiarity with the waters....

Later that afternoon, Raina passes the tiller over to one of crew and approaches Kal, offering him a shield.

"Here, try this. You fight well one-handed, but you'll be more effective with something in your other hand. This is my brother's, but you're welcome to try it out. It's not quite my style, but I've watched enough fights to know what you should be doing with it."

With that, she draws her own rapier and adopts a duelists stance, giving him a sly grin.

Rodgeir · Post by **Rodgeir** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:58 pm

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Post by **WearsHats** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:19 pm

"Thank you," Kal says with a sincere smile as he hefts it experimentally. He takes a minute to practice moving around with it before nodding that he's ready to spar. He turns his left side towards her, presenting a smaller target with the shield out front. "Since this is a defensive measure, why don't you start things off?"

spiderwrangler · Post by **spiderwrangler** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:31 pm

I find a spot to sit and cheer on Kal.

Dlover · Post by **Dlover** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:08 pm

"Darruk is recovering in a temple. He was taken ill, and would unfortunately have been more a liability than an asset."

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 6:03 pm

Raina starts off the duel with a straight jab, just above the shield, which Kal deflects easily.

"Good! Keep your guard up and look for opportunities to strike back! Remember, a shield can be as much a weapon as your sword. A skilled shieldsman can turn a battle in his favor by knocking his enemies back or off their feet entirely."

There's a tone in Raina's voice which makes you suspect Raina is simply repeating a lesson she has heard many times before.

Post by **WearsHats** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 6:53 pm

"Good to know. Thank you." Kal takes a swing, but keeps some of his attention for where his shield is. (Should I roll? Or is flavor text good enough?)

Nioca · Post by **Nioca** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:08 pm

With Raina...

"It's excellent... albeit my own definition of fine lodging might be a bit, ah, skewed, all things considered." Syli chuckles with a wry smile.

As she explains her predicament, though, Syli's brow furrows. "That's... hmmm. I mean... is it just coughing up blood? How else did he react? And, when he first came back from whatever he stumbled on, was there anything else that was... off? Wrong?" She asks. If she elaborates, she starts thinking; she didn't know much, but she did know a bit about medicine and herbalism...

Syli Knowledge Rolls
--Arcana (+3): 19
--Medicine (+3): 17

((Well I'll be damned, that might actually turn up something useful))

With Vrask...

"I did... something like that, yes." Syli replies, although only the blindest of fools would fail notice how evasive she was on the topic. She does seem to ease up a bit, whatever had gotten her guard up having passed without incident. "Truth be told, though, I haven't really had a time for much of anything since I got here. Been trying to get things running back at the shop, running errands and trying to make contacts, that sorta thing. Oh, and speaking to various vermin." Syli rolls her eyes. "Seriously, if you told me five years ago I'd be using the magic of the wilds to try and have a chat with bees, I'dve told you to lay off the pixie dust. The things I've been doing for this lot, I tell ya..."

"And bees aren't good conversation, in case you're wondering."

With ???...

Once she's off by herself, Syli starts thinking again about the gnome, and about her abilities. Lacking anything better to do at the moment, she finds herself seeking out the Ship's Cat.

EDIT: Fixed roll link

Rodgeir · Post by **Rodgeir** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:18 pm

To Mehr:

"Shame to have an employee take ill the day before a big, dangerous job. Odd how often that happens." Varsk excuses himself so Mehr can continue training.

_____

To Syli:

The evasive answer is noted by Varsk by a slight narrowing of his eyes but isn't unexpected. She will obviously want to keep her contacts close. He would do the same, and in fact has been careful not to.

"Haha...ya. Five years can change a lot. Can't say I'd pictured myself in a sweaty armpit of a jungle at any point. Gotta do what you gotta do." Varsk wonders briefly why she'd want to talk to a bee decides to leave it. "I'm gonna go try and find a cool place for a while. Always nice meeting a... ya know. Someone that knows how thins work. " And he more or less means it.

Heads below deck to get cool as detailed above.

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:34 am

WearsHats wrote:"Good to know. Thank you." Kal takes a swing, but keeps some of his attention for where his shield is. (Should I roll? Or is flavor text good enough?)

Up to you really- if you want to play with the mechanics a bit, you can attempt anything from the shield master feat or defender (I think that's the style you were going for?). It won't work for real if you get into an actual combat, but for the purposes of a training match, I don't see the harm in playing around with the mechanics IC

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:24 am

Varsk heads below decks to find somewhere cool to sit. Unfortunately, the water seems as hot as the air and there's little relief to be found below decks in the stuffy ship. Still, at least he's not stuck under the burning sun any more!

He finds a comfortable pile of netting and relaxes, closing his eyes and dozing, but something keeps bothering him. Listening to the quiet lap of the river against the hull, he finally heard the sound that's bothering him. Somewhere above him, there's definitely the sound of a female voice, chanting. It is unsettling and makes the hairs on his neck stand up...

-----------

"Well... After a couple of days his skin went pale as a corpse and this horrible marbled rash spread over his body... He began to bleed out of his eyes and nose and .. well, we thought he was going to die. No one else has got sick so far though, so it doesn't seem to spread from person to person at least."

Syli ponders the new information. This doesn't sound like any sickness shes ever heard of, but it sounds extremely worrisome... Maybe they disturbed something ancient in the ruins they discovered? She supposes it could be a magical curse, but it would be a powerful one.

Syli goes looking for the ship's cat and finds it playing with a terrified mouse outside the kitchen.

Nioca · Post by **Nioca** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:27 am

"...I'll keep my ears open. It's not like anything I've ever heard of, although... it's definitely concerning. It doesn't sound like any natural sickness I've heard of, especially to resist a healer's influence like that..."

Outside the kitchen, Syli watches the cat play with the mouse, her eyes watching both the deft swatting of the cat's paws and the frantic scampering of the unfortunate rodent.

((My cats do the same thing. They're not particularly interested in eating mice, they just like chasing them and batting them around like they were toys.))

thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:55 am

((lol yeah, cats can be assholes

))

Syli watches the cat and mouse, imagining what it would feel like to be either one of them. She gets so lost in her own thoughts, she is startled when the galley crew appears to chase the cat away and stomps on the mouse.

"Damn cat. You're supposed to kill those! If you stole less from the kitchen you'd be a lot better at your job."

The cat mews reproachfully at the crewman for spoiling her fun and stalks off to sunbathe on the deck instead, pausing only to rub her body along Syli's leg as she passes.

Rodgeir · Post by **Rodgeir** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:35 am

Varsk pats down his thick neck hair before trying to place the voice to one the three women on board. He also tries to make out/understand what is being chanted.

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thinkslogically · Post by **thinkslogically** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:44 am

...That definitely sounds like Gwen's voice... but also like there's something wrong with it. He isn't familiar with the words being spoken, but from what little he knows of magic and how his neck hair just won't go back down, he'd guess this was magical. This is definitely not benign magic...

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