okay. Scanning last session's log has the pirate fleet sitting off a chain of islands in a previously-unknown outer plane; we've found sulphur and a cave, allegedly with bat guano, for Neil's black powder, and Josh had a bath courtesy of Che-Cen Aw, no adventuring in a giant-bat cave? we're currently staring down the mouth of a really large cave, lanterns, shovels, and bags in hand for the guano Swee. * Josh prepares a spell to handle at least one set of loyal Redwaterian guards. ^_^ "Guano, guano, guano..." *sings8 * Josh left in the middle of "They Were 11" for this. He's looking forward to it. ^_^ so, are people ready to get *dirty*?! * Bourne putters around back on ship, lets other folks have the spotlight for the guano scene. Really, it's only fair. * Legis idly twirls her shovel as she wanders into the cave. (okay, who's actually going spelunking?) ((... there probably should be someone along who's, y'know, competent too...)) * RustAngel is now known as Neil Neil and Josh hit the tar pits for sulfur. I suppose the remaining... hmm, Legis. And Demota's not awake. Guess Bourne is with the bat-cave team. :^) * Demota is now known as Arianna * Bourne reluctantly sniffs the air. Oh, good. I'm back on the ship. Ari, you're in charge of the team. :^) ((*CACKLE*)) (oh gods... the paladin and the discordian. this ought to be interesting) * Arianna looks down the cave. "Any guesses what's in there?" * Josh peers into the dark cave, grinning excitedly. "Bats and guano, according to reports," he answers, grinning impishly. "Yes, but luckily for us we'll be digging in tar." "Not much of a step up.." "How big are these bats, I wonder... "Hrum... probably pretty big?" "Don't wear shoes! Captain Bourne lost his when he found the tar." * Arianna wanders in carefully to satisfy her curiosity. * Neil looks down to his boots, which incidentally are strapped onto his pants. * Legis wanders into the cave somewhat less carefully. Note: the tar is in an area near but separate from the cave. "Well, come on then, let's go." Ari, Legis: Your lantern shines off the cavern walls, reflecting back at you every so often. The place is rather damp, and smells quite strongly of bats and bat-shit "One moment." * Neil looks to Arianna, walking over to her whilst he moves his hands deftly. "Eurgh. I think we've got all of what we need over here. * Neil extends a finger, poking her deliberately on the forehead. "Thinking we are in the right place, if looking for guano..." "In case you get lost. Stick together and I can take the path you took." * Neil looks to Josh. "Alright boy, lead the way." ( Dice ) ( #Dice ) ( wet_bar) Ari: upon closer inspection, the reflection is coming from metal ore in the cave, not guano. * Legis squints somewhat. Both of you hear faint screeching from farther in * Josh moves cautiously further in, looking for guano. We're not here for metal, today. "Luverly... have to be batshit to go in after sounds like that." She giggles slightly and walks in. "Boy?" (Josh and Neil are looking for tar and sulphur outside the cave, not batshit in it) "Didn't you remember Bourne telling you to take me to the tar pits?" * Neil crosses his arms, clawed fingers drumming idly on a well-toned forearm. Ari, Legis: after a short while, the cave seems to split into three directions. Gimme Listen rolls. ((*glares at Prozac*)) 1d20+6 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+6) and gets 8. ... d20+2 * Prozac throws the bones for Arianna (d20+2) and gets 3. * Josh turns back. "Yes?" ... the echos seem to be coming from all three passages "This dinnae look too promising." "Is it through this cave? I was under the assumption that tar pits were outdoor areas." "Oh! The tar pits. Right." He looks a bit embarassed. "Sorry, this way." He exits the cave and leads through some underbrush and enormous trees. * Legis hrms... looks thoughtful, then suddenly points at a random passage (the middle) "That way!" * Neil rolls his eyes. He follows the boy. "I really don't see why Bourne couldn't do this himself." "He, um, found them in an unpleasent way." "He doesn't know the definition of unpleasant..well, wait, he *was* quartered with me for awhile." (during your less sane periods) * Josh looks back, his grin fading. Then he looks forward again and continues leading the way. "Yes, sir." (For now, let's focus solely on one group. Cave group, go!) * Legis swings her shovel over her shoulder and marches towards the middle passage. * Arianna moseys along. you hear a bit of screeching up ahead, and some flickering of light. You also start to feel a lot warmer as you go in * Legis hrms. Pauses. Looks at the lantern Arianna's carrying. "Uhm... hey, why'd it be getting brighter? Do bats glow in the dark here?" you hear the sound of flapping wings, and it seems to be headed your way "What do you mean?" "Weeeell... kinda brighter up there... and maybe they don't like light... hey, wait a sec..." She strains to listen and blinks, then decides to get rather closer to the ground. Ari, Legis: Spot roll? ((*kicks Prozac someplace soft*)) 1d20+6 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+6) and gets 11. d20+2 * Prozac throws the bones for Arianna (d20+2) and gets 10. You see a swarm of human-sized bats headed right at you, followed by two things that appear to be bats on fire. "Uh oh." * Legis 's eyes go wide, and she makes quick "get down!" motions from her place on the floor. "I've heard about these beasties, though never this size before...." Firebats! Send them after the Zerglings! * Legis just points at the ones. On. Fire. The normal bats fly right past you. The Fire Bats, on the other hand, decide that the girls might make better snacks, and dive for the kill. roll init! 1d20+3 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20+3) and gets 13. d20+4 * Prozac throws the bones for Arianna (d20+4) and gets 5. 1d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+5) and gets 16. Okay, combat goes Legis, Fire Bats, Ari. Ready? Legis! * Legis rolls to her feet, considers the things, mentally shrugs and tries to punch the flaming flying rodent. 1d20+9 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+9) and gets 17. hit! Damage? 1d8+1 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d8+1) and gets 5. (oh, and a Ref save to keep from catching fire?) 1d20+10 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+10) and gets 19. (saved) (that everything?) "Hah!" She plants her feet, pivots, and lashes out with her left fist. 1d20+6 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+6) and gets 10. That one's a glancing blow, doing no damage Another reflex save? nah. the bats each try and latch onto a gal with a bite 2 1d20+8 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (2 1d20+8) and gets 20 28. ... sheesh 1d20+8 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20+8) and gets 21. (Ari, AC?) ( 22. 18 flatfooted ) (well, you're not flatfooted. thankfully, otherwise that woulda been a crit) 2 2d6-1 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (2 2d6-1) and gets 3 6. Ari, take the 3. Legis, the 6. Figure half that, rounded down, is fire damage Ow! Ari's up! * Legis blinks. "Hey, ow." She sniffs, notices her shirt smouldering. "Hey!" * Arianna closes her eyes, and focuses. Her hand glows a bit, then she strikes the air. A silvery wave of holy energy radiates from her, making people feel a bit... more prepared. Legis! When you said "latched on" did you mean as in... it's stuck to me? ;) yes (their attack is to latch on with a successful bite attack, and start feeding) "Ow ow ow ow ow... get off my arm, stupid flaming thing!" * Legis shifts her stance, winds up with her right arm, and tries to wallop the shit out of the thing; using the Lightning Fists feat. ;) 1d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+5) and gets 24. hit! 1d8+1 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d8+1) and gets 4. Shall I just finish all the attacks before you desc it? ;) yes 1d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+5) and gets 23. (for multiple attacks against the same opponent, it'd prolly be best if you rolled all attacks at once 1d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+5) and gets 23. 1d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+5) and gets 24. ... er... only +2 on the last. (you don't have Improved Critical, do you?) Nope. All hits. damage? 3d8+3 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (3d8+3) and gets 18. ... plus the 4 from the first attack *nod* Reflex save? 1d20+10 * Prozac throws the bones for Legis (1d20+10) and gets 25. (no fire damage from your attacks) * Che-Cen has joined #HighSeas "OFF!" *WHAM* "OFF!" *WHAM* "OFF!" *WHAM* "OFF!" *WHAM* Legis's rapid-fire attacks have the fire bat detaching, and fleeing back down the way it came Ari's fire bat, on the other hand, bites and burns again 1d20+8 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20+8) and gets 27. *wince* "Hah! Biiiidah!" she calls, sticking her tongue out at the fleeing critter. 2d6-1 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (2d6-1) and gets 6. however, it voluntarily detaches, and flies away seemingly sated Following its mate, mebbe. (combat over) * Arsenal sets mode: +o Che-Cen (and, let's check in with Neil and Josh, while Ari's AFK) * Legis blinks. "Hey, wait a sec... my shirt's on fire!" * Josh is still leading the way. He's using his hands to push plants and things out of the way, being unarmed and all. "Ow! Stupid rocks." * Che-Cen has quit IRC (Quit: ) * Che-Cen has joined #HighSeas * Arsenal sets mode: +o Che-Cen * Arianna shakes her head, and moves on. Neil: Josh leads you to a large tar pit. (we've cut to the tar pit team for now) * Neil begins to look for sulfur deposits. Neil, Josh: spot checks "Here it is, Sir." *points, rather needlessly, then gets out of the way. Perhaps a bit further out of the way than is necessary* "Be careful." d20+3 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+3) and gets 21. 1d20 Spot 1d20 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (1d20) and gets 11. "Oh no, you aren't expecting to let the first mate do all the work, are you?" Josh: you find some powdery yellow stones near the edges of one of the tar pits. http://web.syr.edu/~iotz/Eolie%20Sulfur%20trench.jpg * Josh wrinkles his nose at the odor. "No, Sir. Of course not. In fact..." He picks up one of the yellow stones and holds it up, "...is this what we're looking for? It smells as bad as you described, Sir." "Ah, excellent!" * Neil opens one of the packs he brought along. "I'll hold the pack, you load it down. Then you'll hand me your packs, and I'll hold them while you load them up as well." * Josh nods, saying, "Yessir," as he begins doing just that, lifting them as fast as he can. Very quickly, his hands and the insides of his arms are yellow, and his shirt's beginning to show a bit of the color, too. (spot checks?) d20+3 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+3) and gets 11. ((THERE's more like what I expect to get.)) bad prozac! Yo, man, I'm just doin' my job! (Wisdom checks from both of you?) d20+3 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+3) and gets 19. 1d20 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (1d20) and gets 16. okay, you both smell something strongly not-sulphuric coming from upwind. * Josh sniffs, looking upwind. "What's that? It doesn't smell like this stuff." Josh: you see this black ooze sliding towards you. "You're right." he looks around. Neil: same. the tar appears to have come alive. * Neil drops the pack of sulphur. * TFB71 has joined #highseas Baa ( SHUSH ) (moo) "Tar burns, right?" * Josh steps back, drawing the saber he had retrieved when allowed back on the ship in a practiced motion. "Yes. That's why fire's so dangerous on a ship." * Neil grins. * Neil begins to weave his hands to and fro, twirling the red and blue halves of his staff expertly in the air, making them blur. He spins around, lifting his hand. In it forms a sphere of fire, 5-feet in diameter, balances easily in his palm. roll init! 1d20+6 1d20-5 * TFB71 has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (1d20+6) and gets 17. * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20-5) and gets 7. Josh? d20 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20) and gets 20. Woo. Okay, combat goes Josh, Neil, Ooze. Josh! d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+5) and gets 23. hit! d20+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+5) and gets 10. That hit? (Not that oozes would be vulnerable to crits, but it's the principle.) yes, that hit, too d6+1 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d6+1) and gets 4. (If it's vulnerable to crits - which I doubt - it takes 8) * Josh takes an experimental swipe at the suddenly mobile tar, slicing at its surface tention a bit. the ooze splits into two equal pieces with your first hit, and the one half splits into two equal pieces as well. "...uh, oops?" so now you have three oozes, two a quarter of the size of the original, and one half the size Neil! * Neil lowers the sphere with his hand in a bow, setting it on the ground and letting it scorch the earth it rests upon. It begins to gain momentum on its own, spinning in place rapidly, then zooming off at the ooze. His wings expand, powered by arcane energy, a powerful burst or captured air propelling him back twenty feet. (Trying to affect as many as I can. Flaming Sphere DC 16 reflex, draconic flight) 1d20-2 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20-2) and gets 5. damage? 2d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (2d6) and gets 8. you affect all three of them; you can almost hear them scream. Josh! * TFB71 has joined #highseas re * Arsenal sets mode: +o TFB71 * TFB71 is now known as Curuar * Josh scrambles backwards away from the fire and the tars. He turns his blade to the flat-side, and holds it defensively. (that everything?) Neil! * Neil clutches his staff, holding it out flat as both sides slowly turn red. He strains and pulls, seperating the halves briefly through magical means. As he does this, another sphere rolls out from the first one. His wings buffet him another 20 feet back. Sphere 1: 2d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (2d6) and gets 8. Sphere 2: 2d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (2d6) and gets 6. ((DC 16 saves)) The oozes scream, and two of them are almost shrivelled to nothing. the largest of the oozes tries to slam Josh, as he's a lot closer 1d20+8 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20+8) and gets 11. (Josh, AC?) (18) ('k, then it misses) Josh! * Arsenal oocly pokles Josh okay, Josh is remaining in a defensive stance. Neil! * Neil raises the halves of his staves in the air, taking a step backwards and rejoining the stave at an odd, almost diagonal angle. The spheres move with his hands, both rolling over and rejoining doubly over the larger ooze. 1d20-2 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (1d20-2) and gets -1. 4d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (4d6) and gets 16. ooh, major failire in the save solely on the large one, or you trying to get the other two as well? large one the oozes start to merge back into one. Josh! * Josh thinks a moment, and, noticing the tar things being distracted, takes a moment to pick up one of the crumbly yellow rocks with his left hand and chuck it into the main mass, near some remnants of flame on its surface. d20+4 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d20+4) and gets 24. *WHOOSH!* 2d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Arsenal (2d6) and gets 10. "Yes!" okay, the resultant explosion completely obliterates the two smaller oozes, and the larger one screams loud enough to be heard on the ship. the girls in the cave don't hear it because they're busy failing their listen checks right about now. ;) * Curuar 's ears perk up and he reaches for his bow "What the hell?" *looks up* the ooze is literally smoking, and the stench is incredible * Josh 's look of triumph quickly becomes one of disgust. "Aw, that REEKS." His face quickly brightens. "This is awesome!" Neil! * Bourne signals at Curuar. "Take a couple of crew and check it out. Probably near that cloud of smoke." "Aye, sir!" *climbs down from the crows nest. "Where's Cen?" 4d6 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (4d6) and gets 19. the ooze dies. * Bourne looks around. "Not sure..." *looks overboard to see if he's swimming* * Curuar volunteers a couple of random sailors who look like they aren't doing anything, and heads inland towards the scream Okay, back to the girls... . o O (Hrm, where was I... oh yeah!) "Ahh! Shirt! Fire!" *beats wildly at the flames* Ari, Legis: after your little incident with the fire bats, you're able to find a large deposit of bat guano. "Here we are." a *very* large deposit * Legis finally takes off her shirt, drops it on the ground and stomps out the flames. eew * Legis shakes the dirt off of it and puts it back on. "Stupid flying rats... playing with fire, why I oughta..." she follows Arianna towards the guano. "...wow." okay, after some digging, you reveal the saltpeter underneath it. And lots of it. the rest of your trip is uneventful. ( Hooray ) "This is rather too much like work..." At some point she pauses and looks at the burned parts of her shirt. "You okay?" Curuar's team gets to where Neil and Josh are loading up the last of the sulphur. "Neil! What happened out here? We heard a scream back at the ship." * Josh is quite yellow and smelly, and looks like he's had the time of his life. He drops the last rock into the sack, then arches his back with an audible pop and waves at Curuar and the others. "We beat the tar out of a tar-monster!" "Uhm." She sounds actually kinda nervous, a marked difference between her normal... uh... mood. "Just may have to get a new shirt. Just skin showing..." "At first, I tried cutting it, but that just made it split into -more- monsters. So then Neil burned them with fire, but I wasn't able to do anything, then I threw some of this yellow stuff at the burning parts of the tar-monster, and it exploded!" * Josh is practically bouncing with excitement. "I've never heard a tar-maonster scream before." * Curuar looks to Neil for an explaination * Legis idly tries to rearrange her shirt to look a little more decent before they truck the saltpeter back shipwards. (Neil's AFK right now, I think) ('k) * Che-Cen tries not to oggle Legis too much. "Me, neither. But it -stank-." (Che: Legis is in the cave, you are at the tar pits. two different areas) "Alright, let's head back. We've got what we' came here for "Alright. What about the materials you came out for? Found anything?" * Josh gestures to the very full bags. "Got it, Sir." (Makes it easy not to oggle her now doesn't it?) "Mm." She chuckles, and breaks back into her normal half grin. (Quite. Only reason Josh isn't blushing and averting eyes.) (Can you tell Josh is excited with this brush of adventure? He's all boy. ^_^) ( Yes! ) Okay... after a little while, Ari and Legis appear from the cave, and see the smoke and smell the stench "Oh, geez. What happened over there? Come on, we better get moving. "Wow... what a... uh... signifigant.. odor." * Legis follows Arianna, toting a shovel (the less said of the conditions of, the better) and saltpeter (also rather odiferious) * Arianna moves, moves moves, towards the destination point "Let's get back to the ship, then." *has the two sailors he brought with him help Ari, Legis, and Josh haul stuff. He'll keep an eye open for any uber-predators and other surprises Ari: You come across the rest of the crew, sans Bourne. "Heeey, we gotz your sheeet, mang," Legis slurs in some unrecognizable accent, then breaks out in giggles. * Bourne is on-board ship, eyes the materials being brought for Neil and comfortably swigging from a waterskin. "...Arianna! You're hurt." * Josh lifts as many bags as he can carry - after trying to carry more than that - and follows Curuar. He would wave when he sees Arianna and Legis, but his hands are full. He is still grinning like a fiend, though. Until he notices Legis's, erm, wardrobe malfunction. Which causes him to stare for about a second before blushing and averting his eyes. Legis: as you giggle, your shirt shifts slightly * Josh turns redder, and is -definitely- looking in another direction now. * Curuar pointedly looks someplace other than Legis' direction, paying more attention to the rest of the surroundings * Legis suddenly shifts her expression from giggling to "oops, kyaaa!" spins, drops whatever she's carrying and tries to shift her shirt around to being more decent. (Would this count as a Mihoshi Moment?) * Josh looks to Bourne. "Sir? Where should I put these? I can help Arianna and anyone else who is wounded." (nah... Mihoshi would be a klutz about it) "Anywhere. Yes, please assist Ari. Injuries first." "I'm a little hurt, but it's not too bad." So how did the supply run go? "And Legis? You look like you got in a fight with a bonfire." "Yes, Sir." He puts them down where he is, and approaches Arianna. "Nevertheless, I would like to help you, ma'am." * Legis coughs. "Arianadoyouhaveaspareshirtpleasenow?" +n (remember the quotes, Che?) * Che-Cen looks over to Legis. * Che-Cen makes a good effort to not look like he's trying not to look at her chest. (he stares straight at it?) * Legis nervously smiles at Bourne. "Ah, a bit bossman... burning flying rodents! It bit me and... I hadda hit it until it went gooshy." (He makes a convincing display that his eyes are in fact not automatically drawn to them.) * Josh holds his hands over Arianna's wounds, and intones a short prayer. d8+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d8+5) and gets 8. ( So it's a conscious decision rather than a reflex? ) Thanks." "Ah. Well, good for you that you won. You'll probably be wanting to grab a shirt that one of the ship's former occupants left behind in crew quarters, I dare say." (He's not looking at all. And he's making it look like he ISN'T having trouble not looking.) (Even though he is having trouble not looking.) * Josh still isn't looking at her, but his somewhat fading blush strengthens as he asks, "Legis, ma'am, do you require some healing, as well?" * Legis squeaks "yessirthinkI'llbedoingthatnowsirthanks..." and quickly bolts belowdecks. * Neil hefts his surprisingly light-looking pack back over hsi shoulder. "Captain, it turns out that scream was Neil and Josh putting paid to some 'tar-monsters'." "...Maybe I should go help her." * Josh nods, relieved. "When she comes back, I'll ask again," he says to himself. "The cabin boy didn't do a thing." * Bourne ly snickers at what his mp3 players queues up. o/) Rah Rah Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen. / There was a cat that really was gone. / Rah Rah Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine / it was a shame how he'd carry on. o/) * Neil looks to Bourne. "Next time you lead me into certain danger, could you please make sure my guide knows where we're going?" * Josh whirls. "I did, too! I threw that yellow stuff at them and made that big explosion!" Then he looks sheepish. "...erm, after I accidentally made more of them." * Che-Cen starts slinking down below decks. "Sorry about that." * Legis comes back on deck a couple minutes later, smiling widely in her normal fashion. "You just wasted sulphur." "Neil, you have plenty, yes?" "...it screamed. It did. It hurt it as much as your blasphemous fire did." * Che-Cen doesn't quite making it below decks before Legis returns. "Ah, there you went." "The boy's lucky I had him stuffing a bag of holding." "And was I be!" she replies, grinning. "I believe I've collected over two hundred stoneweight's worth." * Josh glowers, then turns his attention to the returned Legis. "Ma'am, are you injured?" * Bourne winces and rubs his brow. . o O (Gonna have to keep these two separated. Bad blood.) "Neil, we'll need as much of the stuff as you can make at a safe rate with what we've got, please." "Ah, sommat... thing sank fangs into me, it did." "We ran into some giant firebats. Usually only run into things like that on the Elemental Plane of Fire." * Josh nods, and approaches her, speaking a quiet prayer. "Take my hand, then, please," he says, holding it out. It's almost glowing, but not...quite. "Except the ones there are much, much, much smaller. These ones were the size of a man." "Wonder if that's near here, metaphysically speaking." * Curuar waits quietly while Ari and Neil make their reports * Legis takes Josh's hand. d8+5 * Prozac throws the bones for Josh (d8+5) and gets 7. * Bourne looks at the materials brought back for Neil. He pauses. He looks at the waterskin in his hand. "..." He looks at the waterskin again. He looks particularly at the stopper. The watertight stopper. He quirks an eyebrow. "There's an idea..." He shakes his head. ((Yup, that'll do 'er.)) "Now that we've got the materials, I need to talk to you guys about what's been planned for the big day. Especially... you, you, you..." (Obviously, Bourne points to all the PCs.) * Josh 's hand pours a soothing feeling up Legis's arm, and her wounds close. "Better?" he asks, smiling in a friendly way. Session Time: Sat Sep 17 00:00:01 2005 * Legis flexes her arm experimentally, notes the puncture wounds aren't there anymore. "Yup!" "Good." He nods, unnecessarilly, then steps away, heading for Bourne. "Is there anything else you want me to do, Sir?" He sounds hopeful that there is. "Say, Josh? When'd you learn you could do that stuff, anyway?" * Josh blinks. "Aren't all those who study God's word promissed that He will answer if they ask with sincere hearts?" "you're from redwater aren't you?" * Bourne says to Josh, "Yes, we'll need everyone on the big day. Everyone gather around." Bourne grabs a stick of the charcoal and gathers everyone around a barrelhead, scratching out the outlines of the design the other captains showed him. "Yes, Sir." He bites off that bit of his answer to Neil, but sounds like he's -trying- not to be disrespectful. * Curuar steps in closer to see the barrelhead * Josh nods to Bourne, and moves so he can see. * Curuar notes he'll have to speak to Josh about a few things soon * Legis hops over towards Bourne, takes a seat on something. "Well, it's not usually meant literally." "Your people's experiments did this to me." "Well...." "Legis! Get off me!" "What I mean is, it doesn't seem to manifest that way with everyone." * Che-Cen heads over to Bourne and leans against the rail near him. "There's a solid fleet stationed near the Vault. First priority will be to thin that out. Some of our ships will sail by and lure them off. Che, we can use your help with this, big time." "Most of the time, people experience flashes of insight, maybe things just turn out their way..." Not much I can do against an entire ship except moor it. And even then, I've only got a couple of those feather tokens left. "What can he do that I can't?" "Ah, but you can move underwater invisibly to the ships, and if I understand right Neil can set up slow fuses inside watertight skins full of blackpowder. If those are in place before they sail off to the fleet, we can save a lot of our manpower for the full attack, get it?" * Josh nods absently to Arianna, while trying to pay attention to Bourne. "That's how the voice of God first manifests..." "That's just the first thing. Do that and then head in to the bay to wair for us. The main part of the plan relies on the fact that we've captured a Redwater ship." "Tricky tricky.." "I can turn into gas.." * Legis listens attentively. "We're going to impersonate a regular shipment of captured magical items coming to the Vault. I'll want the human or human-looking crew on deck, and our other guys out of sight in the hold. ... Neil, can you vanish those wings and claws at will?" "No." "The gas may be the way to go then. Can you carry stuff when you do?" "Only as feasably as you can cover up a tattoo or a bad manicure anyway." "Sir?" "Do I count as human looking?" "Yes, Josh?" "I could help Che-Cen, or I could try to speak to the faithful, keep their minds on a sermon while, um, you sneak past..." * Che-Cen grins, with his floating hair billowing around his head. * Josh avoids looking at Neil, or at Che-Cen's creepy hair. * Curuar raises an eyebrow at Josh's suggestion, looks at Bourne "Actually, Josh, part of the subterfuge will be with the cargo. I'll need the humans on deck handling that." * Legis thinks hard. "... hrm." She looks at Josh, Bourne, and then at herself. "I suppose... to the hold wit' me." * Arianna nods. "I admit I haven't been touched by His divine power myself. My gifts largely come my ancestry. Your condition is curious to me. I'm sure we'll learn the dark of it soon enough. If you have indeed been chosen, perhaps He has a special purpose in mind for ye." * Bourne looks over Che-Cen. "You okay with wearing a hat?" "Yes, Sir." * Bourne eyes Legis. Doesn't she look lke a dark-skinned human with funky hair? "Not usually my style, but as long as it's only temporary." *winks* * Bourne makes eye contact with Curuar, nods. ((If by "dark" you mean "almost black purple" then..)) Legis is a little darker than most, and her ears are quite prominent (She's the Spawn of Grimace!) ( But he has no penis. ) "Hat, then. And if anybody asks, we picked you up in Umoja." * Josh looks over at Arianna. "I don't understand why it should confuse you; it is simply God's will, and His promise. I am not unique; any of His servants can, if they but pray." "Be sure to cover the ears." (she's a lot darker than Umojan, as well, I'd wager) "I suppose I'll have to be in armor so my helm won't look out of place ." GM: Might have to keep her in the hold, then. We'll see. "Neil, this is where most of the blackpowder comes in. We're going to partially empty a couple of the boxes in the hold. I want them filled up as much as you can, and some of the captured items layered over them. Add in fuses. We're going to bring the things in..." he sketches the gate and the sewer line. "Where's Umoja?" Err, whatever that outlet was supposed to be. "South." the sewer drain Che: Umoja is the southern continent the pirate flotilla rondevoused(sp?) at (K) ( Rendevouz ) "If I'm going to pass for a Redwater crewman - even a cabin boy - I, erm, need another..." he swallows "...bath." He gestures to his yellow-caked arms, and just generally smells like brimstone and stinkbomb. "They should let us in the Vault. One box goes in under as heavy a guard as we can manage, then out comes the second. Once we've got some men in, that group takes out any escort and tries to use their powder to blow the drainage port. The other crate we use to try to blow the cargo port open permanently. * Josh nods. "Bourne..if I carry as much powder as I can, it will go incoporeal along with me." "Don't worry cabin-boy. I'll take care of you again if you need it." "At this point, of course, all hell breaks loose. We'll need to hold our ground long enough for the fleet to sail over the horizon into the bay and reinforce us. Once that happens, we hopefully have enough manpower to take the Vault." * Legis raises a hand slightly. "So I...?" *to Neil* "Would that be enough to blow open an iron-reinforced gate?" * Josh eyes Che-Cen. "I, um, can take care of myself, Sir." (the blueprints of the Vault indicated that there is a barracks on the inside of the main defensive wall separate from the Vault proper) "So when exactly should I switch from invisible fishman to upstanding redwater human?" *to Legis* "If we can't disguise you, then you and the other nonhumans" -- he nods to the goblin crew -- "will have to stay out of sight while we're trying to pass as a Redwater ship. Once the jig is up, though, we need every sword and spellslinger to hold the line until the fleet arrives." *gets an idea* "Josh, how often are half-breeds like me allowed to serve on Redewater ships?" "Okydoky." *to Che* "If you can, hop on board around back of the ship when we pull in to the bay." "Sir? They're...allowed, but you'd never be in command." (actually, most of the goblins ended up on the Rajni Natesa; you had maybe two) "If you don't think you have a good chance of pulling it off unnoticed, just stay out of sight until the screaming starts." "Alright" "So you could do it, but you'd be taking orders from me, even." ^^; *to Josh* "I hope so." *to Bourne* "I might not need to go disguised, and I might be enough of a distraction for the guards if I went in with the first 'shipment'." *to Josh* "By the way, I'll be picking you over for knowledge of Redwater naval custom. I'd like to get my story airtight when they ask why we have so few men on board." "Yessir." *to Curuar* "Interesting idea." *to Bourne* "What would be more interesting to bored guards? A half- breed to bully or watching another boring shipment get off loaded?" ;) "Yes. I can overburden myself with it and still get the spell cast if my hands are free." * Josh looks thoughtful, studying the little maps Bourne's drawn. "...if I'm not needed once we get into the Vault itself, I might be able to keep anyone in the Barracks from interfering at all..." "And is your gas form invisible?" *to Josh* "How so?" * Legis looks thoughtful some more, as if she's pondering the implications of the whole thing. "Oh, I know... will there be pie?" *to Neil* "Or at least vaguely smoke-like instead of human-shaped?" *to Legis* "Pie for all, a la mode for some." "Yay!" * Josh swallows. "I, um, can get rather... well, when God inspires me to speak, His words can keep them listening for up to an hour, despite...distractions." "More smoke like than anything." "I'll be a visible whisp of fog, essentially." "And, I think there must be something His children here need to hear." (that'll come in handy during sermons. ;) (definitely) (Enthrall's such a fun spell; it's even more fun when, ironically, you can use it against members of your faith.) *to Josh* "Can you even keep soldiers from joining in a battle when one is going on nearby?" * Josh nods, hesitantly. "If... if it's not in their immediate sight, definitely. I'll just close the door when I go in the barracks." "No, wait..." . o O (Oh, the delicious taste of irony.) "You and Neil can complement each other." "How so, Sir?" (the powder going off will certainly get their attention) (Yes, but if they -don't- know it's 'something they oppose' or if they have fewer than 4HD or below 16 Wis, they still don't get to react.) "We send in a dummy cargo first. You strike up an engaging conversation with the guards at the gate. That way, even if Neil's visible they won't need to pay attention to a wisp of fog heading off to a drainage gate and back." * Neil nods. (the drainage gate happens to be between the Vault and the barracks, btw . o O (The two guys that like each other least are vital to each other's stage of the plan. Damn I'm good.) "...sir? Unless you want our crew listening, as well... I will try, Sir. This is a gift that works best with large crowds, but one or two...can be distracted." (oh, I probably forgot to mention the guard towers at the corners, likely with archers) "Just as many guys as you can who look like they'd be paying attention to such things. We can't eliminate risk entirely." "Neil, would it matter to your gas form if it were raining at the time?" "I'll do my best, Sir." (four towers on the Vault itself, two at the gate near the dock, one over the barracks, one over the kitchen/mess, and one in the corner near the docks yet opposite from the barracks/armory/mess) "no." "Good. I'll whip up a squall as we go in then. Nothing dangerous, just enough to reduce visibility a bit further for anyone watching from these guard towers." He scratches them in. "As long as we keep the powder dry, it should be okay." * Bourne leans back. "And that's the ballgame. Any questions?" "Ooh! I have one!" "...yes, Legis." "Will the pie be tasty?" * Arianna watchies with interest "Just kidding. No questions, bossman." "De gustibus non disputandum, Legis." * Josh looks at the maps, and doesn't say anything. He looks determined. * Legis looks clueless. "Uhm... er... sic semper tyrannus?" "Captain, might I have a word with you?" "We've got a barracks inside, which it would be nice if we could deal with... ideas will be welcomed. Other than that, we're done here. Curuar, you two, help Neil get the materials packed away wherever he needs them. The rest of you, get the ship ready to cast off. We're heading to the Black Vault." * Bourne steps away. "Go ahead, Curuar." "Again, sir, I can try to keep the Barracks occupied." "in private, sir?" "Oh, sorry." *moves away* "Sure. My cabin, one second." Bourne turns to Josh. "The question would be how to get a crewman from a random cargo ship in to the barracks of the Vault's soldiery. If you can come up with a good idea for that one, let me know." * Bourne heads to his cabin to talk to Curuar, closes the door behind him. "What's up?" * Legis gets up from her perch on a windlass and helps the crew make sail, as best she can, whistling some strange non-repeating melody as she does. * Neil crosses his arms. "So, god huh?" "Sounds terribly exciting." "It's about Josh, sir. He seem enthusiastic enough about this, but I must question his... loyalty. He's from Redwater and has been indoctrinated in their beliefs all his life, so on a gut level, I have to wonder if he won't crack and spill our plans." * Bourne nods. "It's possible. On the other hand, he had a chance to leave me for dead and nobody the wiser when I was stuck in the tar pits. I owe him a level of trust." "Also, even if he betrays us, well, we were going to be fighting eventually. And he'd be the first one stuck if he did. Finally, even if he does, we still have Neil's little surprise in the drainage gate to open our alternate way in." "I agree, sir, which is why I did not want to discuss this on deck. If he actually can do as he thinks, I don't want to cast any doubt in his mind by being overheard." "Believe me, I understand your concern. The ancient philosopher Reeg'an had the saying, 'trust, but verify.' I'm giving Josh a chance to be trusted. He can verify with what he does. If that's all, then?" * Josh replies to Neil, a bit uncomfortably and not quite looking at him, "It isn't...excitement, Sir. It's... an indescribable feeling. Not a knowledge, so much as a ... feeling, that everything is right, that He knows you and that He cares for you." "They told me that when they held my eyelids open and poured acid into them." * Bourne quirks an eyebrow at Curuar, waiting. * Josh shudders. "That... is... That's..." He shivers again, closing his eyes and firming his speech. "That was not God's doing, or His law, but the laws and codes of men. I do not know what you did to deserve it, but worldly punnishments are required for order in this world." "Not quite all, sir. If you do decide to send me in with the first shipment as a distraction, we may be able to get further use than just turning the guard's eyes away from the docks. If Josh's ability to enthrall is akin to the magical effect of such things, I may be able to be an insurance policy for his trustworthiness." * Josh didn't sound at all like he thought that Neil didn't deserve it, but more like he's more afraid of this confessed criminal, now. * Legis hrms at knots, in a place where she's out of the way. "That's fine with me. It seems Neil will use his alternate form to take the place of this first group, but you can go with the one group we'll send to blow the cargo gate. That will contain Josh as well." "As you say. I'll return to deck, sir." "Okay." *heads up* "This rope goes there, and that goes... neat... but what makes it..." *plays with rope* * Arianna stands by. "Am I subject to the trust stuff to? I follow the God as them, ye know." * Curuar gets back up on deck and makes himself useful "I was born into your fool nation." "Same one we're robbing." "The son of a priest." * Josh blurts, "That's impossible!" "No priest would have sex with whatever your mother was!" "Unless she raped him?" * Legis looks over at Curuar. "Hey! You know knots and stuff, right?" *to Legis* "Yes. Are you having trouble with one?" "No... well sorta... I mean... how do they work?" * Bourne ly bites his tongue to keep from going on about knot theory. "No..he was married to a regular woman, thanks." "I can't control my abilties, just like I can't change my appearance." "I've died, been tortured, and died again." * Josh pauses, and realizes what he's said. Looking abashed, he ... can't bring himself to appologize, anyway. "...you...used to be human?" "They work by binding them in a way so the tension between the surfaces hold fast." "I AM human. If you show any more of this ignorance, I'll throw you off of..off of this *god* damned boat!" "Here, watch." *ties a few knots* Bourne: you arrive to hear Neil deliver that * Legis watches fascinated. "Huh... that's neat." "No god has damned this boat yet, Neil, alone or in a pantheon. And *I* decide who stays and goes. You have materials for the powder we need, and we have limited time. Get to work." * Neil narrows his eyes at Bourne. "Shut up." * Josh stares at Neil for a bit, expression going from fear, to confusion, to...pity. He opens his mouth to speak, but doesn't seem to know what to say, so turns and walks over to the side of the boat. "Captain? I'm going to get cleaned up, if that's okay." * Bourne signals Josh leave to go with his head, looking at Neil. "I'll do as I damned well please. Otherwise, good luck convinving the gnomes to give you the formula for black powder, and better luck making it." "Neil. The boy has done you no wrong. Don't blame him for the sins of his leaders." * Josh clutches something under his shirt, making a sign of a seven-pointed star before kicking a leg over the side and jumping into the water. He dissappears beneath the surface immediately. "Your cabin boy WILL get thrown from the boat, his own feet will take him as I throw fire down his back. You need to keep his attitudes in line. I'm not allowing his disrespect again." * Neil turns. "Or not." * Neil sighs. He makes his way with unnatural speed to the side of the boat. * Bourne softens his tone. "I wasn't here to hear anything like that. Of course the chain of command has to be respected. No backtalk from crew to officers." Neil: seems he's scrubbing. * Josh is bobbing just beneath the surface of the water, seemingly unhindered by it in any way, scrubbing at his arms. Quite a lot of yellow is leaking into the water around him. * Neil walks back to Bourne. "And we started at the same rank, didn't we?" . o O (Knew this was coming.) "Yes, we did. Captain had to put one of us in charge of the prize." "Ah, give 'im some time. He's a strong cutter. He'll be fine. In any case, this should be my first major achievement in my mission..." "Considering we were once peers then, maybe you should try to afford me a little more dignity? I'm under enough duress right now with my duty to fairly say I don't wish you barking out the agenda I already have to me." "You're quite right. You're first mate and entitled to enforce a degree of discipline in the chain of command." "Bear in mind that discipline won't last if you make the kid a scapegoat for others' sins, though." "And I've got my head on straight, Bourne." "You think the kid's my only problem?" "Considering that there are no scorch marks on the deck presently, I think we can acknowledge that statement." (*snicker* "My torn nightmares are now clear memories. My split mind has merged from a glue of pain and anger." "I remember what both sides had to say. I chose freely which blood in my veins I would call upon." * Legis creates some randomly snarled length of rope, frowns, pulls it apart and tries again. "We all have our scars, Bourne, and mine leaves me an unkind man. We are pirates. I think there no better place for an unkind man." "I think you're right." * Curuar shows Legis how to tie a couple of knots, demonstrating them a few times for her "Now, If you'll excuse me, I have some explosives to make." * Bourne nods. . o O (How do I tell him I don't want the _Horizon_ to be a pirate ship forever... ) * Legis bites her lower lip in concentration, comes up with something more knotlike... * Neil salutes Bourne, and goes into his lab, toting the supplies on deck with him. * Bourne sees to the minor details of getting the ship ready to sail. * Josh comes running up the side of the ship, bare-chested except for a red seven-pointed star surrounded by a circle hanging from a necklace of wooden beads. He's carrying his shirt in one hand. Jumping down from the rail, he begins wringing the not-quite-so-filthy garment out. His pants just drip on the deck. He smells decidedly better now, though. Salt, rather than sulfur. * Curuar leaves Legis to practise her knots * Arianna watches Josh. "Hey. You feelin' better now? I find there's nothing better cleaning the body to help clean the mood." * Josh nods, smiling. "Yes, much. Thank you, ma'am." * Arianna smiles. "Great to hear, cutter." * Josh chuckles - a sound almost like a giggle, but no -boy- would ever giggle - "You have some odd turns of phrase, ma'am." * Curuar looks for Josh * Josh is on deck, laying his shirt out, and picking up his sword-belt from where he left it on deck before jumping over the side. "Ah, it's just the dialect of my homeland. Have I ever told you about it?" "I think you mentioned it once, briefly." * Arianna nods. "Depending on your point of view, I come from very, very far away. Or very close." "Arianna. Are you busy with Josh? There are a few things I'll need to discuss with him for the Plan." "Nah, just telling him a bit about the place I call home." "You got here by God's grace, then? --oh, hi, Sir. What can I do for you?" 1d20+11 * Prozac throws the bones for Neil (1d20+11) and gets 19. *to Josh* "I just need to know a few things about how Redwater expects half-elves and such to act toward full humans. Anything you can tell me will help when we get to the Vault." * Josh nods. "Okay." He thinks a moment. * Curuar thinks he'll ask Arianna to tell him about where she's from later. It sounded as though it would be quite interesting "While it's not your fault, you are the product of rape. And you're allowed to live and work, you have to earn your place, because you're only spared being non-human entirely by grace and accident of birth." * Arianna isn't sure whether to laugh or correct him. * Curuar tries to take what Josh is saying in the spirit in which it is offered "So, you have to show respect to your betters - humans - at all times. Some people mistake the tragedy of your condition for meaning that any transgressions involving you are all your fault. So...expect to be blamed." "It's not fair; you didn't choose your parents. But there are those who mistake their place as God's favored children as liscense to abuse all who are not His favored. Because you are impure, and only half-human, there are many places you can't go, and nobody is going to trust you without a real person to vouch for you. Often, half-humans have an unofficial patron who pretty much takes care of them that way." (usually a human parent or half-sibling) "You know, making sure their worse nature doesn't lead them astray, and showing them how to behave. Human family members, usually, who grew up with them, and can see the spark of your better self even clouded as it is by the worse." * Josh definitely believes waht he's saying, but any reference to mistreatment seems to pain him. "While it's not really your fault when your impurities lead you to be less than you should be, many people won't see it that way, and think harsh punishment might straighten you up. But... well, you're pretty well- behaved, so it's only going to be if something really goes wrong that they'll probably blame you." "The long and short of it, then is to act like a midshipman at an angry, violently drunken captains convention." * Josh laughs. "Yeah! Exactly!" "And remember that yelling at the 'captains' - the humans - will only get you in more trouble, because nobody's going to help you if you bring it on yourself." * Curuar grins. "Then I'll just have to make certain I wander too far from you when we get there." * Legis drops out of the rigging, landing catlike on the deck. "Drunken... alcohol?" she asks almost hopefully. "As long as I'm with your group, I'll try to keep you from being unfairly treated. They should leave it to me, if I vouch for your good behavior. I think." "That sounds like a good idea. It will help with a few issues of trust that might araise." "But remember, I know you're my superior in reality, Sir, but you -can't- act like it when we're there. --no, just an analogy, Legis, ma'am." "Ah, awww." "In that case, Young Josh. You had best get used to not calling me 'sir'." *wink* * Josh glanced over at Legis when he said that, and his eyes were drawn to where her shirt wasn't before. Not only does he blush faintly as he looks away, but he looks -distinctly- uncomfortable. So he greatfully snaps his attention back to Curuar. "Yes, Si--er, 'Right, Curuar.'" * Legis quirks a multicolored eyebrow at Josh, then shrugs and wanders towards the pointy end of the boat. "Is there anything else you want, Curuar?" "That about covered it. I may think of something else later, though. Sorry to have cut in like that, Arianna. But I did need to know these things." "No problem." "Yeah, you were saying about where you're from?" *seems genuinely interested* * Curuar sticks around to hear this. "Anyway, my home. It can be said that reaching there is kinda like... stepping sideways, off a road, if you will. It's a beautiful place. Nature flourishes, and animals frolic without conflict. It is a series of islands, floating not in the sea, but in the sky... not the sky above us right now, though." (I'd bet Ari has some stories about the Wandering Mountains and Sylvania, and possibly the Realm of the Dead) "Wow. How do they float like that?" . o O (Now that would be an interesting sight. A tiger planning with a rabbit and not mauling it to death.) * Arianna shrugs. "To tell the truth, I'm not entirely certain. It seems just to be a part of the nature of the place. JUst as the nature of this area of reality is more... solid. When here, I feel like the world is a bit less mutable." -planning +Playing "Magic." says Neil as he comes out of his cabin with a small paring knife. He walks up to a bit of rope rigging, fraying it ever-so-slightly, just enough to get some bristles of twine. * Josh rather just ignores Neil's comment, and responds to Arianna's. "Oh. Like this place just seems to have everything bigger?" "Alternate physical law. Like being able to see Pelor's chariot for a while after we got here." "And more dangerous." "Yeah, kinda like that. This place reminds me of another, where nature itself is at the peak of its strength always." "That's magic too." He works the twine into a small spindle. Surprisingly enough, his hands have no suphpur or guano on them. "Come to think of it, I haven't done any magic since we got here. I hope it still works the same way..." (and... it's 2am here...) Yah. (1, here, and that's more than late enough.) "Well, I've tried a bit. It seems to be fine, though mine is a somehwat different brand. Comes from a Power. I suppose that's what you call Gods here." "My flaming spheres functioned quite normally." "And no one's inexplicably drifted away from the deck into thin air." "Anyway, I grew up among those islands, in a community of what you could call mostly human. We all have a bit of mixed blood from that plane's natives." "Oh." * Che-Cen has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) "It's somewhat faint, but we're usually more than say, one sixteenth Celestial. I think that is the word you call them." "Wow..." He looks at her with a minor sense of awe for a bit, before shaking himself out of it. "Thank you for telling me of your home, ma'am. It sounds lovely. I should see if there's anything I can do to help on the ship, now, though." He rises, donning his shirt that's been drying in the sun, and goes to find something productive to do. "I get the feeling we'll break him of his bad dogma, yet." *AFTER Josh has maove far enoughy away* -y * Arianna nods. "I suppose it's best to get back to work. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done. Though I suppose my own work won't be finished for generations of your time..."