[Game Thread] Wrecks on the rocks

[Jarl11]

Ayva purred for the first time in months. She felt truly wonderful and curled up on the cushions to listen to the others talk, tail flicking to and fro. Occasionally she nibbled at some more food or sipped from her cup carefully.

Blinking in surprise, she sat up straight. "Hmmm. I had forgotten about this tube. Thank you for reminding me!" The old seer was truly observant.

The cat set the pieces out on the table and tinkered with it while the talking continued and she listened in. "I'll help gather those discs. Though I am more curious about what they are than anything else. You have helped us. I will pay my debt." Eyes flicked to Gandus at the reminder of the healing they just had.

Perhaps those tools we found could help fix this... "Who has those small tools?"

Into the evening, Ayva tinkered with the things she they had found until sleep called her and she curled up once more to purr contently through the night. It aimed to be the best sleep of her life.

OOC Sorry for my absence! Life has been busy and I haven't found myself on here as much lately. Dice try to figure out tube - engineering untrained: 1d20+0 (9)+0 Total = 9 Dice disable device to perhaps repair the tube untrained: 1d20+3 (14)+3 Total = 17 Dice perception to see anything else helpful in the place: 1d20+4 (14)+4 Total = 18 Dice craft unskilled - adding it just because I forgot about the skill :p: 1d20+0 (17)+0 Total = 17

[MrD]

Spells? Gandus' eye's narrowed. He'd encountered magic little in his life but safe was to say everyone he'd ever met had some sort of tale bearing elements of witchcraft and wizardry. He looked over at the book in Florians hands. He'd encountered as many books in his time as he had witches and wizards. He couldn't read, never learned how, and here was this woman telling him she could make him understand just like that. He went over to Florian, as he did he passed Ayva playing with the pipes she had found, "here, he dropped the small bundle of tools on the table" If there was magic to be had from this book he could just magic up a new set anyway. Florian looked up as he approached "May I" he took the book and, holding it upside down, opened the cover. He stared hard at the page. It was filled with lines , lines of squiggling ink, he followed the squiggles, which he assumed were words, and slowly felt a pain begin to form behind his eyes.After a moment he looked to the seer. "Go on then." he challenged "Make me understand this then!" He doubted she could.

He remembered, when he'd been a boy, a preacher had come down from the high church into the alleys and hovels of the lower town. The man, with his black clothes, white collar, and gold rings bearing the emblems of his order, had tried to to bring learning to the children there. He'd used the walls of the buildings as chalk boards, writing the letters in large curling script and pointing with a finger as he made them repeat A... B... C... and all that.. The children had liked the man, he'd bring sweets for them, to encourage them to join, and to reward then for good learning, but for all his enthusiasm it hadn't lasted long. One day he stopped coming and shortly after his body had been found floating in the small canal, his throat cut, his gold ringed fingers missing.

That was a long time ago....

"If you can make me understand the words then I'll go with this lot and get your disc back..." he'd had enough. He didn't care if she knew what he and the elf intended to. "else, I'm out of here at first light"

[Cedric]

His attention is drawn to the words spoken between Gandus and Haluk, accusations, not so veiled threats. They won't be able to get off the island if they're at each others throat, still he agrees with Haluk and offers him a slight nod of approval "Easy there, we're at a point where we need each other to survive. So let's pretend we're team players at least until we're out of here, agreed?" he says to the two of them, hoping they will listen. He can feel the strength still flowing into him, his voice is not the ragged whisper it was after months of malnutrition and dehydration and the thick fog in his head is quickly trailing away.

Sitting with legs crossed in front of the table he looks up as Gandus approached, asking for the book "Certainly, there is little in it that can benefit me anyway." he hands it to the man, watching as he turns around and immediately challenges their host There is a man who wants everything for nothing he muses to himself, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he shakes his head. For a second he thought about shooting her an apologetic glance but thinks better of it, his is not to apologize for this man. He will reap his own rewards.

Gathering a few pillows he lies down besides the table, the thoughts of his homeland and proud Hyria swirling in his mind as he drifts into deep slumber.

[Caveman]

Evening With a few soft words Ellara touches Gandus and the man's eyes glow for a second. Suddenly the spidery ink on the pages of the book crawl into a semblance of order and he finds himself able to read and understand their contents. Each page contains a recipe of sorts, a way of moving body, mind and word to create an effect. Just by reading the runes he is able to tell that this one allows the user to lift objects from afar and move them, and this one creates a ball of acid and sends it at a target, and another calls a ball of light. There are more complex ones as well, a spell that calls lightning into the casters hand to shock the next creature touched, and another that sends bolts of force that never miss. And then, after a couple of hours the magic fades and the words are just lines on a page once more... Meanwhile Ayva takes the metal tube and the tools and is quickly engrossed in turning, twisting, trying to place the parts together. Some time passes before she recognises the shape of parts of it being the mirror of the tools and from then she works more easily. After some time she has assembled the tube and its handle, and has realised that the metal balls fit perfectly into the tube. If an explosion were to occur int the end the ball would fly out at considerable speed - ingenious really! Of course the black powder is the only thing left that could be involved and a few grains thrown in the fire confirm that they are the missing link. With some more study she is sure she could get this device into working order - though trying to use it now might be risky...

Night The evening sun sinks into the sea over the western coast of the island in a blaze of scarlet beauty, illuminating the island in its dying glow. As its final rays fade into black the ribbon of brilliant stars replace it with a cool white light that bathes the rocky land in a clear luminescence. The sounds of night creatures fills the glowing landscape, and a cool breeze drifts across the temple, carrying the smell of the sea and its salty tang with it. Inside four escaped slaves, their bodies and minds healed and cleansed by the magic of the great orrery settle down to rest. Each of them is bone-weary, exhausted in mind, body and soul. They have in a few short hours escaped certain death, broken the chains of slavery, survived a pitched battle by the narrowest of margins and then been given the tantalising hope of freedom along with a task of seemingly impossible magnitude to make it happen. Each has survived horror and deprivation, and their tattered souls have been shriven in the fires of their suffering. Sleep comes swift and easy as they rest their heads down. But with the sleep come dreams, and those dreams come swift and hard on sleep's heels. Each slave is dragged into the swirling mists, sucked as if a whirlpool of possibility is lying in wait for them...

Morning Day breaks cool and grey. Yesterday's storm has blown through but deep clouds mass on the horizon, their massed ranks poised to batter the coast again soon. In the grey light you can see the ships at anchor as yesterday, but the wreck you escaped has been pulled under the waves completely now. Ellara and Heldra have already started the morning cookfire and the smell of newly baked buns wafts over. Ellara calls out to as she wees movement in the blankets. "Good morning all, I trust your sleep was calm. There are never dreams in this temple, so I hope you feel rested. There is food for those who wish it."

OOC: You each gain the following ability, usable 3 times in total in the next 24 hours after which it is lost:

Call a Dream (Su): You gain the ability to channel the residual dreams of a mighty hero. For 10 minutes you take on the full characteristics of a single third level character class of your choice. Your hit points increase by 20, your BAB, saves, proficiencies and class skills are as those of a third level character of the class chosen and you may add 2 to any single ability score of your choice. You gain skill ranks as if you had taken 3 levels in the class and may distribute them as you wish. You are considered to have the skills of that class as class skills for the duration of the Call. If the class can cast spells, or use abilities you may choose all aspects of those abilities when you use this ability. At the end of the 10 minutes you are fatigued. You may opt to spend a further use to extend the duration to one hour.

[HenryLockwood]

Haluk woke, and stretched; it had been... a long time since he had slept that well. The slave-ship, and even before: those had not been restful places. This temple, with its cool stone walls and the rugs on the floor, was all he had needed for a night of healing oblivion.

There are never dreams, she said. What had that vision been, then? An encounter with the god of the temple, if the voice had been real - and telling the truth. Call the dreams, the voice had said; it sounded like an offer of help. It might be an offer with a price, but at least it might help Haluk survive; and that was more than he had dared hope for until now.

"Rested, yes. Food also yes."

Haluk's manner was not improved by a night's sleep, and, half-naked, he stumbled over to the cook-fire and grabbed a bun. He did not speak further, not for some time.

Finally, he looked up.

"Good food. Where is entrance to cave with disk?"

[Cedric]

Florian awakes to the smell of food, feeling rested yet ill at ease. Had this been a mere dream? No, he's sure that someone had spoken to him, had offered him a gift of dreams.

Well that was interesting he thinks to himself, more so when their host speaks of no one ever having dreams in this place, an odd thing to say but he didn't push the matter. He grabs a couple of freshly baked buns and sits himself down by the table "Aye I slept well, thank you and Haluk is right, these are delicious." he smiles and takes another bite of the bread, waiting for their host to answer Haluk's question. He is anxious to get this over with, to get off this island and see where the current will take him.

[MrD]

It was like quicksilver pouring into his brain. The nonsensical squiggles on the page suddenly alive. He saw the words and as his eyes moved across them he heard the words. It was like the book was speaking to him. Was this really what it was like to read. Was it like this for everyone who could read. The speed at which the meaning transferred off the page into his mind was like nothing he could have imagined, and the more it flowed, the more he wanted. For the first time in his live he felt every neuron of his brain firing and with each explosion he felt his mind expanding.

..but then something changed. The fire began to dim. The words slowed to a sluggish crawl and finally the book stopped speaking. It was as if the candles in his lighted room had all been snuffed out bar one. He looked out from the dimness of his mind and cursed the seer. She had tricked him. She had told him she would make it possible for him to read the book, but what she had neglected to tell him is that it would only be for the shortest of times. He felt the bile rise in him as he looked at the meaningless scrawl on the page. He snapped the book shut - well, her time would come...

He stalked from her presence and found a place to be alone while he slept.

When the morning came he joined the others where he took food and sat quietly by him self. While he felt rested the nights sleep had been anything but deep and soundless. Was it really the god of the island who'd spoken with him, toyed with him, as was it, as he fully expected his mind playing tricks on him following the seers deception of the evening before. He said nothing. He watched the others as they ate and wondered if their dreams had also been plagued by demons in the half light.

[Jarl11]

Ayva woke slowly, thoughtfully mulling over the dreams and stretching quietly. Eventually she uncurled herself for a large stretch and her sharp eyes found the seer.

"Whom did you say your God was, again? And what is he the God of?" She thought she had heard the

Dice knowledge religion untrained:

1d20+0

(17)+0

Total = 17

words Gal-Toth.

Compared with the time in a slave galley, being exposed in a dream was unsettling but not as unpleasant. Though perhaps her soul really had shriveled and the consequences of oblivion were simply more welcoming than they once had been. Looking over the other former slaves it became apparent that at least Gandus had not slept well. The man usually had more words than the rest of them together.

Last night she had figured out much about the tube. It was some kind of device that could work as a weapon, firing balls of metal. Would it be possible to use this so-called gift to fix the firing tube?

Tip-toeing over to the fire, Ayva snagged a bun with one clawed finger and listened as she eyed the seer with open curiosity.

OOC Could Ayva use the Call a Dream once to fix the pistol? Or would that require 2 uses? Am thinking of the gunslinger of course.