[Game Thread] The Tale of the Seabear

[Colatine]

OOC One more day of no posting =sunken ship.

[Otter Nonsense]

"Lar toe rokzug jen, Gradzne aria..."

The rest of the orcish dirge trailed off in chuckles as Riccardo heaved another rat into the sea. Many of them floated, and so a game had evolved. He would drop one over the edge to test if it was buoyant or not, and then he would pelt it with others. Every time a floating rat and a flying rat collided there was an exclamation of triumph.

The life of a sailor was far too boring for Riccardo. He couldn't imagine what he would do if this was his vocation. Nine out of ten days at sea with only the nauseating roll of the waves and your fellow sailors as company? No way! There were no women sailors either, and Riccardo had only begun to balk at the repercussions of such a realization. No wonder Mina needed a bodyguard.

Riccardo tossed the last of the dead rats over the railing and turned to face the deck. He crossed his legs and leaned on an elbow. How many more days of this?

[milkshake]

Sleeshi is fascinated by the seagull. In fact, he his fascinated to an almost disturbing point. He watches it soar and soar for hours. In truth, there should be nothing disturbing about the elf's endless awe of the beauty of nature. But still one wonders.

Although it is the middle of the night, it is when Sleeshi is again watching the seagull (this time, thinking of the time his father showed him how to rear a hawk, and wondering if the same skill would work with a seagull) that Sleeshi hears a noise from the cargo hold. He notes saliently that he should return to the thought of training the seagull, because it was an interesting, if impractical, idea, but at the moment, the prospect of something to break the dreariness of the night aboard the Seabear overrules more hours of letting his mind wander.

Unceremoniously, Sleeshi shakes his whip off his hip, and holds it loosely in his hand as he heads below deck to investigate.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

“grrrrrrrrr” he said softly to himself in the darkness that was the sleeping area. “How can anyone sleep with these accursed rats making so much noise? Why did I not listen to my teacher and get myself a cat for a familiar.” He did not want to put his feet on the floor but he KNEW there was one of those ugly, hairy little rodents just waiting for him to do so. Instead, he leaned over to El and said in a whisper “El….EL….are you asleep? Can’t you do something about these rats? You’re an elf…and a ranger to boot. Can’t you talk to the darn things or play a flute that makes them follow you or something?”

While the stress of the rodents was indeed a problem, it was not what was keeping the sorcerer up. It was…the gnome. He did NOT like gnomes in the first place…but this one made his skin crawl and he needed to find out why…soon.

[GrimDarkOtter]

Hama spends most of his days aboard The Seabear stealing down to the hold, moving among his people and comforting them. None had ever experienced a voyage so long or trying as this, and though Hama had not either, he did his best to assure them of their safety and good progress. Old Drava had gotten sick, and Hama did his best to treat him, but even with magic the old timer had little hope left. Perhaps the sea was simply too much for him.

The young elder walked out on to the deck, gazing around in search of land, yet once more seeing none. His shoulders sank as he gave a sigh, hoping Drava would see land once more before his time. Yet it seemed....unlikely. This endless vast had a draining quality to it, sapping the will more than any intimidation had back home. Negotiating the weaving deck, Hama sat down next to Riccardo, his back against the gunwale as he stared at the whorls and patterns in the wood of the mast. He felt there was something there, but even days of study had not yielded the secrets of the wood. Old Elder Meecham would have had the mast singing of its glory days in the true-growth forests within a fortnight, but Hama couldn't even decipher its skin.

Looking over at the dying squeak of another rat, Hama recoils slightly in distaste at the half-orc's brutality. "We have cats for that, you know." he says, scooting down the deck a short ways to get away from the pile of carcasses.

[Otter Nonsense]

"The cats are larger than the rats and have more hair?" Riccardo nods, knowingly. "They do not float as well."

[Embrodak]

A low voice answers from the darkness. "I am not sleeping Arti, I am calmly mediataing and you are more of a distraction than your furry friends. I'm afraid I am no tamer of the Rat my friend, and you'll just have to find a method of coping with them. Besides I think I hear something much bigger for you to be concerned with."

Any further cries of the rats go unanswered as the Elf ignores the socerer's pleas, a slight smile forming on his elven face hearing Arti squirm even more with the announcement of something bigger.

Morning come's and the elf exits the confines of the room to stand on the deck and watches the morning sun rise. He sits and watches those around him, curiously watching the orc tossing the rats out to see, and torturing them as they try to swim for the safety of the boat. "Hmm... Children may torture that which they think of as vermin because they don't know any better. So that means this half-orc is no brighter than a child or has no problems with hurting others for pleasure."

He turns and looks at the other proclaimed ranger and watchs him as he looks up at the seagulls. El shrugs and looks at the one named Jim who was a white as a ghost. "Must still be trying to gain his sea legs."

He watches the man get up and go below deck. The elf sighs and gets up, heading towards the Captain Cray. The waves his hand and catches the man's eye. "Captain Cray. A word sir." The captain turns and looks to the elf and El speaks to him in a low voice "Captain, I heard a very loud noise coming from the hold, and I was wonder what it might be, in case anything should happen?"

[Colatine]

Sleeshi descended the steps, into the darkened hold. The rats seemed out in force. He could tell that some of the crates had been moved around, yet the person or thing he had heard move around below deck less than a few seconds ago, was no longer there.
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The crew of the Seabear work well together. The mood onboard is jolly, almost giddy. Meal time quickly become a social event, with boisterous stories being told. You glean little facts, such as the name of the settlement being Sentinel, is well, because there is a rather enormous "Sentinel" statue standing guard. Some of you also recognize one of the passengers; Robal Ganon- famous writer and director of the Theater Montresseci, commonly referred to as blood plays.
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Riccardo was rat tossing when he noticed a bottle float by. There was something, like a scroll, wrapped up inside.
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A rancid smell rises from below deck. It seems the bilge has backed up a bit and stagnant sewage from the bilge floods the cabin floor.
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El approaches Captain Cray just as he ordered a firing drill. "If any of you would like to help out, go for it. James is as good as they come." he says.

Cray listens to El intently, his brow becoming increasingly furrowed with concern. "Thank you for letting me know. If you can do me a favor, perhaps, you can gather a few others and stake out? There should be no one in the hold and I am not sure what the noise was."
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Hama notices that the patterns on the mast post has become more pronounced, though no one else seems to have noticed anything.
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[Otter Nonsense]

"Drabze rog..." Muttered Riccardo, as the bottle floated by. That's weird. He leaned forward, over the rail, and looked towards the bow. Where did it come from? Who was tossing bottles into the water, and why were there scrolls in them. It seemed like a waste of a perfectly good bottle to him, but he couldn't see himself fishing it out in any way. Where he came from, bottles where important items indeed. Only the chief and other prestigious figures from his family could afford them.

[Embrodak]

El nods to the Captain and looks on deck. He Riccardo and Hama on deck, the rest off below deck.

The elf moves over towards the duo. "Hey there you two. I heard something in the hold and the Captain gave me the OK to scope it out? Are you two interested in a monster hunt?"

[Otter Nonsense]

"There's a bo - Monster?" Riccardo's eyebrows tilt dangerously, like an overloaded see-saw. He shows his lower tusks in slack-jawed confusion.

"The Captain told us to hunt monsters?" The words finally translate, and Riccardo closes his mouth with a snap. He still looks confused, but less idiotically so. The air about him has changed, and he rolls his right arm, ready to throw something.

"Of course I'm interested, I've been hunting them all day!"

[Embrodak]

After receiving Riccardo's answer El turns and looks to Hama with an inquisitive look.

[Doderic]

Jim can be seen on the far bow of the deck, pale as a sheet and looking down at something hidden by his body.

The gnome's words are completely lost on the petrified rogue.

[GrimDarkOtter]

Hama eyes the half-orc's strange behavior with curiousity but says nothing. When El approaches, Hama looks up in surprise, shocked someone not of his group was talking to him. "Um, well, I suppose." he replies uncertainly, "I do need to keep my people safe, I guess. So sure?

[AlwaysCivilMike]

With the rat making their presence known to all, Artimis had NO desire to get out of bed. Perhaps he could go to sleep and wake up at dock on the coast. That would save him many bad meals, smelling living conditions and many more unwanted stains on his beautiful robes. Every chance he got, he put some water on his cloak hoping against hope to get some of the splatter of wine that came from the mouth of some of the savages OFF his clothing. “Didn’t they know this is the finest garb this side of the great river? Of course not given that half of them had gravy running down their chins like some new borns. What did I do to the Gods to make them curse me so? I am no vagrant. I am a man with a great destiny! I won’t allow…..allow” As he paused in his thinking, the OVERPOWERING smell of sewage wafted into his nose. “GOOD GOD!” he yelled. Suddenly the rats did not seem so important as he saw a wave of the most fowl substance in the realm washing towards him like some tsunami wave.

He instantly tried to roll out of his hammock which of course objected to his very presence and tossed him to the floor like some bag of potatoes. The young sorcerer’s eyes went wide as only a few feet away….the wave….was coming. He yanked the hem of his cloak away JUST in time and jumped to his feet. He ran for the stairs up but knew he was running out of room. He gave a leap trying to clear the wave and land on the stairs. He landed on the stairs and quickly took inventory of his clothing. Thanks be to all that is good…his clothes were spared. Well, he still smelled something awful from the fumes but that was not the same as being BATHED in that mess.

Stepping up onto the deck he called out “There is a problem with the plumbing down there *pointed into the hold* I would suggest someone see about fixing it. Oh, and I would recommend not having any corn served at meal time until this problem is solved.” He thought of a few things he saw in the ‘wave’ and shuttered. Moving off to the side so he was upstream of the stench coming from below he saw two individuals talking about rats and cats. He eyed the dead rodent being tossed over and said “I bet it was one of those deviled creatures causing so much havoc on this ship. If I see any of the little buggers I will be sure to point them out to you. I really don’t think there is room enough on this ship for the both of us.” To the side he saw El and gave the elf a quizzical look. Finally he said "What the devil are you up to? Not volunteering for any rescue missions are you?"