[Game Thread] The Tale of the Seabear

[Embrodak]

"What the .... is that?" the elf curses under his breath as he see's the strange totem pole like carving that is in place of the mast. Realizing they are still in danger the elf turns his attention to finding the whip weilder, knowing he could not have gotten far.

 

Perception Roll of 21 to note where the whip wielder went to.

Perhaps a Survival roll of 24 to track the person. The whip may have brought blood back to them.. May be dragged the whip... and El could follow that?

[Colatine]

The shock of the dead rats and the strange mast had subsided, a bit. The crew muttered to themselves and to each other, some muttering prayers, perhaps not said since their childhood, others trying to maintain a sense of calm. Most studied the towering dark koa wood mast. Adorned with fearsome visages and fanged animalistic faces, the dark eyes seem to pierce right through the darkness of the sea. The faces leered horribly; the sculptor responsible for their expression no doubt channeled a lifetime of spite and cold fury into their rendering.

El was disturbed by what he saw. The ranger had learned to memorize, every face, and scent; it was his natural habit as a hunter. The dead man was none other than the half orc, Riccardo. He studied the scene, trying to keep the rising bile down. The lash marks, there was something odd about them, they seemed wider than normal, and from both front and back, criss crossing the dead orc’s entire body. The blood splatter, though random, formed a more circular pattern. The ranger did not notice any obvious tracks, through it was hard to tell with the dead rats and the numerous minor wounds suffered by the crew.

Mina smirked at Jim, an odd reaction at a time like this. “Below decks? Why what did you have in mind?” She gazed at the flayed body, lying prostate, and back to the mast. “Do you think you can trust me? After all, there is a murderer in our midst. We know nothing about anyone here. Some might even be wanted men, on the lam.” she quickly turned, heading below deck. ”Are you coming?” she asked.

Art studied the mast, and the dead rats. The mage surmised that the two events, the rat swarm and the mast might be tied in some way. The way the rats acted, and their sudden death, reminded him of some of the compulsion spells he was familiar with, albeit nothing specific. The mast itself seemed to radiate a dark aura, like a whirlpool.

Hama frantically worked on the man’s stump, someone passing him bandages. He was able to stabilize the sergeant though the man passed out, probably from the pain and shock of actually seeing his stump.

Just then two of the crew, Thilden and Kartos, came down, they roughly grabbed Sleeshi. ”The captain wants you above deck.”. Kartos glanced down at the whip still in the elf’s hand. ”Look Thil, it’s bloody.” he said, his voice straining.

The native was no where to be found.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

The human mage slowly walked around the carved mask in deep thought. As he moved he tapped his chin in thought. He spoke out-loud but it was obviously it was more for himself as he said "The time it would take to carve this with normal tools....no on...far too long. Yes...magic would be needed. For what reason...talisman? Perhaps....for some deity? Yes...that is possible. Still though...why this ship? Why out here in the middle of nowhere? Why not on the noble's ship?" On and on he went as he analyzed the mast/totem pole. As much as the mystery of how this thing was created and appeared on their MOVING ship baffled him, it was nothing to his worry on WHY it was here and what it was doing.

Stopping where El was he said "I think it goes without saying that this is a very bad thing. *Glanced at all of the dead rats on the deck* Well, not completely a bad thing but I think you get my idea. Anyways, how it got here is not important. What it is doing right now is." He moved over and picked up a rope peg and walked back with it. Tapping it to his palm he studied the errie glow around the totem before finally saying "Well, there is only one way to find out." With that he took the peg and tossed it at the totem and the eerie light watching intently for any reaction.

[Embrodak]

El looked around studying the area. He looked perplexed as he can not figure out how it could have happened. There was no natural way for this and that only left magic. The elf stands and looks to Artimis nodding when the man says it was a very bad thing. "Think of the solution and not the problem." is all the elf says as he then watches Arti toss the peg at the Totem.

As it sails through the air the elf turns to Arti "As much as I would love to see the peg get zapped by some magical shield, I think it would be funnier to see it bounce harmlessly off." El says quietly with a grin as he watches Arti's reaction.

[milkshake]

Sleeshi pauses for a moment to take note of the rats, which have not fallen at random like trees of the forest. They have fallen as if all slain with single blow. It is an unnaturally odd scene. Sleeshi, though, can't take time to be troubled by it, and with utmost speed he continues on his way up above deck with the wounded man.

Sleeshi manages to get the severely injured man to safety, and for that he is infinitely grateful. Soon, though, two men approach him and grab him roughly.

Sleeshi looks at them indignantly. "Friends!" he says with annoyed gentleness in response to the manhandlers. He doesn't even begin to know why they mention his bloody whip, but he doesn't think about it. Perhaps it's another 'figure of speech,' or something like it. Sleeshi never has understood other's words very easily.

[Embrodak]

[GrimDarkOtter]

Hama waves sits back with a sigh when he gets the Sergeant's bleeding stopped, and his painless sleep is a boon to the poor young druid. Waving to one of the slavers, he says "Stay with him, keep him still. I need to go find the captain." Making his way over the sloping deck, he climbs up the ladder and onto the deck, taken aback in shock at the transformation of the mast. Edging around it, Hama makes his way to the captain and nervously says "Ummm it was Sergeant Riggs, the screaming, he lost an arm. It's not looking good but he's not going to die. Not right away at least. Ummm....what's with the totem?"

[Doderic]

Jim may have worked alongside a highly skilled assassin, he may have been trained by the military and tested in battle, and he may have worked just about every job available to a man with no formal education, but despite all of this, Jim was still a sucker for women. Flashing a smile that oozes charm, Jim follows the odd girl without a moments pause, calling after her, "Trust you, my dear? Why I'd trust no one else on this ship so completely! Why such a lovely lady as yourself could never be anything nearly so repulsive as a murderer!"

[AlwaysCivilMike]

Originally Posted by GrimDarkOtter

Ummm....what's with the totem?"

Artimus turned around and spotted the one called Hama talking. He shrugged and said "That is the 1,000 gold coin question. Don't suppose you have ever seen something like this before? *Eyed Hama's clothing* And why are you covered in blood? Don't tell me you have a dead half orc downstairs too? My goodness you rarely see one in this part of the world and then all of a sudden they are dropping dead like flies." As if the thought was not that important he harrumphed once and turned back to study the totem.

[Colatine]

Artimis tossed the peg at the Totem Mast. It hit one of the leering faces on the totem and bounced off, landing on the deck harmlessly. A small crowd had gathered around the dead body and El now.

Captain Cray looked down at the body and then back at his crew. "Whatever it is the Bear'd not be sailing by herself! Clean her deck, toss the rats overboard. We'll catch whoever or whatever did this mean, not to worry, with strong lads like yourself."

"Cap'n, James is hurt, his arm blown right off! yelled a skinny, pock marked crew member, from the steps leading below deck. Two of the more skilled crew members rushed off below deck to minister to the injured Sergeant.

Tristan, the foppish first mate, shooed the men to their tasks. "Now who'd have a reason to kill this passenger, other than one of the other passengers?" he whispered under his breath, loudly enough so that everyone could hear.

"There!" shouted one of the crew, pointing towards the Skiff. Some of the men bound off, grabbing and dragging out the native who had apparently been hiding there. The man was covered with blood.

Jim followed Mina below deck, despite the commotion, being lead more by his head than his heart. He noticed the elf, Sleeshi, being brought topside, one of the crew holding the man's bloody whip.

"Captain, here's the elf, and he was holdin this bloody whip."


Hama followed Sleeshi up; the Totem Mast made the Druid's skin crawl. It was old, yes, very old, and the leering faces seemed to bore into the his soul, stirring something deep, unknown.

El could tell that the whip being held by the crew member could not have killed the orc, for one the lash marks were too wide;El also surmised now that the man had died by strangulation, something like a whip, albeit slightly wider had choked the Orc to death. The orc had also been gutted by a sharp blade. He found it odd that such violence had not been heard, even amidst all the confusion onboard.

[milkshake]

When the men take Sleeshi's whip away, he begins to react with severity. Among the Tweephsh, someone's Ch would never be taken against their will unless they were being cast out of the clan- a dishonor of legend only. But then Sleeshi restrains himself, knowing that this is a different culture.

Sleeshi is then introduced to the captain. Once again, the mention of the bloody whip. But this time, Sleeshi makes the connection. It is thoroughly clear to him, though, as he assumes it must be to others as well, that his whip was not responsible for the lash marks on Orc's back.

"That is not a whip," corrects Sleeshi with tempered annoyance. It is clear the elf is insulted, but it is good of him not to react any more strongly. "This is my Ch of the Tweephsh. I wove it from thread-thin strands of metal and my own hair. Please return it to me."

Sleeshi feels naked without his Ch.

[Embrodak]

El turns and looks to Arti. "See, much funnier..." he says as the peg predictably bounces off the totem poll.

As the captain begins to bark orders and the sailors forcefully bring up Sleeshi, El watches with interest. "Captain, it would be safe to return his Ch. That is not the weapon that killed the half-orc. The orc was choked by someone and then gutted." El says calmly. He places his boot on the half-orcs shoulder and pushes the half-orc from his side to his back

[AlwaysCivilMike]

A look of frustration crossed the mage's face as his 'peg' experiment provided no more clues then he had before. He harrumphed and then moved over to pick up the peg. Finally he turned to the captain, an furious expression on his face, and said "What to devil is going on with YOUR ship captain? People are getting their arms cut off, their neck's cut, your mast is in ruins and there are rats everywhere. What are you going to do about the safety of your passengers!" Well, he was more interested in the safety of HIM than anyone else. "Of course if the rats killed that odd looking gnome who keeps watching me I certainly would not mind" he said darkly.

Walking to the railing he looked out at the sea when something caught his eye....well...actually it was that NOTHING caught his eye. He called over to the captain again, who he was losing all sense of respect for, and said "Ah, captain....we seemed to have lost the other ships."

[Embrodak]

El moves over to Arti and looks to where the ships were last.

[GrimDarkOtter]

Hama cautiously lays a hand on the totem mast, unnerved and yet fascinated by whatever had caused its transformation. His eyes close in meditation, drawn in by the thing's energies, but he is snapped out of it by a commotion as the crew finds a native in one of the skiffs. As the captain and others argue over the dead orc Hama had recently befriended, he sighs and tries to avoid taking sides in the debate, and hopefully avoid notice, both for his own good and that of his people.