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  #241  
Old Oct 3rd, 2023, 12:31 AM
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bout as deep in it as ye can get
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He heard Bramble's voice, a rich soft green like moss, speak from memory as he ran barefoot across th' deck he knew and loved so well. Th' deck what were once again, soaked in th' blood o' 'is friends. This is not a fight you can win. But, here they were, fightin'. There weren't no plan t' account fer this. But, what could ye do? He'd chased it down this far, where neither sun nor star shines, how could he jus' give up? He'd promised Kieran Scrimshaw. Falco did regret bringin' his friends into this mess. It were his ship, his ghosts, they was bleedin' fer. He needed t' do somethin' t' turn th' tide, they needed Garrick.

Falco could not stop even as the grey dwarves lay into him, he'd made a promise. So, he ran down th' stairs an' away from 'is friends. Th' room weren't exactly as he'd remembered it, but it were close enough t' stir up ghosts as he fought back tears t' answer th' one locked behind silvery chains. "I ain't dead yet, I told Cap'n Kieran I'd find ye. But, it's bad out there Garrick, real bad. Ever'thing went wrong all at once."

Then, he was off the stairs an' into th' room where so many jokes and stories were shared before. Falco pulled the hell cigarillo from behind 'is glowin' ear an' brought it t' his equally illuminated lips. As he reached fer a lamp on th' familiar old table where 'is captain unfurled maps an' planned routes or strategy, he frowned at th' unfamiliar charts and mysterious effluvium coating it still, that were th' least o' his worries.

As Falco took the last few steps t'wards th' deck wizards quarters, he opened th' lantern t' light th' exotic smoke. If'n he's mistaken in his haste an' th' lantern can't open or don't have a flame, he'll jus' use druidcraft. Then, after what seems like years, he were at Garrick's door, inhaling something that burned 'is lungs an' then th' rest o' his organs in a way that weren't all bad. It made his blood tingle an' feel like the lines o' starlight what shined on 'is skin as he held it fer jus' a second before blowin' a cloud o' Hell smoke all across th' bindin' on th' door.

"I need ye now, Garrick," Falco pleaded while he pulled at th' silvery chains.

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  #242  
Old Oct 4th, 2023, 11:35 AM
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Fela, fallen and freezing
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Fast as Fela is with Bingle's magic on her, it's not fast enough. Or maybe Jivens isn't fast enough, doesn't understand what's going on. Backing away, half-scootching Bingle along with her leg, she creates a little space between her and the cloaker, but in his rage at dissolution of his cube he follows Fela faster than she imagines, so that by the time Jivens and the dwarves spring their trap he's on top of her, and the shield's curse swerves the bullets into her.

All that fretting about the curse of her fey half-kiss, but it's the one on the shield that she took up eagerly that undoes her.

She just wants to rest now. Catch her breath. Not eat a party snack (certainly not one served by a statue of her friend), not dance to those harsh violins, not puzzle through who she's dancing with and why they're being so cryptic. Fela's sure she knows who this is, what's going on, if she could just think, but it's all too much work to figure it out. Her body moves dreamily, coldly (so cold) to the music, but she longs to freeze up entirely, like Bingle there. Rest.

"F-first? L-ast? Who--who are you?" Slowly, teeth chattering. Why is she so cold, so tired?

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  #243  
Old Oct 5th, 2023, 08:06 PM
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The Duskmaiden
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Fela, this horror is a dream. Or a fractured memory. You know it, because you are moving past it. What comes after the fear and the ice? The whole scene is riddled with tiny cracks, and what shines through is golden. This creature in your arms is nothing. A shell. Your own cold, defeated body? Also just a shell. Nothing. Through the cracks, you glimpse some vast warm beyond. Hear a voice you know, saying words too soft for you to parse the meaning, but they are welcoming and blazing with holy perfection. You feel heat pushing at the mark on your face, and you are shedding it, just as you shed other connections to your good strong body–and yet you still feel good and strong. That stolen half-kiss cannot follow. Not where you are going. Fela, you are dying, but the god you go toward sees you as a glory and a light.

Tempest, this dragon is a dream. Your father is not here with you. You know it, because you are not alone. What is real is the water around you, a sea that begins to churn and stir and aerate. You can smell underwater, siren, keenly, the way sharks do, your gill openings lined with endless microscopic olfactory bulbs that parse what the water tells you, so you smell the world in your blood and your whole body when you have a tail. What you smell in the electric gathering of magic, what you feel as you are caught and held so lovingly by crosscurrents, is a storm. But it is--- Your storm. What have you ever had to fear from such? You are the storm’s and it is yours, and it will not ask you to kneel before it. Not you, beloved daughter. Tempest, you are dying, but the god you go to holds you as an angel and a force.

Bingle, Halran is gabbling that there is something weird and wrong with Banx! His eyes show whites, all the way around. His heart sounds as thunder. Harlan mimics in your head what Banx is saying to him, YELLING around the pipe, not in language but in cadence, and Banx is saying BLAHBLAHBLAHblahBALHHHBLAH BLAH HALRAN BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH HALRAN BALHBLAH. An endless stream of loud words through his teeth clenched tight on the pipe. All around his head, purple smoke plumes, thick and acrid, and Halran, you gather, takes a sniff of it, that pipe smoke, and suddenly all he sends you is kaleidoscope: ZOOM! COLORS! WHEEE! FLY! GO! YAY! NEVER SLEEP! IMMORTAL! WHEEEEE FLYFLYFLYFLFY.

left-aligned image
You turn your fey ring, and a smell releases. Candied orange peel. Sweet, but with a zing. You feel this smell. On your skin. Sticky. Mentholated. You hurl two eldritch blasts, but they are made of pink yarn. They release mothball smells as they patter soft into the Captain and then unfurl themselves into glitter and nothing. You try to creep under the shield, but you are being bent and diminished. The magic smalls you, twists you down. Crabs you inside your evil robes. You look at your hands lifting the shield to scuttle under, and they are Bongle’s hands. Bongle’s hands now. Wizened and veiny and --- lod. Lod lod lod.

Falco, your friends are dying, so you take this present from a drow who says she got it in the hells and do a Hail —well, not Mary. Who exactly are you hailing? Like everything from Hell, it starts so good. Smooth. Spicy. Rich. What an inhale! It’s the exhale that is gonna kill ya. You have been in a hundred portside bars, making bets and dares about the local spicy hot wings, but you have never had a hot wing quite this molten. It boils out of your mouth in a way that feels horrifically literal.

You will die of it. You feel sure. You cough. Your eyes stream. In the prison of his own quarters, Garrick pounds and roars frustration—but as you blow this burning smoke, the chains of Lolth simply melt. Like butter in a flame, all drip and sizzle. A second of silence. You find your breath again. Then Garrick says, Lad. Lad! How? You are a miracle! The doors slam open. And he is there. Garrick. Gray scale and ephemeral, but himself, and his eyes on you are proud and so, so loving. Lad. You did it. How? Never mind. Matters not. I’m ashamed I had a moment’s doubt. Ah lad, you have the stuff! Come with me, and see! See just how deeply you are loved.

He leads you back to the stairs, and as he drifts beside, he is calling all their names. The names of the dead: Bordern and Berland. Billy, Tavis, Ernalene, Miscus. Ezlith. Barto the swabbie. One by one, you see them rising from the blood-stained wood. Only two are missing, of your once fine crew: Cap himself, and Corbeaux the traitor.

right-aligned image
Died in the water, Kieran did,
Garrick tells you, low and sad. My love drowned, a sailor’s worst death. Cinderrabbit sliced him near in half and threw him over. He died where I could not catch him. But the rest died on our good and solid deck, and my blood offered them a choice. Go to their gods? Or wait. Wait here for you. Wait in the wood and warp of the Duskmaiden herself for a hero who might never come. They all chose to wait for you, Falco. They all had such faith that you would come and free them, that you would come and need them, that they would get to serve you and be served by you, one more time. Every one of them.

One by one, the ghosts salute you, and then they drift up through the deck—and each claims a Duergar. They infest them, walk them to the edge, and jump, dragging them down, down down, holding them under, until the miscreants who have downed Fela have no breath, no heartbeat, and then they go to their dark, low gods – and your friends? Well, they move on as well.

Garrick smiles at you. Now me, he says. You freed me lad, and took our best girl back. Never doubt we’re watching. Never doubt our pride in you. I go to find my love, and you? You have the deck —Captain.

If you have anything to say, you have three seconds, maybe four, to say it, before he turns and flows up the stairs and into the conflicted Ettin. He infests, and then he steps to the side. SPLASH! Soon both heads are learning that they cannot breathe the sea.

You see Tempest down, Fela down, Bingle nowhere to be seen, but there is a small dark-robed something shivering under the shield.

Party, Jiven and Squiggles and the Cloaker watch all this in abject horror. Lolth, hold me, Jiven whimpers. They all turn and run back toward the gangplank, wild-eyed. Watching. All the ghosts are gone. Ohhhhhh what the hell, says Jiven then. He levels his pistol at the captain. Shoots. Hits. Lifts one shoulder in a shrug to Squiggles, who shrugs back, and says, We can get a new crew here… And I guess that gnome thing told the truth. They only wanted to free the ghosts, it seems.

He emits some sort of keening psychic horror-noise at the captain too. The Cloaker shudders, inches from death -- or perhaps in it.


OOC
Name Health AC Damage Conditions Concentrating
Bingle28/3913-6 -11 -12 -11 +28  Haste
Harlan111   
Tempest0/4517-13 -3 -12 +16 -7 -15 +17 -15 -17-1 Death Throw 
Falco 25/45 12 -8 -12 DC15con or -4 
Fela 0/52 16/18/20-11 -5 -10 +11 -8 -24 -5 -4 Hasted, -1 Death Throw 
CLOAKERSPURTING ATERIAL BLOOD14 -7 -12 -8 -13 -6 -19 -11 
CUBEDEAD6 -22 -8 -13 -10 -3 -36  
SheWhoSwabsDEAD11 -9 -8 
LOOG LOOGPEACED OUT13 GONE
DUERGAR 1-8DEAD16   
ETTINDEAD12  
SQUIGGLESHEALTHY15  
JIVEN STARKSCREAMHEALTHY16  

THIS IS MUCH BETTER! HURRAY GOONIE!!!!! GOONIE, GOOD CHOICES, praise Tymora, and take DM Inspiration. I was sweating this HARD. Also roll a CON SAVE dc15 or take 4 damage from the hell smoke. For the record you can safely smoke the rest as flavor, no magic effect, no damage

Party, two characters have failed one death save. A crit fail here is character death. Period. I want to remind you that 2 people have DM inspiration now, that would allow a reroll, and you can pass this inspiration to another person. Should they need it. Ahem. Also, Fela has a health potion, and another character could get that and pour it down someone’s throat as an action before the end of this turn, negating any death saves for that character

Bingle lost 9 years from Wild Magic, so she is now 110 years old. She also is only under the shield for flavor and can have an AoO on the captain if she wishes.

Cloaker has TWO HP left.

Banx and HALRAN are 50 feet away and will arrive next round. The drow on the other boat all remain on the other boat, watching. The local mushroom drow are ALL off the field until this is over.

THE CURRENT MAP



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  #244  
Old Oct 6th, 2023, 07:21 PM
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Bingle Curiosa Wildwander, Forest Gnome Wizard/Warlock
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Sharp orange, and the years come at her. Twenty comes first, an orange blossom, surprise. Twenty-one blooms, and within the same heartbeat twenty-two-three-four-five are warm and sharp, menthol, she has never been more awake and understanding. The pips of an orange, bursting and sweet around her. To thirty. She feels it in the center of her. Bigger, bulging, round, the zest of it. And then past it she folds onto the ring's magic, forty, fifty comes, drier and dull. The magic smalls her, and twists her down. She is smaller, sixty, seventy. She wrinkles. She understands what mold is, and the rind covers her, and everything inside is white and dry. At eighty there is sudden terror, this could take her into dust that only used to be fruit. Ninety. All the way past. Her blood slows. Her eyes dim. One hundred. She can't prepare for this. She can't breathe. But then it stops. When it stops, that's a relief. She is lod, lod, lod. She is bent and diminished. But she isn't dead.

She is shaking in fear. She moves her twisted body gingerly, under the shield. Peeps out and sees the ettin jump ship, the others leaping into the waves. There is a situation happening, while the years are passing her by. Fela is dying. She fishes in her pack for the potion with crooked fingers, pulls it out and uncorks it with loose teeth. I got all my years back, she imagines telling Bongle. They will drink out of fragile cups, and she'll be quiet. She doesn't want to talk or stand up and she's very tired. She doesn't want anyone to see her until she gets back to the village. She puts a yellowed thumb into Fela's mouth and pops the paladin's mouth open, pours the potion inside, and turns her head so she won't choke. Very responsible. If Bongle were here, she would probably approve. She keeps concentrating on Haste. Fela will be so tired when the spell drops. That can't happen. Now Bingle will fit in again, and everything will be right. She imagines Bongle giving a nod. They won't have to talk about it. She will just say, "It's me, Bingle." She won't have to say, "I am old." It will be obvious. She won't have to tell anyone. The ring's magic did what the years as a statue prevented.

And everything she missed is just gone in those few breaths. Everything she felt, for one second, two seconds, is past. She thinks of Tumble and misses the old gnome fiercely, turning her head into young Fela's arm as she lies on her side, pressing her forehead against her friend. There are a hundred more years now, or two or three hundred. She got all her years back. And everything in between is lost.



ۜ\(סּںסּَ` )/ۜ
 


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  #245  
Old Oct 7th, 2023, 01:28 AM
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One more Goodbye
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Falco's throat burned, his lungs felt like glowin' lumps o' coal, an' he were openly weepin'. Th' entire crew chose t' stay an' wait with Garrick. They all knew he'd be comin'. "I didn't think it's be like this," Falco managed to say through th' tears. "I thought we'd have more time. I've learned so much chasin' after but, I s'pose you'll see. Gonna help Corbeaux meet 'is God, Cinderrabbit too. Thank ye, Garrick, fer Ever'thing."

And then, they're all gone again. The crew he sailed with fer leagues and fer years. Th' man what taught 'im t' work th' weave an' use 'is gift, to find 'is true callin' was with th' man what showed 'im how t' truly seize that callin'. He'll see 'em again, eventually o' course. Knowin' that so many trusted 'im with their eternity was a heavy an' unwieldy thin' fer Falco t' pick up, hold, an' examine but, that's exactly what it were. Kieran waited, Garrick waited, all of 'em. An' his friends came all th' way under th' world t' fight fer this ship with 'im. They were bleedin' out on' th' deck, last he saw. They'd trusted 'im too.

Falco ran up th' steps with a cigarillo from the Hells clenched between 'is teeth. There were still three o' th' other crew standin', Cloaker an' th' mutineers. Fela weren't movin' but Bingle, was that Bingle? She (When'd she change disguises?) were pourin' a potion into th' Paladin. Tempest were layin' completely still in a puddle o' blood, her greens an' blues dulled. "Tempest," he called across the deck, "Cast Healing Word at 3rd level for 9 hpbe full of storm an' starlight!" He channeled the weave into her battered body before turnin' to th' other Cap'n.

"I Produce Flamechanged my mind," Falco said as a small flame appeared in 'is glowin' hand, "you can die." With a flick of 'is arm, Falco 14 to hit for 9 damagehurled th' flame across th' deck an' into the flappy form of Captain Cloaker. It sizzled and sputtered as it splashed into the former temporary captain of th' Dusk Maiden. "Let me get me crew t'gether an' with any luck we'll never be seein' each other again,' he called out to the mutineers, leaving out the part where he's gonna be keepin' th' ship as he moved closer t' his friends.

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  #246  
Old Oct 7th, 2023, 12:44 PM
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Fela, fibbing
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Her dance partner doesn't answer questions, but it doesn't really matter. As the weight of her leaves, so does the cold, and Fela knows it wasn't real, not like she is. Not like that light, the light everywhere, the light behind everything. Saliber's light. The warmth is real, in a way the cold wasn't. That voice in the distant, unintelligible but comforting is real. The heat, purifying her, sliding the kiss off is...

A tickle in her throat. Real? It thickens until she can't breath, crowds everything else away, and she coughs and knows she's not dying anymore. Everything hurts too much to be dying. She's lying on the boat. The visions weren't real. Except somehow she knows they were, the cold and the heat both, and it's both terrifying -- is Nexa aware of her? -- and reassuring -- Saliber most definitely is.

Splashes. Footsteps. Falco yelling. An explosion. The ship. They were fighting on the ship. She needs to help. She thrusts herself up and nearly vomits from the pain. Opens her eyes and Bingle is there, arm pressed against her, so she can just see the back of her hat. She's okay. Different, somehow, but okay. No time to figure out how she's different -- Falco is talking to Jivens and Squiggles. Talking, not fighting. The captain is smoldering. She can't get shot again -- she stands, still fast from Bingles, and rushes across the deck toward Jivens, unsteady, looking anxious. The deck is less crowded but she wouldn't last long in a fight in her state. She needs to say something...

"I'm a bit shaken up." touching the gaping gunshot wound in her side "Need a few moments to collect myself before I complete the ceremony. It's unsafe for you on board until that's done..."


Actions, etc.
Dice Healing Potion:
2d4+2 (4, 3)+2 Total = 9

Movement: Half to standup
Haste action:Dash to get enough movement to be right next to Jivens
Action: Deception to try to talk them off the ship
Dice Deception:
d20+4 (19)+4 Total = 23

Reaction: Hopefully none -- perhaps AoO if Jivens moves away clearly hostile
 

Last edited by ptwiddle; Oct 7th, 2023 at 12:45 PM.
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  #247  
Old Oct 7th, 2023, 02:22 PM
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Tempest, Siren
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Aerdrie Faenya, mother of the wind and storms, cradled the Siren in the sea of dreams, so close to death. Tempest's heart should have sunk when the realization dawned on her that her grand golden father was not truly with her, though she knew he would look perfectly exquisite riding a pink Nithe. Her mother, as one would expect, would be dashing enemies to pieces and parts before them, awash in their blood, with a big wicked toothy grin of glory. All of those invaders be damned. It was a beautiful thought, and one she would remember as she sunk into the depths of becoming one with the storm itself in all of its magic and wild energy. With each gilled breath, the faithful Siren felt as though she would forever be tumbling across darkened skies over the sea, under moon and sun and stars, still sinking ships with a well-placed lightning strikes and her wind would twist up the waves to pull down those that threatened the well-being of the seafolk and good landfolk.

Then Tempest felt starlight dance and weave across her sky-blue body.

Falco's words reverberated until she thought she heard them in the back of her mind; her wounds started to knit together and she gasped for a gulp of air. The Siren sat up suddenly as her shield slid and scraped across the wood until it was in front of her body crookedly. Her gaze immediately went upwards, yet there was no longer an Ettin there, or an army of shadowy Duergar behind him. Confusion in her daze was sharply put aside as she tried to make sense of the danger she was in, or not in, and who needed her help. Maybe she should ask since nothing was towering over her. The damned Cloaker was spurting righteous blood and was hit with Falco's fire.

"Who needs my trident or healing hand?" Tempest said, words a bit warbled but confident, ready. Yes, she was trying to focus and do what needed to be done, even to take orders…or well-spoken requests. Following Falco's gaze she could see the unnerved Drow and his loyal Squiggles quickly leaving for the dock. Fela was being propped up by an older somewhat hidden Gnome-Bingle who was feeding her a potion. The Siren pushed her stubborn self up from the sticky wet deck to her full height. In a protective fashion, Tempest started to walk toward Fela and lodder-Bingle, with Cast Cure Wounds 1st level on selfglowing fingers fanned, pressed against her armored chest, and shield up just in case she needed to guard them. The Siren needed to be strong, now, or appear to be. They did not allow her to die, so it was time to take her trident out and look the part of a monster-of-the-sea standing stalwart by their sides. That was until Fela bolted upright, and shockingly went immediately to her duties as a paladin, a warrior, shooting up the stairs as barely gathering herself. Tempest, in awe, remained where she was near the curious-looking Bingle.
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Last edited by PlaidPeregrine; Oct 7th, 2023 at 02:31 PM.
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Old Oct 8th, 2023, 04:22 PM
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The Duskmaiden
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Falco. Time is weird and hard. What would be enough? Garrick’s time was cut short, and you thought you’d never see him again in this world for even a second. Then, you hoped to find him alive and dreamed of having years. Now, you have the gift of time with him, but such a small, stingy gift!

This is what you have, though, and you make use of it, even as you run up the deck to throw healing magic at the Siren. Garrick is already beginning to fade, releasing his blood tie to the Duskmaiden, but he makes use of this small window, too, by infesting that ettin and strolling that body with his own familiar, insouciant, rolling gait, right to the edge.

Both heads, in agreement for once, turn to hear your final words. One head says, It was our joy. You are our joy, with warm and loving eyes just as the other head says, fierce and proud, Aye, lad, send ‘em to the hells! The Ettin salutes you with a meaty paw, steps off, and then with a massive splash, he is gone. Blub blub.

**** ** *** ********, says Jiven in blistering elvish, clearly shaken, but not too shaken to act against the captain in tandem with Squiggles. You finish what they could not, sending the cloaker a ball of fire like a blown and blazing kiss, fueled by spicy hellsmoke. Lights out, buddy. Dead, he looks like a heap of smoking laundry.

Past that first painful blast, you could get used to this cigarillo. Quite nice to smoke it with your feet planted firm on your own deck.

Tempest, you get to your feet, dizzy. Falco’s magic smells mossy and verdant, with a sharp edge of cut grass. You are up fast enough to see most of the infested Deurgar go splooping into the drink and sinking.

The ship seems quite cleared out now, but you hold your life by a thread, so you call your god’s energy into your blood and steady yourself. Ah, nothing is more bracing than the smell of drowning arse-heads in the morning... does it make you homesick?

Listening downward in that Siren-way, attuned to what is under the water always, you think Loog-Loog has indeed flippered off to fight another day. That was well done of you. You are not sure what is happening, but this is Falco’s ship, and so you step to Bingle, who is still bent over the paladin, her back to you, in yet another disguise --- this particular disguise cannot take the water. It is melting.

left-aligned image
You ask who needs what, fronting like you are tough and ready for another round. Jiven and Squiggles stare at you, on guard, anxious, all their onboard enemies and allies drowning together like perfect comrades in harmony. You feel balanced on the precarious edge of a fight unfinished. This could go either way…

You ready your shield.

Fela, when you come to, a cute little old lady with wild eyes and a furious, scared face is bending over you. You do not know her, but she is dumping healing potion down your throat, so she must be an ally in spite of her evil robes — her very familiar evil robes — Bingle’s evil robes— Oh! By then, you see Bingle in the bone structure. It’s almost like Bingle is emerging in the bone structure, pushing her own face out of this old lady face.

Okay, well, you have seen weirder things since you took up with this group, and Bingle has already been a tall (for her) dignified gray and orange acolyte. This is just another disguise, and you don’t let it distract you. Not right now, when most of your blood is on the deck and you feel dizzy and damp and chilled. You throw back a potion like a shot of good whiskey—wishing perhaps it was – and do your best paladin authoritative saunter over to the monsters remaining.

Bingle, When it stops, that's a relief. But it doesn’t stop. The aging up is like the kind of up you get on a rollercoaster. Time grinds into your second century in a way that feels like grinding up a hill, against all reason, against gravity, against the solid logic of the Prime. You are dragged up—and up and up and up — with it. You find relief in it, because – this ends your unbelonging. You can go home, and sit by Bongle, and knit and be good and quiet as you were always meant to be. So Bongle said. So they all told you. Here, in the village, we are Good. And Quiet.

— but gravity is bigger than belonging, and you crest and tip. Then, a weightless pause, your stomach dropping, and at the peak the air is so cold and sharp in your nose you cannot breathe it. As Fela walks away from you, you begin to shoot back downward, and every year you got is peeled back and away by a roaring wind of Weave.

Do you mind it? Do you have enough time as Elder Bingle to mind it? You lost one thing, and that thing is either time or belonging. In the course of six seconds, you lose one, regain the other, then reverse. You can’t have neither, but it is possible to mourn them both.

As the years fall away, Wizard, your hard-earned and cerebral understanding of the Weave notes with clinical, smart interest: These years you are losing—Are. Not. Yours. They can’t be.

In the village, 100 years have passed since you were turned to stone. FACT! So you are 119. MATH! The spell the ring released is trying to account for this, peeling nine off the total of the years between your birth and now. CORRECT! But here is your un-knarled, cute, regular hand. Here is your young body, ready to leap and snooch and bend.

right-aligned image
This body will not stay 119 minus 9. Age simply cannot hold you, and your good brain says only one thing can explain this: You never were 119. Which is not possible. At all. The stone in the ring cracks and smokes. It doesn’t think so either.

Fela, paladins don’t lie. Unless they really, really, really need to. For example, to monsters who want to kill you and all your friends when you are two steps from death already. You need a moment. A breath. That Teetering Tempest feels? You feel it too.

You are so calm, so authoritative. As the allies of the drow gunslinger and the mind flayer blub out their last blubs, ghostheld and gone, you calmly say you need another minute. They do not scuttle or scramble or flee, but this is because the Mind Flayer is very old and Jiven is very conscious of the drow on the ship opposite, watching all this unfold with various cries of glee and fury, depending on how they bet. So they retreat slowly. But they do retreat.

Party, from the water, on the farside, you hear the buzz of that weird engine and a CLUNK as the little motorboat Halran saw rams into the side. The bird flitters up not the deck and goes to Bingle and hides under her hat.

WHOTHE****DOINEEDTOSETONFIREOREXPLODEORBLOWUPORMAK EVERYCOLDORBANGINTHEFACEWITHAHAMMERWHOPOINTPOINTPO INTMEIHAVEMAGICLEFT, Banx calls up at you. He seems...not himself.

As they go off the gangplank, the drow woman in the leathers comes stalking to the top of hers, leading from the hip. She calls down to Jivens – and you – What about our cargo?
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Old Oct 9th, 2023, 06:38 PM
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Bingle Curiosa Wildwander, Forest Gnome Wizard/Warlock
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It's me, Bingle. Fine and normal, a mere six seconds later. She is ashamed of her body and the things that happened. Nothing happened though. So she is ashamed of overreacting to nothing. Ashamed of the blooming and swelling. That did not occur. And all the terror and hand-wringing that did. Inappropriate. Wild. All those feelings. Thankfully, in all the confusion of ettins making proclamations and people who were shot dead getting up and walking around, nobody even saw. Nobody saw anything at all, and she is herself now, nineteen years old. Before and after the statue, same. Before and after what did not happen while hidden under the shield, same. And she never thought any other. She never knew any other. Magic ring comes off and gets whipped away from her, across the deck, bounding across the cracks and into a pile of ropes.

She disguises herself as the acolyte again, this time with the evil, evil Mask of Many Faces that she got from her devil lord, and stands up as an acolyte of Saliber to help Fela's pitch to do the ritual. She's shorter than before but a foot taller than her actual (gross) body (fine), and this time even more smoky grey and bloody orange. Skittering close to old age and death she is reminded she must do something significant for Glasya, of the boosb and whisp, so she doesn't end up a lemure in a pit. Maybe she can get one of these mushroom-draining drow to sign their soul away. They are pretty desperate. Desperation makes contract-signing. Doesn't she just know. And what's the alternative. Lolth.

She pokes her orange and grey head over the side to see Banx. "What is wrong with you?" she demands. He seems weird and possibly permanently ruined. She takes his measure. Probably whatever it is is irrevocable.

She is out of breath, but not injured. She nods briefly to Tempest, glad to see her living. She lifts a hand to wave to Falco, still not sure how much show they are putting on, or what her part in it now is. She accompanies Fela who is barvely trying to stick to the story that they're here to do a ritual, and get rid of the ghost. Well isn't it true. Isn't it all true. Nothing even happened, between the time before and the time now. The only residue is this shame, and that drow, and this horror, and that mindflayer, and this scrawny intolerable shape under the glorious illusory robes of Saliber.



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Old Oct 10th, 2023, 12:02 AM
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When th' smoke clears
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Falco was still full o' bright starlight an' powerful emotions as he blew hell smoke across th' deck o' his ship while Mind Flayer an' Drow walked away. Everyone he sailed with aboard th' Dusk Maiden were dead an' gone now but, not before makin' sure he'd live through it. Well, there were one o' th' original crew left. They may be able t' use him t' get t' Cinderrabbit. Still, it felt good. It felt like a victory down here even if'n it weren't over jus' yet.

Banx had caught up, an' he were all fired up. Maybe some concoction or potion from that goblin? Maybe somethin' he smoked? Falco smiled an' chuckled at th' thought sendin' 'imself into a mini fit o' coughin'. Finally, he called over t' Banx, "Th' pipe suits ye! We're good here, fer now, but those two ain't t' be trusted." He nodded t' th' former first mate and deck wizard. They'd still need t' be dealt with but, hopefully, not before he and his friends could do some healing.

It looked like the Drow buyers were starting to get nervous, they asked about their cargo. Falco strolled over t' th' gangplank an' answered back, "Since these fools," he motioned at where th' crew had drowned, then to Squiggles and Jivens, "decided on the hard way th' Lady Springer an' meself will need t' be goin' over ever'thing t' make sure there be no lingerin' spirits. Besides, they'll be needin' t' find help movin' it. We've no interest in yer cargo, come an' observe if'n ye like." He ended in a bow an' backed away t' take a closer look at 'is ship. What've they done t' her?

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Old Oct 10th, 2023, 02:21 AM
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Tempest, Siren
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The Siren showed restraint. Maybe it was due to her just returning from the brink of death and seeing-not-really her sunlit father who she dearly missed just as much as her graceful destroyer of a mother. It was the quiet of being under the ocean, or above the ocean with only prayers and reading, with light chit-chat between her parents to listen to. Sometimes there were bees, and birds, dolphins leaping in the distance and flying fish chasing the setting sun. If the wind were just right, she could hear mermaids warbling where the sun rose - a lovely call for her to chase them or eavesdrop on their strange social lives. Now she is in a world that the books spoke of, and the sung poems her father would hum to himself when mother was away and he gazed out longingly to the sea for her to return. Songs of love and waiting, ships and sailors, with sometimes a barmaiden thrown in for good measure with cheers for ale, and a ho ho hey! la diddy la.

It is so very noisy here, a busy busy-ness like several spiders surviving on a web that continuously is woven with words and unspoken understandings between one another. Tempest decided that even though her expertise in surface people was amazing through all of her reading, that maybe…she was not as well practiced as she had originally believed. Obviously not all found her stunningly glorious, which is quite sad for them to not experience a Siren such as herself, but maybe she needed to observe a touch more; follow the (dare she say it) lead of others - now and again. From time to time since, afterall, they have lived this life, and she is merely a 'student' as her father would remind her, now and again, never truly bruising his daughter's ego and enthusiasm.

Tempest returned Bingle's nod with a smile, drying blood cracking along her cheekbone. "That is a lovely shade of orange." It most definitely was, even richer than before. She followed everyone, shaking her foot once at the gelatinous cube's acidic goo that had spread over the deck. That could help with getting blood stains lifted if everything wasn't properly oiled or waxed. Watching Jiven and Squiggles retreat as gracefully as they could in front of the intimidating Drow women of the other ship, as well as from Falco, Fela, and Bingle, the Siren stepped to the paladin's side just behind them.

"Steady now, Lady Springer." Tempest spoke quietly as she tried to place her healing hand on the paladin's shoulder as she whispered a strengthening Elven prayer.

The blue Elf-like woman stood there as the ship was bumped, causing her to raise a brow curiously. Tempest glanced over to the side to watch Bingle, hearing the command in her demanding voice with chaos being blurted out in a nearly incoherent ramble from Banx. "Falco Starbringer, if you do not mind, I am going to investigate." How absolutely splendidly polite she sounded. The Siren was certainly not going to curtsy, having a shield wielded and a trident on her back, but it was absolutely noble sounding in accent and tone. Shortly she was well on her way to see if she could assist Bingle, Priestess-in-training.
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Old Oct 10th, 2023, 06:53 PM
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Fela, pacing the deck
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As Jivens and Squiggles back away, Fela's body relaxes in relief, and then relaxes further into pure exhaustion as Bingle's magical speed leaves her. It's all she can do to stand upright instead of flopping straight onto the deck. Drool is involved. Tempest's touch helps -- if it doesn't quite bring back the speed she once had it gets the saliva back into her mouth.

But as one drow leaves the boat, other approach, and Falco...invites them on board? "Can't we just sail away?" she hisses quietly, but looking around at the size of this ship, the four of them beat up, the drow's ship ready to give chase. "Ugh. I'm gonna have to lie to them, too, aren't I? Fine. But entertain them while I take the time to do this prayer -- you can tell them it's some part of the exorcism, but it'll heal us up more. In case the lying doesn't go as well this time."

She shouldn't be so sure this prayer will heal them. She knows the words, yes. And that some followers, repeating it enough with enough conviction, could heal people. But she'd never done it herself, hadn't even tried, as until the last few weeks it would seem ridiculous to think she was that close to Saliber. But she'd done so much by her Grace, and had just felt Her presence so strongly, melting away The Drift and the kiss, that she's oddly certain it would work. If she's not interrupted.

Normally she'd pray kneeling, but Bingle is done being old-looking and is a dramatic acolyte again, and kneeling is not very dramatic or exorcist-like. She doesn't have to kneel. "You still old under that? What was that? Anyway, just imitate me, best you can." And proceeds to pace solemnly around the deck, murmuring the prayer over and over to herself quietly. Medallion held out for show and also just because it feels good. Pausing occasionally to sweep a foot in a lazy circle or somesuch on the deck, like that's where the magic was directed. She'd like to be keeping an eye on what's happening out there -- the boat full of drow, Jivens and Squiggles -- but she needs to devote herself to the prayer, and what little extra attention she has is taken up by the walking and the show. She's got that glass-eyed thousand yard stare, for the most part.

But it's working. She can feel Saliber close to her, in the medallion, in her words, all around.

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Take ten minutes to cast Prayer of Healing, giving all four of us some HP bake:
Dice prayer of healing:
2d8+4 (1, 1)+4 Total = 6


 

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Old Oct 12th, 2023, 02:53 PM
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A RESPITE
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Fela, you are not a ship person, per se, but even you can see the Dusk Maiden is wallowing very low in the water, heavy with the huge sick-stone geodes the monsters have dug up out of the deeps. The drow ship could catch you easily, if they wanted. If you sail off with this cargo---they will want. Fine. FINE. Lies it is.

Bingle you once raised a little black fox kit, an orphan. He would run in circles sometimes, in the late afternoons, when he clearly needed to be napping, and then whites would show all the way around his eyes and he'd make herf-herf carzy braking sounds and bite everything, just because he was so damn tired. The family called it Goblin Hour.

Banx is having goblin hour.

Tempest you are a cleric, so of course Banx also catches your attention. Is this an illness? You lean over the ship and look as Banx madly whirls a grappling hook on a rope around his head. You think he will knock himself out, maybe lose an eye or several teeth, but it arcs up perfectly and catches on the side of the ship. He scrambles up it, talking the whole way, the pipe still clamped in his teeth, acrid smoke pouring out of it.

GARBLEBARBLE POZZIK TO HELP CATCH YOUBLERGYBLAR MOTORBOAT BUT NOT IF I SLEPT SO BALHRDYBLAH, By then he has a leg hooked over the side and you can make out most of the words, even though he runs them hard together. ---HAD BRIONY AND THE SHIP, I WAS A SUBPAR HOSTAGE ANYWAY. SO HERE I AM.

Bingle, it's hard to see your own mortality roar toward you so damn fast. You didn't know if it would stop. Once it stopped, you didn't know if you were stuck lod. It wa sa lot. A whirlwind. Way too much, way too fast.

You hide inside your acolyte and demand Banx explain himself as he comes up. He recognizes your voice and reaches casually through acolyte's abdomen to touch your elbow and render the illusion transparent so he can see your real face. His eyes lock on yours. His are spinning with a thousand kinds of pure naked crazy. He knows not to yell, but he wants to yell, so he leans close and whispers in a scream-rasp of air:

right-aligned image
WELL I DID DURGS, IS WHAT, EVIL ONES, I AM STILL DOING THEM AND IF I STOP THEN I WILL FALL OVER AND BE SO TIRED BUT IF I DON'T STOP BY DAY AFTER TOMORROW OR MAYBE TOMORROW THEY WILL MOST CERTAINLY KILL ME ITS A PICKLE BUT OH WELL WHO WERE YOU FIGHTING THE DURGS ARE A BURNING STONE IN THIS PIPE AND IF I STOP SMOKING IT GOES OUT AND IS DONE FOREVER AND I GO TO SLEEP AND THE DURGS WONT'T KILL ME TODAY IF I COUNTED DAYS RIGHT WITH NO SUN SO SHOULD I STOP OR NOT IF WE ARE IN A FIGHT I BETTER NOT ARE WE WHO WAS I SHOOTING HI DID YOU HAVE ANY FUN WITHOTU ME HI. Goblin hour? No Goblin WEEK.

You go to Fela to help. You have ONE (1) warlock contract, and negotiating power. She wants a tiefling of Luz particularly, OR something powerful and worthy. These drow are only just now poking out their scared noses. But. But. Worshippers are nice little coins for her purse, and is she worse than Lolth? NO. They have no temple here beyond a statue of a dragon. Not even Tiamat. Just some regular one like Cleiophane WHOM YOU KILLED. So.


Tempest,
because the Mask of Many Faces Disguise is taller than Bingle, who is invisible to you inside it, it looks to you like Banx is whisper-shouting all of this directly into the acolyte's gray and sherbet bosoms.

Falco, Jivens and Squiggles have retreated to the "Inn" to have a "Drink." Perhaps they will think to hire new sailors. You are already thinking it. But there they go, first.

There were a few Duergar and Drow mercs hanging about looking for berths, you recall. Are they crewing a ship they cannot have back, poor fools. And---who is going to tell them? And if they hire the mercs, will those mercs fight?

The drow in black leathers barks a word or two in Elvish and is immediately flanked by two drow males in uniform, the house sigil on their shoulders, rapiers at their hips.

As she comes down her gangplank and crosses to yours, she says, I ain't 'fraid o' no ghosts. Her grin is feral. Her eyes are pink and crazy. Her skin is the deep soft gray of cold ashes, and her wind-snarled hair fails to be contained under a spectacular black leather hat. Your take away: The people of the Underdark love themselves some fancy headgear.

She introduces herself not by name, but as, An Aud of House Denpasar tapping the pistol on her hip.

Fela, Aud, in Sylvan (and presumably in Elvish), Aud means contrivance or machine. You understand that she is telling you her rank, and also referring to the weapon; there is no word in Sylvan for pistol. You have never seen one of these things, but you have studied weaponry and battle. You know what a pistol is, though they are extremely rare in Kivalia. Artificers make them, and they propel mundane or magical projectiles at great force. Jiven has one, too, and it poisoned the life out of you — almost literally.

You get your acolyte and begin do your prayer, and you are dragging from the haste-hangover, and the sun is so far, but it helps.

Falco, as the priests "cleanse the ship of ghosts," as Banx whisper-hollers to Tempest, LOOK HOW MANY PUSH UPS I CAN DO WANT TO BET IT IS INFINITE I BET IT IS INFINITE and drops to do some, the Contrivance of House Denpasar comes to stand by you and watch the "holy women."

I should have my men unload, eh? I already paid that drow in the stupid hat with the feather. It's rightfully mine. Or will ghosts just kill 'em? She looks at you pretty close, taking your measure.



OOC You may, if you like, RP completing a short rest this turn, if everyone agrees to this.

Midjourney is convinced drow are white women with big hooters. This is as close as I could get to a drow without prehensile breasts grabbing the camera.

ALSO, I did not run Banx's words all together for the sake of your eyes, but pretend I did.
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Old Oct 13th, 2023, 10:06 PM
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Home again, home again
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Falco were still comin' t' terms with everythin' that jus' happened. All th' loss, old but freshly stirred when he opened that door still stained th' deck along with th' blood o' new friends an' dead foes alike. He wouldn't be sayin' he felt complete exactly but, it certainly felt good t' have th' Dusk Maiden back. It were certainly a step in th' direction o' closure. Jus' a few more monsters t' dump in th' sea. But, for now, th' Drow were comin' aboard fer th' stones. If'n they played this right...

As they strode across the dock, Falco thought about all the songs and stories he'd heard about Drow women. So far, one had already gave 'im th' key t' his ship so he were still on th' fence. Th' thought had 'im smilin' when she introduced herself as an Aud. He tipped 'is hat an' replied, "Falco Goldenbairn o' th' Emerald Enclave. Welcome aboard me ship."

When she asked if her men should start unloadin' th' cargo, Falco looked back up at the Aud o' House Denpasar for a moment, Big Nat 1takin' her measure as she did th' same through wild pink eyes. Were she tellin' th' truth, she already paid? It were hard t' read someone so confident an' in their element, perhaps they have nothin' t' fear by payin' up front, after all, who would be foolish enough t' cross a Drow House? Finally, with a sigh he said, "Ah, ye already paid th' peacock? I won't lie, I were hopin' t' undercut 'em whilst they was lickin' their wounds. Go 'head an' have 'em unload, th' ghosts is moved on. Seems I'll need t' come t' some sort o' agreement with th' last two o' Cap'n Cloaker's knaves. We'll be needin' some sort o' restitution fer our troubles an' expended resources. This ship's a good start, how much d'ye reckon their sorry skins are worth?"

Falco grinned up at her like a fox with a mouthful o' chicken an' looked again upon his ship. It were good t' be back on her old planks after such a chase. While th' cargo is bein' moved he'll inspect th' ship jus' like th' ol' days an' spend a little quiet time in both th' Captain's quarters an' the Deck Wizard's.

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Old Oct 14th, 2023, 01:24 AM
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Tempest, Siren
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Banx is absolutely fascinating. One would think he was unwell, but he threw the grappling hook with such skill! His energy level seemed through the roof, if there were a roof, but the crazed Gonme rattled on in a quickened version of the Common language and perhaps a dialect of Gonme that was certainly beyond her. After all, she only just learned some important words from Bingle, and YOUBLERGYBLAR was definitely for advanced students. Granted, the scent of his smoldering pipe did not carry the lingering old warm earthy scent of the one she had in her bag, nor was it familiar with bowl-packed-herbs being sweeter, or richly dry, and not so very acrid - or fluidly flowing like smoke possessed. This led her to wonder if Banx had gotten into something strange, especially now that he was speaking to Acolyte Bingle's bosom at a fairly close range. Strangely, the Siren snerked a laugh, swallowing it down her nose to her throat before it unfairly, and perhaps rudely, escaped. Her lips curled upwards in amusement, though she was lightly concerned. "Lord Wizard Banx, where it is wet there may be acid left. I am impressed with your infinite push-ups. You must attract many mates with your um…virility? Um. Ah! Vigor."

"Or..vitality?" The Siren worked her way from Elven to Common and eyed the taller Bingle, glancing at her taller self's face. "Vatitly?" Her Gnomish was coming along swimmingly.

Tempest tried to turn a subtle glance at the feral Ann Aud with the fancy hat, who not too long ago the Siren instinctively snarled at, wanting her throat. She could feel the tug on her lips; a twitch in the left corner of her mouth started to rise but she stopped herself from feeling threatened without justification. This wasn't her world. Even on this ship the underworld was of the mysterious Drow, not Sea Elves and Sirens and Hin. As the confident, Siren-like Ann Aud spoke with Falco, or to Falco, Tempest had to temporarily turn her attention to Fela as she healed the ghosts and wounds-that-would-be-scars along with her Acolyte. Fela was confident as well, but was far from feral, even when in battle. This female Drow was a strange, curious and dangerous creature. Admirable. Tempest decided it would be best to observe socializations for the time being.

The Siren stood steadfast as she 'guarded', gaze drifting from friend to Drow to another friend, as she leaned against the main mast of the ship. The death-glare from Fela causing her to blink owlishly, puzzled. As soon as she was feeling more herself and rested, she would search the Cloaker for keys and any other needful or pretty baubles, using her trident to help flip him over. Falco will certainly want to unlock any of the doors or secrets that the ship may hold. With a few extra, enthusiastic stabs thrust into the Cloaker, Tempest felt slightly better though being 'bested' will stick with her for a while.
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