2018-08-17: Lord Commander Strelka, I Presume
- Log: 2018-08-17: Lord Commander Strelka, I Presume
- Cast: Alisha Diphda, Ethius Hesiod, Seraph Ragnell, Thessaly, Garan Dantear
- Where: Plains of the Goddess
- Date: August 17th, 2018
- Summary: Acting on intelligence gleaned from a humble source, an unlikely gathering of peoples see to the rescue of the captured Lord Commander Sergei Strelka of Rolance from some pirates with an impeccable business sense about them. In the end, one must entrust the mission to the rest, as revelations guide them away.
==============================================<* Plains of the Goddess *>=============================================== The Plains of the Goddess consist of an enormous prairie that occupies the heart of the Meribus continent. It is the breadbasket of the world of Lunar; Althena's blessing lives strong in the soil, and the crops grown here are healthy, hearty, and free of disease. As a result of this bounty, the vast majority of the Plains are uncultivated; farmers have little reason to expand into the untamed wildlands when their larders and storehouses are filled to bursting. Only a few roads cross the Plains of the Goddess, linking the major cities to each other, with the ruins of Vane at the hub of a wagon wheel. Althena's Guard patrols the highways regularly, making travel (relatively) safe. Anyone heading deeper into the fields does so at their own risk, however. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_p5wdBrXw
DC: Alisha Diphda switches forms to Princess Knight Alisha!
DG: A party led by Alisha Diphda is now entering Darkwater Cove. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Finding the Cove *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- All that the party has to go on, to locate Darkwater Cove, is a map on parchment. It shows switchbacks, twists, and turns through the mountainous coastline here. It should lead to a cave -- but the map is imperfect, and at times, small inaccuracies can lead one astray. However, the cavern entrance provides a back route into the pirates' cove. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Information seeking, speaking with the Emperor of Rolance, and the unfolding of a tragic war has helped direct the unlikely alliance. It has become clear, with time, that something is direly wrong -- and that leadership is needed. Using information gleaned from a merchant, and after Alisha traveled to Meribia to do some scouting, the location of Sergei Strelka has been determined.
...Sort of.
Alisha called them all together, and set out on foot. The princess knight, clad in her cloak and armor, walks along the rocky foothills of a coastline south of Meribia. Alisha walks with a map out, unfurled, and squints at it. "Apparently... Lord Commander Strelka is being held by pirates," she says. "All indications are... they were paid to keep him held here--and not killed."
She frowns. "I dislike that. It means they have some design on him," she says. "But... it works to our benefit, too."
She frowns down at the map. "Now, if I can just... figure out what this means." She taps the Celestial Record. "I'm hoping one of the maps in the Record will match this area and give more."
DG: Alisha Diphda has used her Tool Celestial Record toward her party's challenge, Finding the Cove.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I have fulfilled my basic obligations," Ethius chimes in out of nowhere, to a cut-in of his face. Oh no...
Snack Preparation "Black Stuff"
Aaaaaaand the party has themselves yet another unit of Black Stuff, because every time Ethius leaves and comes back to the party it keeps defaulting him to Snack Preparation. Ugh. One journey into the menu to put him on Point of Interest Detection again later...
Ethius is able to provide miscellaneous information of a vague nature about movements of known mercenary or pirate bands in the area. Maybe that's not so hard, the man sure as hell looks like some kind of hoodlum. One of a completely incorrect vocabulary and manner, but otherwise...
"I have performed a survey of the area prior," Ethius says as he lowers that strange eyeglass from his face as its teal-ish glow fades. "You can be assured that there appear to be no traps within the vicinity. I further do not believe we will run afoul of patrol at this hour." He seems confident. He doesn't sound confident but he rarely sounds much of anything, really, as he keeps his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Spectral Lens toward his party's challenge, Finding the Cove.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Finding the Cove *>=========================================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- All that the party has to go on, to locate Darkwater Cove, is a map on parchment. It shows switchbacks, twists, and turns through the mountainous coastline here. It should lead to a cave -- but the map is imperfect, and at times, small inaccuracies can lead one astray. However, the cavern entrance provides a back route into the pirates' cove. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Unusually for the Seraph, Ragnell has been rather quiet since Alisha called the quartet together. It's a broody sort of quiet, the one that discourages questioning from some types and encourages it from others. A few visible injuries, such as a left arm bound in a sling, might implicate why, and might just cause more questions.
Regardless, if anyone *has* tried to ask so far, Ragnell has blatantly ignored them. The biggest thing that's gotten a reaction out of her was Ethius's "Black Stuff," which prompted a curled lip of disgust.
For now, she peeks over Alisha's shoulder at the map. "Hnnh," she grunts, then looks up at their wet, mountainous surroundings. She eases back on her heels, then reaches into her travel pack to pull out a tarnished, slightly battered harmonica. On it, she plays a low, melancholy tune. Why she does it might seem rather opaque--until one realizes that the sound is echoing off the landscape, and those with sharp enough years might be able to pick up incongruities that could lead them towards the Darkwater Cove.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, Finding the Cove.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
"Agreed," says the soft voice from a figure clad in midnight black silks, violet eyes shining from atop her veils. "Truthfully when my lord and I heard that the brothers were missing, we expected the worst. The fact that he is still alive is both curious and worrisome." She glances at the Imperial Knight at that, her frown only hinted at by the translucence of her covering, but she continues moving forward with the rest of their party. Much like Garan, she is uneasy - not because of what it could mean for the Strelkas, but also because they have been forced to leave the Emperor behind in a time when he is most vulnerable. Hopefully the particularly potent protection spell she has placed on him will hold, and that what remains of Garan's brothers in the knighthood will be able to protect him.
Ethius' report earns him a nod, before she withdraws her journal herself. Consulting it, she lifts a hand, whispering quietly until a small ball of light coalesces from her fingertips.
She then lets it adrift, to streak through the darkness of their surroundings in an effort to find their destination.
DG: Thessaly has used her Tool Thessaly's Journal toward her party's challenge, Finding the Cove.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Finding the Cove *>=========================================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- All that the party has to go on, to locate Darkwater Cove, is a map on parchment. It shows switchbacks, twists, and turns through the mountainous coastline here. It should lead to a cave -- but the map is imperfect, and at times, small inaccuracies can lead one astray. However, the cavern entrance provides a back route into the pirates' cove. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
Though often Garan Dantear could be said to be an easygoing and even genial sort of guy - especially for an Imperial Knight - the best way to describe the man right now would be 'focused' - the proverbial arrow ready to leave the equally allegorical bow. The defenses to protect the young Emperor would have to suffice, for now. The forces assembled to retrieve the Lord Commander would similarly simply need to be up to the task; there was no real alternative, no second chance at any of this.
The initial approach was something the red-haired knight was not particularly well-suited for, if truth be told: The best that he could do under the circumstances was to leave the pathfinding to keener minds, whether their methods were magical or mundane. But, at the very least, he could keep an eye out during.
DG: Garan Dantear has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Finding the Cove.
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Finding the Cove *>======================= |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- All that the party has to go on, to locate Darkwater Cove, is a map on parchment. It shows switchbacks, twists, and turns through the mountainous coastline here. It should lead to a cave -- but the map is imperfect, and at times, small inaccuracies can lead one astray. However, the cavern entrance provides a back route into the pirates' cove. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
=========================<* Darkwater Cove - Round 1 *>========================= =========================< Results - Finding the Cove >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alisha Diphda 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Celestial Record 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Spectral Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Tarnished Harmonica 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thessaly 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Thessaly's Journal 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garan Dantear 0 --(0)--> 0 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Alisha Diphda 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Secret(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Alisha Diphda has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha's nose wrinkles at the Black Stuff. There are a few concerned looks all around -- at the sheer focus of the Rolance division, at the very clear injuries of Ragnell. She, however, is the sort to respect one's space when they are broody. Alisha knows better than to ask in front of others, at least -- and maybe at all, until she has felt the situation out a little.
Fortunately, with this group -- and the guidance and scouting they bring -- it isn't hard for them to locate the cavern. It is up on a ledge, which Alisha trudges towards. She heads to it, glancing back over her shoulder. She stays quiet, then peers inside the cave, to see what awaits.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Getting the Drop on Them *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The tunnels in the pirates' base wind and curve, creating a rather confusing
maze. Sometimes, they curve up and down. The one that you are following
opens up into a narrow ledge that looks down on a cavern with a trio of
tables and a dozen pirates, all eating and feasting. They don't notice your
entry -- the reason is a man loudly playing the accordion -- but you do find
an opportunity: several immense kegs of ale, which are tightly secured into
wooden fastenings, on the ledge you entered on. You could drown the sorrows.
Or maybe just drown them.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
As the group comes closer, they can hear the sound of song. ...Song other than the harmonica. No, the harmonica was song. What's going on there is just plain noise! A wheezy, poorly-tuned accordion plays deep inside. Ethius draws nearer from over where Alisha looms. There's a narrow ledge just through this natural gap in the rocky cove they can all help themselves down in order to get a better look. The accordion music is so loud that it even drowns out anyone wearing heavier armor touching down.
The cavern is host to at least three tables, roughly a dozen men making noise. It's tough to whether it should be seen as cheering or jeering. The accordion player keeps going even as a few bottles are thrown. The spectators beneath share some grub (and in one case fight over it). It's a party down there.
Right next to them, several immense kegs of ale, tightly secured into wooden fastenings, right next to them.
"A commotion is inevitable," Ethius remarks. The obvious answers will all draw some level of scrutiny or attention - and they have a hostage.
Ethius kneels down and runs a hand across the wooden fastenings. They might let a simple spill slide. He waits to act until the rest weigh in.
Ethius looks over his shoulder exactly once, vaguely in Ragnell's direction.
Vaguely? If he could see her, he'd be staring right at her. A feat he's managed a few times before, but...
...more importantly right now, what's their play?
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Getting the Drop on Them.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
So Ragnell isn't the only one different from usual. Then again, considering how important the Strelka brothers are to the Rolancian army, it's no wonder that Garan is more tense and focused than usual. The Seraph glances at Thessaly as she agrees with Alisha that Sergei being alive is worrisome, but she doesn't see fit to remark.
Cove-searching follows, and soon after that, cove-finding. Ragnell manages to climb up to the ledge all right, even with only one functional arm. From there, the group searches through tunnels within, until they reach a... performance. Yes, let's call it that. Ragnell's mouth slants diagonally down at the... noise, as well as the dozen-some pirates within partying and feasting, then kneels down near Ethius in front of the kegs of beer. She reaches for her right thigh, and when she fails to grasp something, she looks down, then mutters, "Oh right. Gave it to Nimue."
She taps a finger on her knee. A gun would probably be too loud even for this cacophony, and they *do* have a hostage to worry about. Ethius says that a commotion is inevitable, and she snorts. "Probably so," she agrees. "Well, if one o' you can get those fastenings undone, then go hide, I can kick 'em over to the party. It's not like those chuckleheads are gonna see me."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Speaking of which, is that Ethius looking at her? ...Well, it's not like he hasn't happened to glance in her direction before. Ragnell notes it but otherwise pays it no mind.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Getting the Drop on Them.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha sneaks up, until she crouches down next to Ethius. Her eyes dart down towards the men below; her eyes narrow, before she looks sideways at him, and she nods her head once to his idea. "I agree," she says. "Our current group... I don't think that we are, truly, capable of sneaking our way through all of this place."
She glances back to the others -- trying her best to determine their opinion on the matter, and waiting. Then, she looks at the kegs. She takes stock for a moment. "I can work on the fastenings here," she says. She reaches out with a gauntleted hand -- and then pulls a dagger out, to break at a few of the parts.
"I think it should be clear," she adds.
DG: Alisha Diphda has used her Tool Crystal Gauntlet toward her party's challenge, Getting the Drop on Them.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Getting the Drop on Them *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The tunnels in the pirates' base wind and curve, creating a rather confusing
maze. Sometimes, they curve up and down. The one that you are following
opens up into a narrow ledge that looks down on a cavern with a trio of
tables and a dozen pirates, all eating and feasting. They don't notice your
entry -- the reason is a man loudly playing the accordion -- but you do find
an opportunity: several immense kegs of ale, which are tightly secured into
wooden fastenings, on the ledge you entered on. You could drown the sorrows.
Or maybe just drown them.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
Up the ledge they go. As expected for one who looks like Thessaly, the physical climb is especially taxing, and she relies on Garan's support in that regard. His strength is a deceptive one, if not just because he isn't a walking mountain of muscle - but he can assist her while carrying all of his plate and armaments with the ease of a practiced battle veteran. He is faster, stronger, tougher than he looks.
Noises filter in the further they get into the labyrinthine twists and turns of the cave network, and when these eventually shift into voices and discernible words, she hunkers down with the rest to keep out of sight. She takes stock of the barrels with her eyes, and she draws out her dagger from underneath her sleeve. Wordlessly, she slashes at the set of fastenings closest to her. It is not an act of brute force - not completely, whatever entrophy spells she has imbued in the thing does its work - the touch of it rusting metal and cracking wood apart.
She sheathes it back into her sleeves. "I've taken care of my side," she tells the rest quietly.
<GROUP BB> New message posted on 'Caravan Kinship' 'Happenings' Board (1/7) by Jacqueline Barber: End of Act 3 Dig Reminder
DG: Thessaly has used her Tool Sacrificial Dagger toward her party's challenge, Getting the Drop on Them.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Getting the Drop on Them *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The tunnels in the pirates' base wind and curve, creating a rather confusing
maze. Sometimes, they curve up and down. The one that you are following
opens up into a narrow ledge that looks down on a cavern with a trio of
tables and a dozen pirates, all eating and feasting. They don't notice your
entry -- the reason is a man loudly playing the accordion -- but you do find
an opportunity: several immense kegs of ale, which are tightly secured into
wooden fastenings, on the ledge you entered on. You could drown the sorrows.
Or maybe just drown them.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
Fortunately, Garan is well suited to physical tasks of strength and endurance, like climbing things while wearing plate armor and carrying weapons and occasionally also carrying Thessaly.
He could probably make the climb easily enough even with the witch clinging to his back.
But all that armor presents a different set of problems now: The sound of metal on metal is a difficult one to diffuse, and it adds more weight to a man of already muscular stature, both things that make continued stealth a bit difficult. It's fortunate, then, that an alternative plan presents itself.
As expected, his own solution to helping deal with the fasteners securing the kegs is rather less subtle than the others, in that it involves a heavy axe blade, the knight working as quietly as he can under the circumstances.
Which probably isn't very, but, you know.
In just a minute it won't really matter.
DG: Garan Dantear has used his Tool Sledge Axe toward his party's challenge, Getting the Drop on Them.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Getting the Drop on Them *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The tunnels in the pirates' base wind and curve, creating a rather confusing
maze. Sometimes, they curve up and down. The one that you are following
opens up into a narrow ledge that looks down on a cavern with a trio of
tables and a dozen pirates, all eating and feasting. They don't notice your
entry -- the reason is a man loudly playing the accordion -- but you do find
an opportunity: several immense kegs of ale, which are tightly secured into
wooden fastenings, on the ledge you entered on. You could drown the sorrows.
Or maybe just drown them.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>==================================================
=======================================<* CHALLENGE - Getting the Drop on Them *>=======================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 |
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
The tunnels in the pirates' base wind and curve, creating a rather confusing
maze. Sometimes, they curve up and down. The one that you are following
opens up into a narrow ledge that looks down on a cavern with a trio of
tables and a dozen pirates, all eating and feasting. They don't notice your
entry -- the reason is a man loudly playing the accordion -- but you do find
an opportunity: several immense kegs of ale, which are tightly secured into
wooden fastenings, on the ledge you entered on. You could drown the sorrows.
Or maybe just drown them.
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
=============================================<* Darkwater Cove - Round 2 *>============================================= =========================================< Results - Getting the Drop on Them >========================================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alisha Diphda 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Crystal Gauntlet 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 0 --(5)--> 5 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thessaly 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sacrificial Dagger 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Garan Dantear 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Sledge Axe 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------< Party >-------------------------------------------------------- Leader: Alisha Diphda 20 --(30)--> 50 Pass Conditions: Secret(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Alisha Diphda has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
There's only one small hitch in the plan - by the time everyone together goes and undoes the fastenings, the whole thing just collapses. Kegs roll down in pure chaos, bouncing off the stage with the accordion player, dumping into the crowds. By the time the first one rolls down, it's all too late for anyone to call for help as the heavy kegs and their contents rupture. The party floor is awash in middling alcohol.
That kind of throws the idea to wait and back off to allow Ragnell to stealthily do the deed off, but the end is the same.
"Move, now." Ethius says. They don't quite know the full lay of the land within, but if they're banking on this being written off as someone's incompetence in going to retrieve a keg and get in deeper in the confusion, this exact moment is it. The noise, the sloshing of beer - this moment, and no later, the sound of them sloshing through can be confused for the sound of their own kind moving. The pirates themselves are too concussed or too occupied with getting the hell out of dodge to give visual confirmation of intrusion.
It's a big risk, but it's one that may yet pay off.
DG: Thessaly has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Avast! Yarr! *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- When you round the next bend in the caverns, you come face to face with a patrol of pirates. They stare at you with surprise -- and then one lets out a bloodcurdling pirate war cry! Which is when they also rush forward, axes and cutlasses swinging and chopping for you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
Move, now.
Thessaly does. As the barrels lay to waste on the pirates beneath them, she leaps from the ledge their hiding place provides, aided by magic to do a shadowy drift into the lower areas of the caverns. She lands soundlessly on slippered feet - right on top of a pirate's head that is busily swimming in so much beer, before leaping again. Her dress is expensive, after all, she doesn't want to dirty it any more than she has to.
The party continues on - there is only one way out of the chamber they invaded and it's on the other side, the tunnel winding further into the underbellies of the cave network. It is a narrow corridor at first, hewn from rock, but slowly, but surely, it starts to widen the further they go in.
A blessing in disguise in the end when they nearly run right into a group of patrolling pirates. For a while, neither party moves, just as surprised to see the other.
But the stunned silence doesn't last for long.
"INTRUDERS!"
"ATTACK!"
"SOUND THE ALARM!"
One of them is already attempting to peel out of the group in an effort to reach one of the hideout's hidden bells.
DG: Thessaly has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Avast! Yarr!.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
When Ethius goes down into that mess, he at least has the presence of mind to remove his belt and keep the satchels on them above water. That's important, because the smoke bombs don't work if they get wet. He can suffer the almost comical inconvenience of droopy trousers for as long as it takes to find a quiet moment to get his belt back on.
That is the reason for his pause, as a stunned silence falls upon both parties. Ethius struggles to remove one of the Powder Grenades while the other hand is trying to keep his trousers held up. He has to let them drop because the way the particulate matter settles in the satchel he has, he can't get the gesticulations for the Symbological spell for it right.
It's not one of his proudest moments.
Mystical sound and geometrical patterns of light form upon finalizing the cast, activating the satchel's contents.
"Smoke cover." Ethius says, somehow maintaining his even keel even while hs trousers are down at his ankles as though this situation is as normal as it's going to be. The satchel is thrown, and choking, blinding dust fills the air. (Somehow, far more blinding and choking for them, rather than the party, but that's a conundrum that's been around forever.)
Ethius doesn't bother pulling his trousers back up, electing to wield his quarterstaff with precision and purpose even as his leg movement is restricted, lunging outward against the one trying to run for the alarm to trip them up, pin him down, and hope that the lot of them deal with this patrol expediently enough.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, Avast! Yarr!.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>================================================== =============================================<* CHALLENGE - Avast! Yarr! *>============================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- When you round the next bend in the caverns, you come face to face with a patrol of pirates. They stare at you with surprise -- and then one lets out a bloodcurdling pirate war cry! Which is when they also rush forward, axes and cutlasses swinging and chopping for you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Treasure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha makes a surprised, half-squeak when they almost run headlong into a troop of pirates. She quickly swings out her spear -- catching the swing of an axe on it, and her eyes go wide as she hears the last cry. Sounding the alarm, she decides, would be a very bad thing. Ethius's satchel lands, and she uses that. First, she kicks the pirate closest to her backward -- sending him into that choking powder.
Then, her eyes look at the silhouette of the man who peeled off. Her eyes narrow, a moment later, and her spear sweeps up along the ground.
"DEMON FANG!"
Which is when a thing gap is cut in the cloud -- as a blade of light rockets across the floor, and hurtles towards the back of the fleeing pirate.
DG: Alisha Diphda has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Avast! Yarr!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Whoops. Looks like there's no place for Ragnell in this attack. This doesn't bother her, though, and in fact watching the kegs stampede down into the pirates with a crash of booze visibly improves her mood, as well as audibly, since she openly guffaws about it. Why not? The pirates can't hear her. Probably!
The group moves onwards, and Ragnell wades through the beer. She doesn't worry too much about her own weapons; they may be gunsmoke ARMs, but she doesn't actually use gunpowder bullets, so it's all good as far as getting drenched is concerned. A bigger problem is the patrol group of pirates, who stop and gawk and then call the alarm. Ragnell dips a hand into her traveling pack and HURLS a plasma grenade overhand towards the pirate who's running off from the main group, she assumes to call for reinforcements. If the grenade goes off in time, they won't be calling for anyone. Of course, if the grenade goes off, more pirates may come running to see what the hell that was all about regardless, but it's the principle of the matter!
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Plasma Grenade toward her party's challenge, Avast! Yarr!.
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
"Oh, good," Garan says quietly when they almost literally run into a pirate patrol. It isn't sarcasm.
Today, honestly, he could do with a straight up fight.
So the Imperial Knight in his armor of gleaming white and dark red plunges directly into the fray, letting his shield and his sword lead the way. This, at least is something more suited to his strengths, rather than sneaking around or engaging in subterfuge. Besides which, he serves as a better bulwark against those cutlasses and even the possible gunsmoke ARMs than most of the rest of the group, letting the others attack from relative safety.
The cover of smoke and the flash and noise of the lobbed explosive helps too, of course: Knight though he may be, Garan is well aware of the unchivalrous necessities of war, and doesn't hesitate for a second to take out distracted or disabled pirates.
DG: Garan Dantear has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Avast! Yarr!.
=============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Avast! Yarr! *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- When you round the next bend in the caverns, you come face to face with a patrol of pirates. They stare at you with surprise -- and then one lets out a bloodcurdling pirate war cry! Which is when they also rush forward, axes and cutlasses swinging and chopping for you! =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Treasure=========================================
========================<* Darkwater Cove - Round 3 *>======================== ==========================< Results - Avast! Yarr! >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alisha Diphda 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethius Hesiod 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 5 --(0)--> 5 Pass Plasma Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Embolden and Liabilit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thessaly 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Garan Dantear 0 --(0)--> 0 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Alisha Diphda 50 --(20)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Treasure(1)|Wound(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Alisha Diphda has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
Powder fills the air and turns into dust. Ethius leaps for the fleeing pirate in an attempt to pin him down, and he is of course successful - but then Alisha and Ragnell lob magic spells and grenades at him, and so the poor man finds himself in a field of friendly fire. The pirate underneath him squawks, and moves, if not just to use him as a meat shield for whatever follows, because damn.
There's twin flashes of light, when Alisha's attack impacts, and Ragnell's plasma grenade goes off. The latter, especially, blinds the rest, and that's when Garan presses his advantage, sword and shield brandished to dispatch the rest of the pirates. As he cleaves through one, Thessaly is somewhere behind him, pinning their silhouettes with thorns made of shadow, keeping them from moving, leaving them relatively immobile when the rest turn their attention upon them...
...in the end, the pirates are no match, in varying degrees of dead or unconscious by the time the party is done with them. They further proceed into the heart of the network.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking and Entering *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Although the pirates call a cavern system home, they have made various and sundry improvements to it. One of these is a large wooden wall, with a reinforced door that blocks access to the rest of the hallway. Although it is locked, there hasn't been any sign of a key thus far, which leaves more forceful ways as the best way through -- or a long backtracking to find a side tunnel. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Oh, was Ethius *also* running for the same target? Oops. Ragnell doesn't feel bad about it; that's the sort of thing that's solved by communication, and as far as she knows, he can't hear her. It would've happened anyway. Too bad about Alisha, though. Regardless, Garan and Thessaly coordinate to take out the rest, and soon there are a bunch of very dead or dead-ish pirates.
"Go, team," Ragnell drawls, proceeding with the rest. Soon, the group finds... a wooden wall. Someone really took the time to build a wall, with a door, in a stone cave, just so they could lock it. Ragnell shakes her head. At times like this, you can't help but laugh.
"So don't 'spose anyone knows how t' pick a lock? Or shall we just kick it down?" she asks. Despite her questions, she draws her right pistol and aims to simply... shoot the lock off. *She's* sure not backtracking.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Breaking and Entering.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
"I'm afraid such a skill is beyond me," Thessaly tells Ragnell as she takes a few step towards the latest obstacle, once more withdrawing her knife. She carves a sigil in the middle of the wooden wall, watching black veins pulls out from its center point and spread out, hairline fissures making spider's webs across wood. The faint sound of cracking and splintering fills the air, as she weakens the integrity of the panel before them.
That is when she steps back, so the rest can do the remaining work that is required to get it to cave in.
DG: Thessaly has used her Tool Sacrificial Dagger toward her party's challenge, Breaking and Entering.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius disappears momentarily in that storm of Stuff(tm). He probably wasn't vaporized, but it is unclear why he might have decided to slink off agai--
Oh there he is, he's back now wearing a completely different pair of trousers that are much, much less booze-stained than the previous pair, so that he can actually put his damn belt back on and also be assured his leftover Powder Grenade doesn't get drenched. He also looks a little singed, but the man often looks like he's been wading through fields of ash and soot so it's more like it'd be surprising if he wasn't, but...
"You can be assured there are no witnesses." Is his chillingly even-tone remark as he rejoins them. As if anything he says is reassuring!! He stands back and watches the wood rot by Thessaly's hand and - interestingly - doesn't seem to approach when Ragnell draws her pistol and aims to shoot off the lock. He instead runs his hand against the wooden barrier, and presses his ear up against it as if to try and listen to be sure that there isn't a patrol waiting on the other side before they just destroy the damn thing.
Were there not a hostage, odds are he'd have already set it on fire.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Breaking and Entering.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>================================================== ========================================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking and Entering *>========================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Although the pirates call a cavern system home, they have made various and sundry improvements to it. One of these is a large wooden wall, with a reinforced door that blocks access to the rest of the hallway. Although it is locked, there hasn't been any sign of a key thus far, which leaves more forceful ways as the best way through -- or a long backtracking to find a side tunnel. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha is blinking her eyes a few times, trying to get the spots out of them. "I... need to remember to look away," she says to Ragnell. She frowns for a moment, and then looks up at the wall. Her eyes narrow -- and then she watches Ragnell just shoot the lock. "What would you have done if I said yes?"
She is, after all, the last person here who might know how to pick a lock. (Because, hey, retainers to noble families sometimes have unlikely skills.)
She strides forward, and then she swings a hand back -- and the armored gauntlet on her fist slams into the door, just after Ethius gets clear of the door.
DG: Alisha Diphda has used her Tool Crystal Gauntlet toward her party's challenge, Breaking and Entering.
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
"I've always much preferred to knock," is Garan's response to the general question about picking locks. It's something approaching a joke, one supposes... Though under the circumstances, the humour is better suited to the gallows. When he says knock, the Imperial Knight means something a little different than the usual, at least given what they're doing: Sword and shield stowed, Garan once again draws his sledge axe, testing the tool's heft as he approaches the door. This is the sort of task it was made for, after all.
They need to breach this door that's in their way, and the most direct solution is to make there not be any more door in the way.
So it's raw strength and the straightforward application of physics that Garan turns against the obstruction, hefting the hammer face of the tool to work with Alisha to simply bash through the door.
DG: Garan Dantear has used his Tool Sledge Axe toward his party's challenge, Breaking and Entering.
==================================================<* Darkwater Cove *>================================================== ========================================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking and Entering *>========================================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Although the pirates call a cavern system home, they have made various and sundry improvements to it. One of these is a large wooden wall, with a reinforced door that blocks access to the rest of the hallway. Although it is locked, there hasn't been any sign of a key thus far, which leaves more forceful ways as the best way through -- or a long backtracking to find a side tunnel. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - Breaking and Entering *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Although the pirates call a cavern system home, they have made various and sundry improvements to it. One of these is a large wooden wall, with a reinforced door that blocks access to the rest of the hallway. Although it is locked, there hasn't been any sign of a key thus far, which leaves more forceful ways as the best way through -- or a long backtracking to find a side tunnel. =Dungeon Conditions: Tire, Treasure===========================================
=========================<* Darkwater Cove - Round 4 *>========================= ======================< Results - Breaking and Entering >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alisha Diphda 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Crystal Gauntlet 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 5 --(3)--> 8 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 5 --(8)--> 13 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thessaly 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Sacrificial Dagger 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garan Dantear 0 --(3)--> 3 Pass Sledge Axe 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Alisha Diphda 70 --(25)--> 95 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Tire(2)|Treasure(1) Effects: Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Alisha Diphda has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell snorts at Garan's maybe-joke before looking at Thessaly. "Too bad. I oughtta pick it up m'self one o' these days. Can't believe I haven't before now, come t' think." Then she raises her eyebrows at Alisha--and smirks. "I'd ask you what else Rose taught you t' do with those suddenly-deft fingers o' yours," she drawls, winking.
Ethius declares there are no witnesses. Ragnell clucks her tongue. "Wouldn't expect any with you around anyway," she murmurs.
Shooting the lock isn't very effectual. Fortunately, there are Alishas and Garans around, with their hammers and gauntlets and their smashy powers. Thessaly adds in some magical destruction, and after Ethius gives the all clear, that door is good and busted down.
Onwards!
DG: Garan Dantear has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - That She Blows! *>========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The heart of the pirate's cove is the small inlet, covered by the cave, that
their ship is docked at. The pirate's ship is a galleon, with black sails.
It looks like it is partly in the process of preparing to leave. There are
also a number of pirates here -- who all turn, gawk, and stare at you as you
approach.
"Keep them back!" shouts the captain from the deck, who waves a saber.
"And... FIRE!"
There is a single cannon readied on the deck -- the rest are down on the
shore, in varying states of cleaning in repair -- but one is all it takes.
The old bronze cannon fires, a huge cannoball comes crashing down in your
midst... just as the pirates all charge!
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
Fortunately, the door is no match for all that smashy might.
Unfortunately, the door does not immediately reveal a grateful Sergei Strelka tied to a chair. Instead, it forms the last physical line of defense for a side path that soon reveals plenty of crates, barrels and rope as it widens - widens and proves to be a supply route into the very heart of the pirates' cove. The scent of water and salt from the inlet, of older things left to fester in the dark, is soon met with the smell of a bunch of rather poorly groomed pirates.
There's a long, awkward moment as the pirates stare.
And then the sound of that single cannon firing rushes to fill the entire cavern, the force of it nearly as dangerous as what comes soon afterwards: An enormous cannonball, a weapon better suited to sinking ships than dealing with infantry, arcing down towards their little knot of people.
"Scatter!" Garan yells, reaching for Thessaly to bear her bodily out of the way of the massive projectile, which throws up a geyser of sharp chunks of rock as it half-buries itself in the cave floor. But the second threat presents itself quickly, as the remaining pirate forces charge them en masse.
Only a second to make sure the others are all right, before Garan rushes into the closing ranks of pirates with sword and shield... And a cry to make sure they know exactly who's here.
"Rolance!" the Imperial Knight calls as men die. "Rolance! Rolance!"
DG: Garan Dantear has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, That She Blows!.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
The temptation, for Alisha, is to cry out 'Hyland!' when Garan cries his country's name out. Except, she knows, that could gravely complicate matters if a pirate should hear her and get word of it.
She scatters, though. She jumps, and the shockwave of the cannon pushes her. She accepts it -- enough to bury her spear in the belly of one soldier, then rip it free with a spray of blood. The haft of her weapon swings -- it clobbers a second in the head, droping him. She grits her teeth, then looks up.
"Ragnell! Ethius!" she calls out. "Disable that cannon if you can!"
She stays, for her part, near Garan. She lets him wade forward, armor and shield drawing their attention. A moment later, her spear slams just past his guard, to strike through the neck of a pirate who battered an axe down into his shield.
DG: Alisha Diphda has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, That She Blows!.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
The last thing she certainly expected, upon the door crashing down, is a cannonball aimed right at their faces. Cool, composed, and calculating in spades, Thessaly's violet eyes actually blink from above her veils, and widen in surprise when she realizes what she is looking at and the type of ordinance leveled at them, promising to leave their bodies in a pile of pulped up viscera. There's no sound, but whatever is visible upon her speaks volumes as to how she just how surprising she finds this.
Garan calls to scatter, and she leaps - as much as she's allowed by her physical limitations, moving like liquid shadow to the space behind and slightly to the side of the knight. It speaks of a years-long partnership, how she manages to find the best way to position herself in his vicinity without sparing a thought, pale fingers and the black lacquer of her manicure up and pointed towards the defensive line.
She barely glances at the ball when it impacts, because her lord is already moving, and she must follow. His battle cry rings in her ears.
He propels himself towards the closest cluster of hostiles, and she aims for the sides, to hurl her own fireballs at the direction of the pirates, spheres of black flame wreathed with purple arcs of power. They explode on impact, each a thunderous clap when they incinerate the closest bodies they touch. She makes a conscious attempt not to throw them anywhere near the ship, however. They might have to commandeer it to get back to civilization - and their quarry might be in there.
DG: Thessaly has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, That She Blows!.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Thessaly, if she's watching, will see a tell - the way Ethius blinks and narrows his eyes almost imperceptibly after Ragnell's quip in response to his claim of there being 'no witnesses.' He dutifully follows behind the rest as they bust on through the barricade.
His gaze turns sharply from even the sound of one cannon's hinges being moved - that's a split-second before all parties involved realize the situation, and he dives a great distance to avoid being showered by stone and wood shrapnel as Alisha barks out the orders.
"...Understood." There's a pause in his voice, as he turns his gaze vaguely - no, directly! - Ragnell-ward. Crouching from behind temporary cover as the pirate horde comes crashing in, he retrieves the second satchel. The Symbological spell necessary for the other satchel's activation is cast. Ethius takes the satchel by its neck and starts to give it a faster, faster, faster spin to build up momentum and - as he releases it from his grasp - distance. It flies at an impeccable arc to move to get inside that cannon and explode.
Explode into a great, huge, cloud of dust, but enough of that crap there is going to gum that cannon up - not to mention rob those nearby of sight of the situation.
Rather than join the melee in earnest as Garan calls the name of his home nation, Ethius finds a point of higher elevation and wraps a harness around one wrist - a patchwork fabric bag that becomes a personal hot air balloon. He tries to sail overhead as to try and help himself onto the deck in order to ensure maximal disruption before the galleon can get much further with their departure preparations.
All the while, the strange man stares. The merchant they spoke with assured that they were a nasty bunch who wouldn't hesitate to do the worst, even to their 'touched friend.'
Their 'touched friend's' stare as he hovers ever closer - that's the stuff they'd give frightening drinking tales over. If any of them lived.
DG: Ethius Hesiod has used his Tool Powder Grenade toward his party's challenge, That She Blows!.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell doesn't need to be told to scatter; the instant it turns out there's pirates on the other side after all, i.e. Ethius's rampant paranoia has failed them (or, alternately, Ethius has betrayed them), she's dashing to one side, further along the side of the cavern to get a good shot at the galleon with its cannon. It might be funny to see Thessaly shocked for once, or Garan having to cart her out of the way before committing a whole lot of murder in the name of Rolance, but alas, we can't always get what we want, especially in deadly times like these.
"Way ahead a' ya!" she calls back to Alisha before tearing a grenade pin out with her teeth and chucking the grenade at said cannon, aimed to go off above it so it damages the cannon without tearing apart the ship itself too badly.
Then she draws her pistol and keeps an eye an Ethius, just in case he needs to come down with a swift case of the deads. As a result, their eyes meet--and now it's Ragnell's turn to widen her eyes. She knows the difference between someone looking through her and looking at her, and Ethius is definitely looking *at* her.
Well, well. Something new to take into account, then.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Plasma Grenade toward her party's challenge, That She Blows!.
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>==============================
=======================<* CHALLENGE - That She Blows! *>========================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The heart of the pirate's cove is the small inlet, covered by the cave, that
their ship is docked at. The pirate's ship is a galleon, with black sails.
It looks like it is partly in the process of preparing to leave. There are
also a number of pirates here -- who all turn, gawk, and stare at you as you
approach.
"Keep them back!" shouts the captain from the deck, who waves a saber.
"And... FIRE!"
There is a single cannon readied on the deck -- the rest are down on the
shore, in varying states of cleaning in repair -- but one is all it takes.
The old bronze cannon fires, a huge cannoball comes crashing down in your
midst... just as the pirates all charge!
=Dungeon Conditions: Save Point===============================================
=========================<* Darkwater Cove - Round 5 *>========================= =========================< Results - That She Blows! >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alisha Diphda 3 --(8)--> 11 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ethius Hesiod 8 --(3)--> 11 Pass Powder Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 13 --(3)--> 16 Pass Plasma Grenade 3 Combat Effects: Embolden and Liabilit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thessaly 3 --(3)--> 6 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garan Dantear 3 --(3)--> 6 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Alisha Diphda 95 --(20)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Save Point(1)|Tire(1) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Alisha Diphda has successfully explored Darkwater Cove!
==============================<* Darkwater Cove *>============================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Sergey Saved *>========================= |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- With the pirates dispatched -- if with some scrapes, scratches, and potentially worse injuries to show for it -- all that remains is searching the ship. The brig is not hard to find. Located below decks, it consists of two cells behind iron bars. One is empty. The other has the unconscious, somewhat ragged form of Sergey Strelka, Lord Commander of the Imperial Knights, inside. He wears the ragged remains of his uniform, but looks otherwise unharmed. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
The violence visited upon the pirates is quite effective: Most of them, after all, are more used to fighting on the deck of a ship, and against rather less prepared opponents. With Ethius and Ragnell attacking at range to disable the cannon, the deck crew and the captain are left caught offguard when Ethius then joins them on the ship; without fire support, the pirates in the cave still put up a stiff fight, but before long the group of would-be rescuers are able to put them down with steel and sorcery. The coppery tang of blood and the smoky reek of burned flesh fill the air... The scents of war, mingled with the cries of pain from the pirates who yet live.
In the sweep of the galleon, Garan at least blends haste with caution, a desire to find the Lord Commander as quickly as possible mingling with the knowledge that a careless search would leave them vulnerable.
But in the end, at last, they find the unconscious Strelka.
Garan lets out a breath he didn't realise he was holding in.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
She glimpses it Ethius; he would be able to tell with the way she's looking at him, silent as a wraith and as intent as a hawk. But she says nothing, never one to introduce others to the contents of her own mind - unless it is absolutely called for it.
With the battle over, she is right at his heels in an attempt to find the lost Lord Commander of the Imperial Knights.
Cell doors are broken down, and the man himself is revealed. There is a glance to her lord, and at his exhaled breath, a hand rests lightly on his forearm before she heads further inside, to drop to her knees towards the ragged looking man. Spells are called up immediately - not just to see to his injuries, but also to look for whatever magical tampering his mind or body might have suffered; they are pirates, it is easy to dismiss that there wouldn't be much to find. But she knows someone else is pulling their strings and he was being kept alive for a reason. It is imperative to know what that reason is.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
The fighting comes to an end -- many dead, and others wounded. Alisha doesn't write off tending to the wounded, but she does compartmentalize it. The ones who fell have to wait; they have to know that Sergei yet lives. Alisha rushes in, a little after Garan and even Thessaly. She has a slight limp -- she took a wound from a cutlass, and she winces as she approaches.
She looks down at him.
His eyes open. He had no spells to bind his well; Sergei's right eye is slower to open, and blackened and swollen. "Dantear...?" he asks. "Goddess, it is you. How did you find me? Who are your companions?"
Alisha hesitates, before she glances at Ragnell. "The Captain's quarters," she suggests. "We should also look there."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius doesn't join them on the search, at first. He suspects they know who or what to look for. He just wants to be thorough and make sure that every hostile element is neutralized. If there are any survivors of this sweep, it's deliberate and with very specific purpose for them later that probably coincides with Thessaly's line of thought. (He will relent from further decisive action if asked... in time.)
He might be pretty close to the Captain's quarters by the time they catch up with him. They might also catch him popping the Black Stuff in his mouth. That Black Stuff. The stuff he made. Like he doesn't really care that strongly so long as it's empty calories and also... cooked like that.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Once the pirates go down, Ragnell and the others are free to search the galleon. Before long, they find Sergei, tied up and indeed alive. He's even conscious, as becomes apparent when he stirs and mumbles over at Garan. Ragnell watches him for a moment, then glances at Garan and especially Thessaly; Alisha catches her attention when she looks her way.
"Smart thinkin'," she says. "Any dealin's with the crew woulda been recorded there, if anywhere." She shrugs with her good arm. "Hopefully these weren't a bunch o' *disorganized* pirates." A pause, during which she gives Ethius a horrified look. Did he really... just... *eat* the Black Stuff??? She shakes her head quickly. "Anyway, we can take Sergei there to the captain's quarters, keep it efficient. Unless none o' y'all can use healing artes?"
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
Under other circumstances, Garan would perhaps want to make sure that the surviving pirates received some quarter... But at the moment, it's difficult to find much sympathy to spare for them. Some of that tension, at least, bleeds out of him when it's clear that the Lord Commander is alive, and a little more when the man returns to consciousness, under the careful attentions of Thessaly.
"Lord Commander," the red-haired knight says, nodding to the recently-missing Sergei. "It's kind of a long story. Thessaly, make sure he's well enough to travel, the less time we spend here the better." Though he also agrees with Alisha about checking the captain's quarters; ideally, Sergei will be well enough for them to take him along. Splitting up doesn't seem particularly ideal, either.
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
"You're safe now, Lord Commander," Thessaly murmurs, glancing over at Garan when the man addresses him directly. "Though it might be prudent to commandeer this vessel so we can take you back to civilization quickly." Without a full crew, it would be a challenge - but then again, they also have a sorceress with a worrisome amount of power and prowess at her disposal.
Ragnell's query has those violet eyes lifting upwards. "I can," she murmurs, standing up - the very air around her fashions into a gurney, to carry the injured man upwards with gentle gales. What the seraph suggests is sound, after all, to bring the man to the captain's quarters and make this all efficient. So when she moves, the knight commander follows with them - presumably so they can use the bed in those quarters to keep him comfortable while she continues seeing to him there, while the rest look for clues in that cabin.
The door to the captain's quarters swings open with a bang, as if a ghost has opened it for the regal, black-clad woman, moving through it so that she can lay the Lord Commander on the mattress therein.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"I can only imagine!" Sergei says. He manages a ghost of the big, boisterous laugh that he is known for. "You will need to share it, sometime."
Alisha looks sideways at Ragnell and nods -- but she lets Thessaly make a gurney, first. Then, she lays a hand over Sergey -- and white light infuses him. Some of his blackened eye recedes; his cuts seal, though not completely. He still looks bedraggled and exhausted. His eyes meet Alisha's.
"You're..."
"Another time, Lord Commander," Alisha says, softly.
She follows after. Her eyes turn to Ethius -- and she nods to him, with a slight frown at the Black Stuff. The door opens, though, and they find the most promising of sights: a large desk, with papers on it. One letter, in particular, stands out:
Captain Darius,
You are to continue holding Sergei Strelka until the war's conclusion. At that time, you are to deliver him to Pendrago -- with the letters we have provided.
- R.F.
"Runette Forton," Alisha says. "But--wait, I know the hand on this one--"
And, indeed, there is a second letter, under the first. Alisha slides it out, to look down at it:
Captain Darius,
I thank you for the alert that you have the Lord Commander in your possession. I ask you keep him there. To have him dead would give Rolance cause to rally; to have him returned would hasten peace. I trust our gift of gald will buy your loyalty.
- Bartlow
"This... this is..."
<Pose Tracker> Thessaly has posed.
"We already warned the Emperor about his regent," Thessaly tells Alisha quietly, but also for the benefit of Lord Commander Strelka once he's been positioned on the bed. "But I always suspected that there was someone else on your side conspiring to pit both our countries to war. That is why my lord and I sought you out, Your Highness. To see who among your constituents might have an interest in ensuring that this conflict continues. It seems, however, that we have found damning evidence as to who it could be." She stretches her fingers out, so she can create duplicate copies of the letters, though the originals, she leaves in Alisha's possession. "You may need those, for when it's time to confront him. I will keep the copies in my possession, and no doubt the Lord Commander's testimony will be valuable. We will have to take him to the Emperor at once, so he can deliver his report."
She folds her arms across her chest, pondering quietly, violet eyes drawn inward as she thinks. "At the moment, however, it is too late to cease hostilities - I'm certain with the presentation of this evidence, His Majesty will do what he can to cease the fighting, but without Hyland's cooperation in that regard, he cannot afford to do so. Something will have to be done about your leaders, Princess, before a ceasefire can be affectuated."
Lashes lower over her eyes. "And the Cardinal is still a problem."
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The mysterious white-haired man seems to be without shame for his questionable snacking choices, but that is the least ghastly thing to learn tonight (somehow). He politely stands out of the way of the Lord Commander en route to the Knight's quarters. He remains an eerie presence by just how much he stands there, looming. An intrusive presence, but one that doesn't seem keen to do much other than watch. He's a ways behind Alisha as she starts looking over the letters - letters that are proof of a dangerous game being played by major players of the war.
He makes no suggestion on what they do next. The thought doesn't cross him that he should - maybe more that he should not. That any advice he could give, any action he would vocally vouch for would be problematic for... some reason. A reason he internalizes quietly as true to not question. He brings a hand up to his forehead, the one exposed eye side-glancing others around the room that are within his range of vision.
What is this man thinking? What does he want out of this? He just came into their lives from nowhere, abruptly deciding to insert himself into a matter he at first seemed to want no part of... and he's still standing there, witness to a turning point in the history of the Glenwood continent. Does he recognize the true weight of what is transpiring here?
All he knows is that a number of items are falling into place, after seeming so uncontrollably disparate that... that... he can't quite finish this mental statement. He knows he doesn't want to, and that is good enough to not. It still seems so strange unto itself, the way things have progressed - that they have progressed, at a timeframe that...
That...
...
Ethius lowers his hand from his forehead, and folds both of his hands behind his back, standing at attention like he were someone's soldier and not some random hoodlum they're carting around on an extremely politically sensitive journey for funsies and free Black Stuff!
+Vote: You have voted for Garan Dantear.
+Vote: You have voted for Thessaly.
+Vote: K.K. is currently set as an observer. If they should be getting sparkled, please do so separately!
+Vote: You have voted for Seraph Ragnell.
+Vote: You have voted for Alisha Diphda.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell nods to Thessaly, watching with some interest as she conjures a gurney on which to carry the injured Strelka. From there, the group heads to the captain's quarters. Sure enough, there's damning information therein; she reads the letters over Alisha's shoulder and clucks her tongue when she's done.
"They were runnin' quite a racket here, huh? No wonder they kept 'im alive. Ol' Sergei was a regular golden goose," she remarks, leaning back. She looks over at Thessaly, then nods. "Yeah, I doubt Rolance would back down now. For one, the citizens are good an' riled up, for a variety of reasons. For another, they don't have any other options. Hyland's out for blood."
Maybe there'd be other options if a certain gold mine had opened up instead of caving in, but Ragnell wouldn't know 'anything' about that, nope.
She glances over at Ethius. Given how the fight turned out, it seems he didn't intentionally betray them, but... in the end, none of them really know his motives, do they? Even Ragnell, who's taken it upon herself to spy on him on several occasions, doesn't have any special insight. ...That's hardly special when it comes to Ethius, though. Ragnell returns her focus to the others.
"So what's next on the agenda, 'Lisha? Both right now an' in general."
<Pose Tracker> Garan Dantear has posed.
Never having had much of a head for subterfuge or dealing with the same, it's fortunate for Garan that he has the services of Thessaly, who has the presence of mind to make copies of the letters Alisha finds. A frown tugs at the corners of the red-haired knight's mouth, though because while he might be ill-suited to the games of cloak and dagger, he's still a noble who was raised to look at the world through that particular political lens: He's well aware of the weight and importance of those letters, and of the things Thessaly is both saying and leaving unsaid.
Dark blue eyes turn towards the witch when she mentions the Cardinal, his fingers drumming pensively against the hilt of his now-sheathed sword.
"Problems that require some consideration," he agrees, though then his attention turns towards Alisha. The issues in Hyland would, naturally, fall to her to make decisions about. And given what he knows about the princess, he doubts her solutions would involve many knives in the dark.
But, well, people can always surprise you.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
'Something will have to be done about your leaders, Princess, before a ceasefire can be effectuated.'
Alisha takes the original letter in a hand that shakes, slightly. She folds it up, and slides it inside the plain brown cloak that she wears. She grits her teeth once, before she looks at Thessaly. She considers her words for a moment. Then, she looks at Garan, and nods to him. "Yes. Cardinal Forton must be dealt with," she says, finally. She looks back at Ragnell, and she smiles. "I trust you'll help with that, won't you, Ragnell? And you, Ethius."
It sounds, perhaps, like she doesn't intend to come with them to handle matters with the Cardinal. There is a reason for it.
"...I must return to Hyland," she concludes. "You are quite right, Lady Thessaly. Something must be done about the Council. They would further this war until it destroys Hyland. I am not like my friend, though. I'm afraid I would make a poor assassin. And so..."
She closes her eyes, then lets out a sigh. "...I will hope that a rebellion will suffice, instead."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell smiles back. "Oh, I guess I might as well," she teases. Looks like her mood's fully recovered. "A rebellion, huh..." She tousles Alisha's hair with her good hand. "Looks like our baby Princess's all grown up~. I look forward to seein' what you can do."
And in the meantime... they'll take care of Runette Forton.