22nd-27th of Calistril: First Days at Sea
After the excitement of the ship launching into the bay, the group is taken down below decks and shown to their quarters, which consists of two rooms with two sets of bunks to a room, no doors, and no privacy. The captain demands that Rauros be kept in the cargo area, which the bear takes offense to. He growls at her in disdain, but she growls back, and wins out. Captain Kamara also tells them that the extra cot in one room will not go vacant; one of her crew would be bunking with them. Tarian volunteers to have the crew member in his room, hoping that they might be willing to give him news or useful information. Lo and Mastodon take the other bunks in their room, making the occupants of the other room to be Myne, Poppet, Alex, and Roth. Alex is content to not wear his heavy armor, and secures the pieces in a large lock box next to his selected bunk.
The first five days are uneventful: the ship stays a few dozen miles off the shore to avoid the ice buildup, and as the days go by, the weather improves. The cold, biting air of the north is replaced with more temperate weather, and the group can finally remove their cold weather gear. Life aboard the ship is quiet; the crew go about their work, they welcome Lo's music when he plays for them, and the most eventful thing to take place might be a swollen eye over a lost game of cards.
Myne takes the opportunity to have Poppet examine the bow that she pulled off the forest drake she killed in Kassen, wanting to know if the weapon would be of value to the party; to Roth in particular. Poppet tells her that it is a magical compound longbow, and despite the fact that Roth already possesses a valuable bow taken off of the masked leader Tyrion, this one might match it in effectiveness. Myne is pleased with Poppet's assessment, taking the bow back and contemplating the best time she might present the bow as a gift to the ranger.
She was beginning to admit to herself what she felt for Roth, and now that it was a part of her consciousness she was having a hard time controlling it. Thinking about him now sent her heart fluttering, and when he looked at her she blushed uncontrollably. They had been constant companions of like minds and hearts on this journey from the beginning, and she would follow Roth in any situation. The special instances she brought to mind included the night they spent camping alone outside Ano Liosia, and the day and part of the night in the Temple of Pharast that they spent in the garden relaxing, and planning out the next leg of their journey in Roth's room. They were both instances of companionship and friendship, but she hoped that maybe Roth was starting to feel the same, she just needed a way to show him how she felt.
28th of Calistril: Lo's 19th Birthday
As the work of the day ends, the group and much of the crew make their way to the crew's quarters to play cards and have some beers to enjoy the evening. What they find when they enter the common area is Lo, already tipsy from a few drinks, sitting in a corner playing his lute while wearing nothing but his breeches, the captain's hat, his rich yellow eyebrows, and a grin.
When he sees some of the crew enter, he greets them with a, "Oh hey guys! I've already pre-gamed a bit *hiccup* but it's my 19th birthday and I'm celebrating in style. Join me for a few beers and I'll play for ya!"
The group and crew smiles at the thought of entertainment for the night, and the celebration of their amorous compatriot. They all grab themselves a round, toasting to the health of the bard. Ellete takes on the task of performing with enthusiasm, and dances in air to Lo's melodies while taking swigs of beer from a thimble at various intervals. She occasionally stands on his head to join him in the tune as well, playing her flute with such tenacity that they can see her tiny chest heaving from the effort.
When Lo decides to take a break from performing, a game of poker amongst the crew and some of the group forms. Seeing that most of the group and crew have already had a few drinks, everyone agrees to play for clothing, rather than money. The group starts to ante up, and those that are not completely drunk or modest are weeded out from the drunks and exhibitionists. The participating crew members include the half-elf twins Arhana and Delqwyn, and the dwarf Ridda. Mastodon is still up for drinks but not cards, so he takes up a seat at a nearby table to watch the fun.
Tarian starts to enthusiastically shuffle the cards with a grin, and Myne hesitantly joins the table saying, "I don't know how to play but if someone will teach me…"
Poppet, despite some begging and pleading from the table says, "It's tempting but I think I'm done for the night."
As she says this Ellete proclaims that she is in for the game, and waves a good night to Poppet. Considering that the little azata is only wearing a scrap of clothing as a skirt, Poppet anticipates a short night for her. She blows a happy birthday kiss at Lo, and makes her exit. Alex and Roth had been quietly enjoying the company and entertainment as well, but in a much tamer fashion with far fewer drinks. At the mention of cards, they too begin to take their leave, but as the women look around and realize there are only two men at the table, they beg and plead for the two to stay for the game.
The twins shout out to Alex, "Let's see what the holy has given you!" but Alex firmly and gracefully declines.
Roth is quieter about it, simply smiling and giving the table a wave good night, his eyes lingering slightly on the begging Myne, and both he and Alex wish Lo a happy birthday as they follow Poppet out.
Despite her best efforts and the help of others teaching her the game, Myne is out first when she runs out of all her clothing save her stone choker and her shirt with the sleeves cut off that barely covers her bottom. She gathers up her lost clothing, and gives a tipsy bow to Lo (unintentionally giving him a little show), and leaves the others to finish the game. Lo, having started without much clothing, is quickly reduced to nothing despite having rather good bluffing skills. He exudes absolute self-confidence as he fully displays himself to those that are still conscious participants of the revelry. The twins have also been reduced to nothing at approximately the same time, and given the number of drinks that have been consumed, so have their inhibitions.
Lo sees an opportunity and says with his best come-hither eyes and a deep purr like a large cat on the prowl, "Well ladies, we regrettably seem to be out of this match, how about we leave this party and finish off the night a bit more privately?"
The twins give each other and Lo an appraising once-over, and in unison they nod in agreement. The rest of the strip poker players give Lo cheers and whistles as he strolls out of the common area with one half-elf on each arm. Mastodon is shaking with laughter from the spectacle, and all that remains of the players is Ellete, Tarian, and Ridda. The rest of the game spins out of control as Tarian is caught cheating by Ridda. She jumps over the table in nothing but her panties and tackles the rogue, giving him a firm punch in the kidney before it devolves into a make-out session on the floor. Ellete declares herself the winner, being the only person still conscious and clothed at the table, with Mastodon being her only 'living' witness. The little azata had not lost one hand, which was a good thing since she had only one piece of clothing on.
Lo and the half-elves make their way up to the deck, trying to find a spot of semi-privacy, considering the tight and rather public sleeping quarters for the crew. Lo takes a bleary-eyed peek at the helm, and sees the curvy figure of Sasha Morningglade, an elven sailor that Lo had given a few rakish smiles to before this evening.
She seemed rather receptive to him despite the fact that he had not closed the deal with her, and he grins as he thinks, Well I can only do so much in six days…
He guides the twins towards the helm with a few kisses and caresses along the way, and they giggle and happily reciprocate.
He turns to them, and with a head nod in the direction of Sasha says, "You mind if we try to grab a fourth?"
The twins take the lead from him, and Arhana says with a smile, "Oh Sasha is game, we've played with her before. It gets lonely on night helm."
At this remark, it is Lo's turn to giggle like a giddy schoolgirl as the threesome make their way to the helm.
Sasha sees them approach with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, and when they are within reach of her Delqwyn gives Sasha a smile and says, "We've brought a third for tonight; it's his birthday. You bored?"
Lo barely makes it off the helm in one piece. The elves kept him on his toes, and he shakily makes his way back to his quarters to finally get some rest as the purple pre-dawn light creeps across the sky. His wrists hurt from where the girls had tied him to the wheel, and he was pretty sure he was going to have a few lasting marks from love bites.
He collapses on the bunk in a sweaty heap, grinning himself to sleep as he thinks, Happy birthday to me...now I just have to get that hottie drow on night crow's nest in my lap...mmmm Kelfein.
2nd of Pharast: The Element of Air Catches Up
Gifts on Calm Seas
The sun begins to set on another uneventful day at sea, and soon night would envelop the ship. Tarian had taken to climbing for exercise and entertainment, and is currently enjoying the view and the company of Delqwyn in the crow's nest. Alex meanders around the ship in simple travel clothes, keeping his eyes out for the ship and crew's well-being. Lo is in the galley playing music with Ellete and having a couple beers. Mastodon is also in the galley enjoying both the music and the beers, still refusing to remove his full armor.
Roth heads out to the bow of the ship, enjoying the view and letting his senses take over: he listens to the waves crash against the bow, smells the salt in the air, and feels the wet spray on his face. It is a sensation that he is still not accustomed to, but he takes every opportunity to log the senses into his memory. Myne, seeing his silhouette on the bow alone, decides to take advantage of the opportunity, and takes a deep breath before approaching the elf with the longbow in hand. She gives a little cough to alert Roth to her approach, and he turns away from the sea to watch her come towards him. She smiles when he turns to her, and begins to blush under his gaze.
When she reaches his side, she says, "Hi Roth, it's a nice night. I…I have something I want to give to you."
She presents the beautiful longbow to him, and tells him of its magical properties that Poppet assessed it to have as he accepts and examines the gift.
The blush that started at her cheeks creeps down her neck as she says, "I hope you like it… I found it on the forest drake that I killed in Kassen. It has lovely engravings of leaves, and I would really like you to have it."
Roth smiles at Myne, holding the new longbow with care and says, "Myne, thank you. This is a wonderful gift."
As he looks at her, he seems to want to say more, but a flash of light off the bow pulls his attention away from her. In the distance, they see strikes of lightning. Myne looks at the number of strikes, and the way the waves begin to push against the ship, and knows that they are about to be caught up in a violent storm.
The Storm Approaches
Up in the crow's nest, Tarian watches as the wind whips the flag around, and Delqwyn shouts down to the first mate Pythos, who rushes below deck to alert the captain of the approaching storm. She rushes up to the deck, and looks out at the flashes of lightning and surge of water.
She shouts to her crew, "It's coming for us, we can't avoid it! Bring up the sails and prepare for a storm!"
The crew jumps into action in order to prepare the ship for the onslaught. Roth rushes off the bow and Tarian climbs down from the crow's nest to help finish off the ropes with the crew. Myne drops to her knees to pray to Gozreh, Poppet casts Companion Life Link on Ellete, and Lo brings his uplifting music up to the deck. It occurs to Myne that she does not want Rauros below deck if the storm should take the ship, so she rushes down to bring him up. Along the way, she runs into Alex who is busy securing things in the crew's areas. Upon seeing Myne, he desperately tries to grab hold of her with every intention of locking her away in a room.
He shouts out to her, "Myne, I don't want to lose you like I lost Sara! I want you to stay safe, can you just stay down here?"
She looks at him incredulously and says, "Are you insane, we are needed up there, you're not locking me below deck!"
She breaks free of his grasp, and grabs Rauros from the cargo area. She bypasses Alex again on the way up, and manages to avoid his grasp again.
She shouts at him again, "Stop with the heroics, we don't have time for this!"
By the time Myne comes back up to the deck with Rauros, it has started to rain, and everyone feels the front move in with a gust of wind and approaching lightning.
Fearing being thrown overboard, Poppet ties herself to the mast of the ship for security. The wind is strong, and the waves come crashing against the ship with more ferocity. The ship is being bucked around by the wind and waves, and Captain Kamara has her hands full at the wheel, holding tight to the handles with gritted teeth. Alex appears above deck, sees the captain struggling with the wheel, and rushes to the helm to help her keep the ship turned inward. Alex holds the wheel with the captain, and they strain against the violent force of a huge wave, trying to steer into the wave, but the strength of it is too much for Alex and the captain. The wheel slips out of their grasp, and spins out of their control.
The wave slams against the ship, which tips violently in response. Rauros and Poppet go sliding across the deck, unable to keep their footing. They both slam against the railing, but since Poppet is tied off to the mast she manages to pull herself up. Rauros is not so lucky; his paws slip under the wet deck, and he topples overboard into the violent sea. Seeing the bear go overboard, Alex rushes forward and ties himself off to the mast. He then sprints for the edge of the boat as fast as he can. Lo sees what he is attempting and tries grease the deck with a spell to make him slip, but Alex keeps his balance. Poppet also sees what he is attempting and casts Enlarge Person on him as he jumps the railing. When he lands in the water, he is unprepared for the violence and strength of the waves, and instead of being of any use in the water, he finds himself being simply pulled along by the rope that he had tied himself off to. Meanwhile, Myne shouts to her companion, turns into a giant falcon, and swoops down to find Rauros. Despite the violent winds that pull at her wings, she manages to find Rauros and keep herself airborne. She snatches the bear out of the water while Mastodon and Roth pull Alex up by the rope. Everyone lands on the deck drenched but safe as the ship rights itself from the wave.
A large crack of lightning splits the sky above the ship, and the immediate thunderclap shakes them. They look up and realize that the main mast has taken the lightning strike, and slowly it rocks and then falls over, slamming into the deck of the ship. Most of the group are able to move out of the way of the mast as it hits the ship, and then avoid the shower of splinters that follows. When the deck opens up underneath the mast where it fell, Alex takes some damage when he falls one floor down. The crew members that were up in the sails are injured from the fall, and there are other members of the crew that are also suffering from the mast's crash to the deck. Delqwyn is badly burned from the strike, and Roth picks her up and takes her below deck. She is alive but injured, and would need treatment when they could get the ship back under control. As Roth rushes below deck to keep her safe, the rest of the group looks up to where the mast was standing, and sees that there is a swirling mass of air moving unlike any naturally occurring breeze or current. Ellete knows that it is an Air Elemental, and shouts this out to the rest of the group: it is a living thing, made of air with no weaknesses and some protection against damage. It looks menacingly around on the deck, and strikes.
Fighting an Element
The air elemental booms out in a language that only Poppet can understand, saying, "Get out of my domain!"
It slams into Poppet, hitting her hard for being made of only air. After recovering from the blow, Poppet tries to speak to the elemental in Oran, but it seems to be unwilling to heed her. She casts Heroism on Rauros, knowing that the bear has been formidable in past fights. Mastodon swings his great sword and lands the first hit while Lo sings the song of his people, granting Courage to the group. Tarian attempts a hit with his rapier that misses while Alex unties himself from the mast to rush below deck and get his sword. Roth scoops up another injured sailor and takes them below deck while Myne shapeshifts into a grizzly bear and Rauros charges forward but misses with all his attacks.
The air elemental focuses on Mastodon, the only person in the group to land an attack thus far. He is battered around by the force of the elemental's blows, and Poppet casts Enlarge Person on Mastodon while Ellete smacks him with a Cure Moderate Wounds. Mastodon hits the elemental with another swing, and Lo summons another air elemental to fight for them. Tarian's rapier misses its mark again, while below deck Alex grabs his sword and shield and rams his helmet on his head (he has no time for the armor). Seeing a couple crew members safe, Roth turns his attention to the air elemental and looses two arrows at it. Myne and Rauros both claw savagely at the elemental doing damage.
Suddenly, the boat rocks violently from an oncoming wave, and Alex is slammed into a wall below deck, and Myne slides across the deck. As she is about to go overboard, she digs her claws into the wood, and manages to hold on. The air elemental hits Mastodon again while Poppet casts Cure Serious Wounds through Ellete, and Ellete in turn attempts a Star-light Blast that misses. Mastodon swings and misses, and his sword slams into the deck, getting stuck in the wood. Lo casts Lesser Confusion, and the air elemental babbles incoherently under the spell. Tarian tries to assess whether there is a way to appease the elemental, but it appears that the only option would be to leave the storm, which would be impossible for the ship in its state. He stabs with his rapier, hitting the elemental while Alex makes it back on deck ready to fight. Roth hits with one arrow while Myne rushes back to the fight and Rauros tears into the elemental.
The boat rocks again, and this time it is Rauros that loses his balance, sliding across the deck and catching himself before going overboard. The air elemental can still only babble incoherently while Poppet casts Mage Armor on the approaching Alex. Mastodon hits the elemental heavily after pulling his sword out of the deck, and Lo looks for something to throw at the elemental. He finds a piece of wood from the mast and chucks it at the elemental, but it misses while his air elemental hits. Tarian, Alex, and Roth all miss their attacks while Myne manages to bite at it.
The air elemental regains its senses and hits Mastodon in a heavy blast of fury, nearly bringing the barbarian to his knees. Poppet heals some of his wounds while Ellete attempts to cast Lesser Confusion on the elemental, which fails. Mastodon swings his sword and lands another heavy hit while Lo casts Slow on the elemental. Tarian and Alex both lands blows, and Roth lands one well-aimed arrow. Myne and Rauros both land one claw and bite the elemental as well.
The air elemental looks ragged, and it seems to be breaking apart in the same way that a storm looks when it has lost all its power. It takes a heavy and desperate swing at Myne while Poppet casts Cure Moderate Wounds on Mastodon. Mastodon manages to connect a hit on his second swing while Lo chucks another piece of wood at the elemental in desperation. His air elemental and Tarian both miss, while Alex hits with two swings of his sword. Roth hits with another arrow, and the elemental dissipates into nothing.
Despite the elemental being defeated, the storm that it rode in on lasts throughout the night. The rain and wind lash out at the ship, blowing and shifting anything that is not buckled down. It is a restless night, with no sleep for anyone as they fight their way out of the storm.
3rd-12th of Pharast: The Duchess of Wati's Recovery
When morning finally breaks along with the storm, the crew is able to assess the damage of the night before. The crew is exhausted but spend the morning repairing the most heavily-damaged parts of the ship. It is hard manual labor but they succeed in getting water out of the cargo hold, and put a temporary deck over the hole where the mast broke through. The group also spends time healing the wounded and making them as comfortable as possible. Captain Kamara announces to them that with the damage to the main mast, their trip will be delayed by a few days, but that they should still be able to make it to the Harbor of Anessi on the island of Portilla. Once the ship is under way, the crew spends the rest of the day trying to recover their strength for the rest of the voyage. Ellete convinces the captain to allow Rauros to stay on the deck instead of in the cargo area, owing to the bear's tenacity while fighting the elemental, although she still does not give in to allowing the bear into the cabin areas.
The next ten days of travel go by as uneventfully as they can hope, and the weather improves to such an extent that they feel the warmth of summer days. Poppet spends time crafting potions, while Myne succeeds in only burning hers. Myne also spends some time during her day transforming into a gull and flying alongside the ship, relishing the weather and sights while airborne. The main mast is slowly disassembled and the deck is cleaned up as best as they can manage, and they eagerly await their arrival in Portilla to repair the mast and get some well-deserved shore leave.