There it was an underwater town of some kind at the coast of Torath Ka! That calls for some serious diving and treasure hunting action. But, first there is a surprise and second not as we hoped.
After Krastus gave us some bubbly bobble to breath in the water we explored this fascinating and well preserved little town with houses, fountain and church.
This was really a nice little village. The houses well preserved and full of zombies!
Okay, we really need to get a bit more money and get out of the adventuring business.
You know it's time to settle down on a nice farm when a dragon jumps you while killing zombies. And I hate dragons, big noisy creatures, all scaly and hot water breathing, Seriously, they are really creepy. What is a dragon doing with houses full of undead zombies?
Anyway, we had enough on our hands with these really slow but tough zombies when the dragon did burst out the whole front of the little church to protect his zombie friends.
It was more like a cat plays with mouse before it eats the mouse.
I don't know what happened next but I saw Krastus drinking some kind of potion and the next moment there is a small chinese girl standing there trying to kill a dragon!
We need a cannon or some more luck!
Carlton did the trick and blinded the dragon so we could reach our ship, but the dragon was out of the water faster then we expected.
Back on the ship there was no dragon, very suspicious! We went to a search throughout the whole ship. and finally found a corpse of a shipguard in a barrel. So that is where the dragon did go. It shapeshifted. A loud shriek as of ripping metal brought us to the capt'ns cabin. So it was after the gold!
When confronted, the appearend guard shifted back to the real dragon and the fight was on again.
I went to the middle deck and rallied some of our crew to turn a cannon to face the dragon, sadly to late. Carlton fired a real good and true shot at the head of the beast and killed it fast.
Tending the wounded was more Helenes interest, while everybody wondered about Krastus magnificent transformation into a young girl.
Plundering the dragons hoard revealed some interesting items there. We will see what we can make of it.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Hélène: Not just a legend
Later that day Carlton, our outlook in the crow's nest, informed us that he had spotted a structure, a good distance off the coast, that looked like a partially submerged church belltower. The Captain decided to investigate, and as we approached, we could see further structures on the bottom of the sea. The ship was anchored carefully, and, courtesy of Master Krastus, each of us was encased by in a mystical bubble of protective air as we dove down.
Indeed, there was a whole small village below there, a small settlement, its architecture vaguely European, and unlike anything I had previously seen in Caribdus. We descended into the main square and picked to first investigate the cottage opposite the dark and foreboding church. There was a plaque attached near the door, with what seemed to be a name engraved in Latin script, the name of a Bohemian family perhaps.
The Captain ordered the door opened, and Master Krastus went to work rather unsubtly, with his large hammer. The bashing sounds resonated deeply across the village square. Before long, the door gave way, but as we found out, the cottage was not deserted at all. Instead, alarmed by the noise, two of the inhabitants, or what was left of them, sallied out, bloated but otherwise intact human corpses animated by some foul magic. The Archmage and the others faced the undead outside the door, blocking their onslaught. I was tempted to peer into a side window, in order to see whether there were more of these shapes inside, and indeed there were, and they were no less creative than me, as they had been tried to climb out the window to flank us. Now I was their first target, and I found myself quickly flanked by two of the fiends.
The whole scene was reminiscent of our first undersea ruin dive, up to this very point, for things were to change drastically. With a deafening noise, a giant creature emerged from the church. Far too large for the church gate, it cleft through, collapsing part of the facade on its way. And there it was, a colossal scaled horror, with four muscular clawed legs, a tail several paces long by itself, and a head with a fierce, toothy maw set on an elongated neck. It shook off debris as it straightened up on the village square, then turned towards us, and out of its mouth, spewed a jet of scalding steam at us. What had just been mere legends at home had become bitter reality: we were facing a dragon.
My friends immediately became aware that, while unnaturally resilient, the undead were no longer the main threat, and one by one, they turned to face the beast. They had not taken their gunpowder weapons underwater, and so they had to resort to close quarters combat, and they tried to take the dragon from all sides. How their efforts went, I could only estimate, as there were now three undead Bohemians surrounding me, and between keeping them engaged and trying to survive myself, I was quite occupied.
Mere moments seemed like eons to me, and while my comrades had been able to survive the dragon's attacks so far, they had been unable to harm the well-armoured beast, while I was still outnumbered with no relief to expect. Then, I heard the Captain order us to retreat to the surface, and out of the corner of their eye, I saw the shapes of my friends moving upwards, one by one, suddenly overtaken by a much larger, faster shape that blotted out the sun for an instant. I tried to follow, leaving the undead below me, finally reached the surface and looked around.
I spotted the heads of several humans above the waterline, but our Archmage's familiar shape was missing. The dragon, that had risen much faster and must have emerged from the water somewhat earlier than us, was nowhere to be seen, and our ship drifted idly among the shallow waves, seemingly oblivious. We swam towards the ship, climbed onboard and, greeted by the single watchman on deck, looked around.
At this point I realised that there had been one swimmer too many, a delicate young lady of Far Eastern provenance, quite a striking sight as she stood there in the nude, clutching a familiar, yet oddly oversized warhammer. The others indicated that this was who our Archmage had transformed himself into. This was unexpected, and if he was just aiming to outclass me in yet another area, I had to give him credit for that. Or had this been the work of the wyrm? The dragons of legend are said to prefer virgins, and with those being in short supply on the seabed, had they resolved to manufacturing them? At any rate, to me, she was much easier on the eyes than the previous crustacean.
Master Krastus, however, appeared dissatisfied with his condition. It turned out he had imbibed a magical potion he had obtained in the compound in Daiking, assuming as it was well-hidden and obviously valuable, it must contain some useful power. Some power indeed! I had not thought such a thing was possible, and was wondering how lasting and thorough the effects were, for what purpose they had been made, and how one could procure such a potion.
At this point I spotted a conspicuous patch of fresh blood on deck, bringing my thoughts back to the prime threat. If the dragon had come out of the water, the watchman had to have seen it. Yet he maintained a calm demeanour, denied that there had been anything out of the ordinary, and did not know where the puddle of blood came from. This seemed so grotesque that to me, the only logical explanation was that this man was the dragon in disguise!
I started questioning the man about the preceding days, the mutiny in particular, in order to confirm his identity. He acted confused and quickly got defensive, giving only evasive, non-committed answers. My friends didn't seem to share my sentiment, and especially Carlton helpfully supported the watchman, prompting him whenever he wouldn't answer immediately, and thus I was getting nowhere. The Captain noticed that, and in order to stop this ignoble spectacle, sent me downstairs to fetch some clothing to lend our Archmage. I didn't have much to part with, but I could provide one of my favourite tunics.
With our Archmage covered up, things returned to normal, and I tended to the Captain, who had been injured by the dragon. After that the usual preparations were done on deck, when suddenly Carlton became agitated as he had made a gruesome discovery. He had found the body of the watchman, which, badly mauled, had been crammed into a barrel on deck. This confirmed my suspicions, and as we hustled to find the "other" watchman, we heard a suspicious noise from the Captain's cabin. There he was, standing in front of the ship's locker which he had obviously broken apart with superhuman force, with the coffer containing most of our ship's money in hand.
The Captain ordered the man to desist and surrender, and he reacted by transforming back into the giant beast, which then spread its wings and prepared to break through the side wall. Reacting quickly, Carlton shot at it with a musket, and managed to inflict a visible wound. This enraged the beast, that turned to charge at us instead. I dove to the side, as the beast dropped the coffer and crashed out onto the main deck, hunting after Carlton. The Captain challenged the beast with a rather mediocre insult, and it simply lunged at him, mauling him terribly, while the warhammer girl flung bolts of fire at it, that it shrugged off with little effort.
The beast then turned to Sira who had been preparing a cannon against the beast, but just as it reached her, another of Carlton's musket shots pierced the air, and this one struck true, hitting the beast square in the back of the head. The dragon lurched uncoordinatedly for a moment and then collapsed on deck as an inert heap of scaly flesh. Once more, Grandpa had saved the day. I rushed towards the Captain, who had grave injuries, especially in the face, but was still alive, and fortunately reacted well to my healing magic.
Later that day, I had the questionable pleasure to direct the dissection of the beast, preparing its skull to mount as a figurehead, as some of my friends insisted. They, in the mean time, made another delve into the Bohemian village, looking for the riches the greedy reptile had accumulated in its lair. And indeed, when they came back to the ship, they had recovered a load of gold coins and other assorted treasure, two well-made sets of flexible armour, an arcane tome, an ornate ring, and a shimmering sidearm matching the Captain's blade.
Indeed, there was a whole small village below there, a small settlement, its architecture vaguely European, and unlike anything I had previously seen in Caribdus. We descended into the main square and picked to first investigate the cottage opposite the dark and foreboding church. There was a plaque attached near the door, with what seemed to be a name engraved in Latin script, the name of a Bohemian family perhaps.
The Captain ordered the door opened, and Master Krastus went to work rather unsubtly, with his large hammer. The bashing sounds resonated deeply across the village square. Before long, the door gave way, but as we found out, the cottage was not deserted at all. Instead, alarmed by the noise, two of the inhabitants, or what was left of them, sallied out, bloated but otherwise intact human corpses animated by some foul magic. The Archmage and the others faced the undead outside the door, blocking their onslaught. I was tempted to peer into a side window, in order to see whether there were more of these shapes inside, and indeed there were, and they were no less creative than me, as they had been tried to climb out the window to flank us. Now I was their first target, and I found myself quickly flanked by two of the fiends.
The whole scene was reminiscent of our first undersea ruin dive, up to this very point, for things were to change drastically. With a deafening noise, a giant creature emerged from the church. Far too large for the church gate, it cleft through, collapsing part of the facade on its way. And there it was, a colossal scaled horror, with four muscular clawed legs, a tail several paces long by itself, and a head with a fierce, toothy maw set on an elongated neck. It shook off debris as it straightened up on the village square, then turned towards us, and out of its mouth, spewed a jet of scalding steam at us. What had just been mere legends at home had become bitter reality: we were facing a dragon.
My friends immediately became aware that, while unnaturally resilient, the undead were no longer the main threat, and one by one, they turned to face the beast. They had not taken their gunpowder weapons underwater, and so they had to resort to close quarters combat, and they tried to take the dragon from all sides. How their efforts went, I could only estimate, as there were now three undead Bohemians surrounding me, and between keeping them engaged and trying to survive myself, I was quite occupied.
Mere moments seemed like eons to me, and while my comrades had been able to survive the dragon's attacks so far, they had been unable to harm the well-armoured beast, while I was still outnumbered with no relief to expect. Then, I heard the Captain order us to retreat to the surface, and out of the corner of their eye, I saw the shapes of my friends moving upwards, one by one, suddenly overtaken by a much larger, faster shape that blotted out the sun for an instant. I tried to follow, leaving the undead below me, finally reached the surface and looked around.
I spotted the heads of several humans above the waterline, but our Archmage's familiar shape was missing. The dragon, that had risen much faster and must have emerged from the water somewhat earlier than us, was nowhere to be seen, and our ship drifted idly among the shallow waves, seemingly oblivious. We swam towards the ship, climbed onboard and, greeted by the single watchman on deck, looked around.
At this point I realised that there had been one swimmer too many, a delicate young lady of Far Eastern provenance, quite a striking sight as she stood there in the nude, clutching a familiar, yet oddly oversized warhammer. The others indicated that this was who our Archmage had transformed himself into. This was unexpected, and if he was just aiming to outclass me in yet another area, I had to give him credit for that. Or had this been the work of the wyrm? The dragons of legend are said to prefer virgins, and with those being in short supply on the seabed, had they resolved to manufacturing them? At any rate, to me, she was much easier on the eyes than the previous crustacean.
Master Krastus, however, appeared dissatisfied with his condition. It turned out he had imbibed a magical potion he had obtained in the compound in Daiking, assuming as it was well-hidden and obviously valuable, it must contain some useful power. Some power indeed! I had not thought such a thing was possible, and was wondering how lasting and thorough the effects were, for what purpose they had been made, and how one could procure such a potion.
At this point I spotted a conspicuous patch of fresh blood on deck, bringing my thoughts back to the prime threat. If the dragon had come out of the water, the watchman had to have seen it. Yet he maintained a calm demeanour, denied that there had been anything out of the ordinary, and did not know where the puddle of blood came from. This seemed so grotesque that to me, the only logical explanation was that this man was the dragon in disguise!
I started questioning the man about the preceding days, the mutiny in particular, in order to confirm his identity. He acted confused and quickly got defensive, giving only evasive, non-committed answers. My friends didn't seem to share my sentiment, and especially Carlton helpfully supported the watchman, prompting him whenever he wouldn't answer immediately, and thus I was getting nowhere. The Captain noticed that, and in order to stop this ignoble spectacle, sent me downstairs to fetch some clothing to lend our Archmage. I didn't have much to part with, but I could provide one of my favourite tunics.
With our Archmage covered up, things returned to normal, and I tended to the Captain, who had been injured by the dragon. After that the usual preparations were done on deck, when suddenly Carlton became agitated as he had made a gruesome discovery. He had found the body of the watchman, which, badly mauled, had been crammed into a barrel on deck. This confirmed my suspicions, and as we hustled to find the "other" watchman, we heard a suspicious noise from the Captain's cabin. There he was, standing in front of the ship's locker which he had obviously broken apart with superhuman force, with the coffer containing most of our ship's money in hand.
The Captain ordered the man to desist and surrender, and he reacted by transforming back into the giant beast, which then spread its wings and prepared to break through the side wall. Reacting quickly, Carlton shot at it with a musket, and managed to inflict a visible wound. This enraged the beast, that turned to charge at us instead. I dove to the side, as the beast dropped the coffer and crashed out onto the main deck, hunting after Carlton. The Captain challenged the beast with a rather mediocre insult, and it simply lunged at him, mauling him terribly, while the warhammer girl flung bolts of fire at it, that it shrugged off with little effort.
The beast then turned to Sira who had been preparing a cannon against the beast, but just as it reached her, another of Carlton's musket shots pierced the air, and this one struck true, hitting the beast square in the back of the head. The dragon lurched uncoordinatedly for a moment and then collapsed on deck as an inert heap of scaly flesh. Once more, Grandpa had saved the day. I rushed towards the Captain, who had grave injuries, especially in the face, but was still alive, and fortunately reacted well to my healing magic.
Later that day, I had the questionable pleasure to direct the dissection of the beast, preparing its skull to mount as a figurehead, as some of my friends insisted. They, in the mean time, made another delve into the Bohemian village, looking for the riches the greedy reptile had accumulated in its lair. And indeed, when they came back to the ship, they had recovered a load of gold coins and other assorted treasure, two well-made sets of flexible armour, an arcane tome, an ornate ring, and a shimmering sidearm matching the Captain's blade.
Krastus - A lack of deceny
I. Hate. Humans.
All of them.
Stupid pink-ish idiots.
Really.
Who stores a potion in their secret hiding spot that does this? Which fardling moron would want this? Who would make this? Weird perversions of magic - if ever I'm back in that town I'm finding these people and murdering each of them. Possibly by tearing off their limbs.
What happened you ask? Well, that is simple. We went down to some ruins. I carefully picked the door open - using a hammer. Then as we battled the resultant zombies - why do they all hang out down here? - a dragon appeared. A blasted underwater dragon. A sea dragon. How is this a fair first test for an archmage? I tried to get some distance so I could assess the situation - the captain tried to engage but he was unfortunately rather woeful.
A pity, he is a good captain and I am fond of him in many ways, but as a fighter? Oh dear. He takes it like the Rebecca did.
Anyway, I managed to stun the dragon through my use of magic, and Helene tried to help too - I have growing suspicions that she isn't actually a magic user at all. Just some kind of prankster. Still, she hasn't tried to touch anything on my head.
ANYWAY
We fled in the end, as even I could not match this beast under water. We headed up and I tried to save us using this weird potion I'd been saving - hoping it might at least replenish my power points.
It didn't save us.
Not at all.
It turned me into a human girl.
Useless.
Anyway, we finally found the beast on our ship - disguised as a crewman - and we all subdued it while carlton shot it to death. All that is very exciting and the looting - really? The captain intends to keep both magical artifacts? I should clearly be demanding my wages or some share of the loot with a louder voice, I've got very little from this journey! But that is beside the point.
I am quickly studying my magic texts to learn how best to counter magic - I need to end this before the human frailties get me killed. Stupid fleshy uselessnesses.
All of them.
Stupid pink-ish idiots.
Really.
Who stores a potion in their secret hiding spot that does this? Which fardling moron would want this? Who would make this? Weird perversions of magic - if ever I'm back in that town I'm finding these people and murdering each of them. Possibly by tearing off their limbs.
What happened you ask? Well, that is simple. We went down to some ruins. I carefully picked the door open - using a hammer. Then as we battled the resultant zombies - why do they all hang out down here? - a dragon appeared. A blasted underwater dragon. A sea dragon. How is this a fair first test for an archmage? I tried to get some distance so I could assess the situation - the captain tried to engage but he was unfortunately rather woeful.
A pity, he is a good captain and I am fond of him in many ways, but as a fighter? Oh dear. He takes it like the Rebecca did.
Anyway, I managed to stun the dragon through my use of magic, and Helene tried to help too - I have growing suspicions that she isn't actually a magic user at all. Just some kind of prankster. Still, she hasn't tried to touch anything on my head.
ANYWAY
We fled in the end, as even I could not match this beast under water. We headed up and I tried to save us using this weird potion I'd been saving - hoping it might at least replenish my power points.
It didn't save us.
Not at all.
It turned me into a human girl.
Useless.
Anyway, we finally found the beast on our ship - disguised as a crewman - and we all subdued it while carlton shot it to death. All that is very exciting and the looting - really? The captain intends to keep both magical artifacts? I should clearly be demanding my wages or some share of the loot with a louder voice, I've got very little from this journey! But that is beside the point.
I am quickly studying my magic texts to learn how best to counter magic - I need to end this before the human frailties get me killed. Stupid fleshy uselessnesses.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Carlton Grey and the Dangers of Destroying Dragon Houses
After the
whole disappointing shadow fight I was really excited when I spotted another
sunken city. It was sort of fun to visit the previous one, even if the horrid
tentacle-beasts ate some of the crew afterwards. Thankfully the others agreed,
and so we could begin exploring, after Krastus used some magic again, to
prevent us from getting wet, and also from drowning.
It was a little village, with a few neat houses and a church. Sira wanted to explore one of the houses, but the door was locked. We wanted to try a more subtle approach first, but Krastus decided to break the door down. It turned out to be a mistake, since it made the zombie inhabitants really angry. I guess they thought that just because their bodies do not work anymore it’s no reason to have a broken down house as well.
We started
fighting with the zombies, but they could not really hit us, and we could not
really hit them, so it was kind of pointless. This went on for a while, when
suddenly the church burst open, and a huge dragon swam out. I first thought
that it came to help us, and I even thought about asking it’s opinion of my
awesome dragon tattoo.
Sadly, it was just as angry at us as the zombies. Maybe it was some sort of landlord here, and had enough of repairing all the doors that privateers break down. I don’t think it had any right to be mad at us though, since it made an even bigger mess of the church than we did of the zombie house.
Sadly, it was just as angry at us as the zombies. Maybe it was some sort of landlord here, and had enough of repairing all the doors that privateers break down. I don’t think it had any right to be mad at us though, since it made an even bigger mess of the church than we did of the zombie house.
Anyway now we had to fight the dragon as well, which was not easy. The others tried to hit it with things, but it had a quite though hide and they could not really hurt it. The dragon fought really dirty too, and it even changed Krastus into a girl for some reason. I guess it wanted to have some prize in case it wins the fight, and neither Sira nor Héléne were it’s type.
After a
while I thought, that the whole thing would go much better if I had Grandpa
with me, and Sira has her guns as well, so I swam over and tried to distract
the dragon while we escaped. This worked out well, although I had to sacrifice
my beloved coat, which might even have been magical. We started swimming for
the surface, but the dragon must have thought that this is some kind of race,
and swam much faster, leaving us behind.
It was nowhere to be seen when we got to the ship and all we could find was some blood on the deck. Héléne was really suspicious of it, but everyone seemed to be okay. This was so mysterious and confusing, that Cortez even forgot, that he was the captain, and had to ask people.
The others
started to prepare the ship, while I consoled Serene, who was understandably
quite upset about not being able to see the big dragon. Later we did found a
dead crewmember, the same one, who greeted us when we arrived back. It turned
out, that Héléne was right, and the watchman was actually the dragon in
disguise. It tried to steal our money, possibly to pay for the damage we did to
it’s village. I would have been fine with that, but the captain got really
upset, and ordered us to kill it.
I shot it in the head with Grandpa, but it
got me and the captain after that, so we had to defend ourselves. Thankfully
Sira got the cannons ready, and this distracted the dragon enough the leave us
alone, so I could shoot it in the head again and it died.
In the end
everything turned out all right. We could go back to visit the sunken village,
everyone on deck got to see the dragon, we got our treasure back and we even
found some stuff in the dragon’s lair. The only worrying thing is, that Krastus
is still a girl, but at least he has less ways to kill people this way.
Cortez: Now we're fighting dragons
Alright, so when last I wrote, we had just defeated my murderous evil shadow that had a thing for killing children. Obviously that was something that had to go. This time... well... we were looting a sunken village. It was very strange... the village. Very strange. Lots of Zombies that were not that dangerous, but tough. Something about the undead makes them difficult to actually kill.
Then the church exploded. Exploded is the wrong word, actually. Since we were under water and the walls don't, exactly, explode while under. But burst forth with the force of a blue on blue dragon... the dragon was very quick, almost like it was designed for the water. It charged forward and did some sort of... fire breath? Steam bubbles? Not sure, but it didn't bother Helene or myself much.
I charged it, with my magic sword, and kept it distracted for a while. Sira and Krastus actually ran. Carlton made some effort, but without his guns he isn't a great fighter. It seemed we were over matched so we headed for the ship.
Don't ever let anyone tell you Dragons are dumb. This Dragon seemed to guess our plan and broke surface SO much faster than we could even get close. When we surfaced... everything seemed calm. We set about to make the ship ready to sail and Carlton spotted some pooled blood. We then became suspicious of the watchman... who seemed mostly okay, but none of us knew him well enough to make a good test, and my chance to test him whether he knew whether Carlton or I was the captain was spoiled when Carlton asked if I forgot I was the captain...
When we sailed but a little bit, we discovered a gruesome sight. A body was stuffed inside a barrel. The body of the watchman we had become suspicious of. At that moment we heard a terrible sound from my cabin... opening the door we spotted the watchman, his hands full of the safe with our gold and the safe itself ripped to pieces. I ordered Sira to kill the beast... but her shot bounced harmlessly off his skin.
He then transformed into his full size, still clutching the chest and made to leave. But I taunted him and then Carlton got a shot off that actually hurt him! This got his attention. Sira was making ready with a cannon. But I suppose we had no need to ever point a cannon AT the captain's cabin before, so it was taking some amount of time.
I took a swipe at the Dragon, not doing too much but getting its attention. Its claws and jaws sunk into me... or maybe just the claws? I can't remember, for I was overcome with pain and passed out. But when I woke up, Carlton had, apparently, killed the Dragon... and we were richer for it.
I really should invest in some armor, however.
Then the church exploded. Exploded is the wrong word, actually. Since we were under water and the walls don't, exactly, explode while under. But burst forth with the force of a blue on blue dragon... the dragon was very quick, almost like it was designed for the water. It charged forward and did some sort of... fire breath? Steam bubbles? Not sure, but it didn't bother Helene or myself much.
I charged it, with my magic sword, and kept it distracted for a while. Sira and Krastus actually ran. Carlton made some effort, but without his guns he isn't a great fighter. It seemed we were over matched so we headed for the ship.
Don't ever let anyone tell you Dragons are dumb. This Dragon seemed to guess our plan and broke surface SO much faster than we could even get close. When we surfaced... everything seemed calm. We set about to make the ship ready to sail and Carlton spotted some pooled blood. We then became suspicious of the watchman... who seemed mostly okay, but none of us knew him well enough to make a good test, and my chance to test him whether he knew whether Carlton or I was the captain was spoiled when Carlton asked if I forgot I was the captain...
When we sailed but a little bit, we discovered a gruesome sight. A body was stuffed inside a barrel. The body of the watchman we had become suspicious of. At that moment we heard a terrible sound from my cabin... opening the door we spotted the watchman, his hands full of the safe with our gold and the safe itself ripped to pieces. I ordered Sira to kill the beast... but her shot bounced harmlessly off his skin.
He then transformed into his full size, still clutching the chest and made to leave. But I taunted him and then Carlton got a shot off that actually hurt him! This got his attention. Sira was making ready with a cannon. But I suppose we had no need to ever point a cannon AT the captain's cabin before, so it was taking some amount of time.
I took a swipe at the Dragon, not doing too much but getting its attention. Its claws and jaws sunk into me... or maybe just the claws? I can't remember, for I was overcome with pain and passed out. But when I woke up, Carlton had, apparently, killed the Dragon... and we were richer for it.
I really should invest in some armor, however.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Hélène: Chasing shadows
After our victory, the Captain recovered the sword that had been taken from him, while the crew brought aboard the Dawn Raider's provisions and locker, and searched the ship for additional valuables. In the captain's cabin, they recovered an ornate crossbow and an ominous, large box. After everything useful was transferred aboard, the crew discussed how to proceed with the ship itself. Among us, there were too few survivors to split off a prize crew, and we were still in enemy waters, close to Brigandy Bay, so anything that hindered our progress was out of the question. To ensure that the vessel could not be used by pirates again, the Captain decided to have it scuttled. Although I found this to be a terrible waste, the argument was sound, and I did not speak up against it.
After the deed, we continued our south-easterly course, and after a few days of journey, we had reached the island of Torath-Ka and were following its coastline. Upon opening the box, we found that there was a large axe inside, a rather repugnant implement, and after days of storage, it was still wet with blood, continuously dripping off its blade by some malign supernatural force. I was repulsed by this weapon and wary of the reason why such an item had not been used in the preceding battle. At least, the phenomenon indicated that the axe was magical, and the decision was made that Master Krastus would wield it upon confronting the Captain's Shadow.
This confrontation was scheduled for the same day, and as we reached calm waters, the Captain ordered most of the crew below deck. Midships, Sira and I surveyed from a distance as the rest of our officers assembled on the afterdeck, and the Captain proceeded to stab at his own shadow with his sword. In all other contexts, this would have been a rather silly aspect, but two events thoroughly spoiled the mood.
First, the shadow manifested indeed, rising up from its resting position beneath the Captain's feet, but finding itself encircled, it fused with the shadows of the ship's superstructure, and far faster than we anticipated, emerged out of a shadow close to Sira and myself. Meanwhile, our friends could not pursue it as Master Krastus, under the influence of the terrible axe he was wielding, turned towards them and hacked at them mercilessly.
Sira and I did our best to stand our ground, and when had managed to coordinate our defense, the shadow simply retreated again and joined the fray on the quarterdeck. Our Mage, meanwhile, proved just as unstoppable to us as to his previous enemies, until Carlton managed to fire an aimed shot from his trusty musket directly at the axe's blade, which shattered into a myriad of sharp-edged fragments covering the deck. As Master Krastus came to his senses, the shadow retreated by reattaching to the Captain, and the fight was over, for now.
I tended to the wounds, and we spent the rest of the afternoon clearing the aftermath and considering our actions. We would have to prepare better, if we were to try again, but none of these, I reckoned, were a surprise to the Shadow, cast on the cabin's walls, silently listening in. The next morning, I found that while my own sleep had been rather uneventful, several of the crewmembers had been wracked by debilitating nightmares, clearly the work of the Shadow again. Together with his previous loss of control to the axe, especially Master Krastus seemed severely traumatised by the experience. The scurillian, normally a paragon of assertiveness, appeared wary of every single shadow surrounding him, but who could blame him for that after the ordeal?
Still, the Shadow's retreat meant that we had struck a nerve, metaphorically speaking, and the next day, we went ashore to finalise the deed. To prevent the evil phantom from escaping, we needed to provide an area without any shadow, and set up a arena of kindling and black powder on the beach. In the centre, we dug a hole, so that there was exactly one spot for the Shadow to manifest. With all of us inside the circle, we commenced by igniting the wood, and my friends assaulted their target with the magic blade, the newfound crossbow and other implements. After but a heartbeat, the Shadow dissipated with an undescribable sound. Stepping out from the circle, we saw that indeed, the Captain was left with no shadow whatsoever. It appeared the deed was done, but only time could tell if the threat was really over.
After the deed, we continued our south-easterly course, and after a few days of journey, we had reached the island of Torath-Ka and were following its coastline. Upon opening the box, we found that there was a large axe inside, a rather repugnant implement, and after days of storage, it was still wet with blood, continuously dripping off its blade by some malign supernatural force. I was repulsed by this weapon and wary of the reason why such an item had not been used in the preceding battle. At least, the phenomenon indicated that the axe was magical, and the decision was made that Master Krastus would wield it upon confronting the Captain's Shadow.
This confrontation was scheduled for the same day, and as we reached calm waters, the Captain ordered most of the crew below deck. Midships, Sira and I surveyed from a distance as the rest of our officers assembled on the afterdeck, and the Captain proceeded to stab at his own shadow with his sword. In all other contexts, this would have been a rather silly aspect, but two events thoroughly spoiled the mood.
First, the shadow manifested indeed, rising up from its resting position beneath the Captain's feet, but finding itself encircled, it fused with the shadows of the ship's superstructure, and far faster than we anticipated, emerged out of a shadow close to Sira and myself. Meanwhile, our friends could not pursue it as Master Krastus, under the influence of the terrible axe he was wielding, turned towards them and hacked at them mercilessly.
Sira and I did our best to stand our ground, and when had managed to coordinate our defense, the shadow simply retreated again and joined the fray on the quarterdeck. Our Mage, meanwhile, proved just as unstoppable to us as to his previous enemies, until Carlton managed to fire an aimed shot from his trusty musket directly at the axe's blade, which shattered into a myriad of sharp-edged fragments covering the deck. As Master Krastus came to his senses, the shadow retreated by reattaching to the Captain, and the fight was over, for now.
I tended to the wounds, and we spent the rest of the afternoon clearing the aftermath and considering our actions. We would have to prepare better, if we were to try again, but none of these, I reckoned, were a surprise to the Shadow, cast on the cabin's walls, silently listening in. The next morning, I found that while my own sleep had been rather uneventful, several of the crewmembers had been wracked by debilitating nightmares, clearly the work of the Shadow again. Together with his previous loss of control to the axe, especially Master Krastus seemed severely traumatised by the experience. The scurillian, normally a paragon of assertiveness, appeared wary of every single shadow surrounding him, but who could blame him for that after the ordeal?
Still, the Shadow's retreat meant that we had struck a nerve, metaphorically speaking, and the next day, we went ashore to finalise the deed. To prevent the evil phantom from escaping, we needed to provide an area without any shadow, and set up a arena of kindling and black powder on the beach. In the centre, we dug a hole, so that there was exactly one spot for the Shadow to manifest. With all of us inside the circle, we commenced by igniting the wood, and my friends assaulted their target with the magic blade, the newfound crossbow and other implements. After but a heartbeat, the Shadow dissipated with an undescribable sound. Stepping out from the circle, we saw that indeed, the Captain was left with no shadow whatsoever. It appeared the deed was done, but only time could tell if the threat was really over.
Carlton Grey and the Shadow Killing Magical Stuff
With the
magical glow-sword in hand we decided to attack the captain’s shadow. I stayed
close, so I would not miss the giant shadow-monster that emerges when we attack
it. Krastus also wanted to help, so he grabbed the other magic item we found, a
blood dripping axe-thing.
I was not quite convinced that it would be very useful. I mean the shadow is a child-murdering rapist thing, I don’t think that it would be scared of some blood dripping on it.
I was not quite convinced that it would be very useful. I mean the shadow is a child-murdering rapist thing, I don’t think that it would be scared of some blood dripping on it.
We never
found out if I was right or not, because Krastus got angry about the blood or
something like that, and attacked us instead of the shadow. I saw Sira shooting
the axe, so I did the same, and broke it on the second try. Meanwhile the
captain was chasing his shadow around, who was being really annoying, and
Krastus tried to kill him which was also quite annoying. In the end we could
finally pacify Krastus, who got scared of the shadow, and then the shadow tried
to threaten us, and disappeared. All in all it was a quite disappointing
battle, I didn’t even get an opportunity to shoot at the shadow.
I tried to
convince the others to try again, but they did not want to. I was sort of fine
with it, but Serene was really angry. I guess she also wanted to see a gigantic
shadow monster. No wonder we are such a good match!
Anyway after that the crew got angry too about some bad dreams they had and wanted more money. I did not understand the connection, but the captain agreed to their demands in the end. We also agreed to try fighting the shadow again tomorrow.
Anyway after that the crew got angry too about some bad dreams they had and wanted more money. I did not understand the connection, but the captain agreed to their demands in the end. We also agreed to try fighting the shadow again tomorrow.
The next
day we set a cunning trap with a magical crossbow, and magical sword and great
big burning pyres and a beach. Then the shadow just died at the first shot of
the crossbow. It was even more disappointing than the battle on the previous
day. I sort of held out hope, that we would at least see some giant animal
thing while we are waiting for the fire to go down, but we didn’t.
In the end we went back to the ship and continued our journey towards some wizard guy. Also, the captain does not have a shadow anymore, which is sort of weird, but it is still far from the weirdest thing on the ship. I mean, we still have Krastus.
In the end we went back to the ship and continued our journey towards some wizard guy. Also, the captain does not have a shadow anymore, which is sort of weird, but it is still far from the weirdest thing on the ship. I mean, we still have Krastus.
Sira Saran: Where there is much light, the shadow is deep!
Plundering the other ship made up for the fight we had earlier. Not only did we recover the magic sword, we also got a crossbow, a big pile of coins and a very strange axe.
This specific axe seems to be cursed, because when Krastus took it to kill the shadow of our capt'n the axe seemed to take him over and he attacked everyone around.
We tried to get the axe of him, with a murdering shadow attacking us and finally Carlton did shoot the axe into pieces which I collected for later use or disposal.
This quiet dangerous situation behind us we jumped to the plan killing the captains shadow once and for all.
Meanwhile our crew decided that the capt'n was paying to less money for the dangerous job they are doing on the ship. I can't agree more. We lost a lot of good men in the fight.
After some discussion we could make a good argument and the Capt'n agreed to higher payment for the crew.
The plan to kill the shadow got underway and was brought to execution. With a rather astonishing result. Captain Cortez has no real shadow anymore. To some degree this is more then creepy.
I really don't know what we can do against a missing shadow, but we will see where the wind leads us. First we will need a lot more men and a save harbor to do some upgrades. This will go a long way on our money so more loot will be necessary to achieve it and get to hunting down the shadowmen and hunting more pirates.
This specific axe seems to be cursed, because when Krastus took it to kill the shadow of our capt'n the axe seemed to take him over and he attacked everyone around.
We tried to get the axe of him, with a murdering shadow attacking us and finally Carlton did shoot the axe into pieces which I collected for later use or disposal.
This quiet dangerous situation behind us we jumped to the plan killing the captains shadow once and for all.
Meanwhile our crew decided that the capt'n was paying to less money for the dangerous job they are doing on the ship. I can't agree more. We lost a lot of good men in the fight.
After some discussion we could make a good argument and the Capt'n agreed to higher payment for the crew.
The plan to kill the shadow got underway and was brought to execution. With a rather astonishing result. Captain Cortez has no real shadow anymore. To some degree this is more then creepy.
I really don't know what we can do against a missing shadow, but we will see where the wind leads us. First we will need a lot more men and a save harbor to do some upgrades. This will go a long way on our money so more loot will be necessary to achieve it and get to hunting down the shadowmen and hunting more pirates.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Krastus - Momentary Lapse
While looting the Dawn Raider we came across some interesting goods - The Captain got his sword, we found lots of money, a fancy crossbow for Carlton and Sira to fight over and a large blood dripping axe. Very odd. I quite like my warhammer, but the crew thought I should try it, and with the constant blood dripping we figured it might have been some kind of magical.
We lost little time in deciding to take on the Captain's shadow. We gathered on the rear of the ship, me with the axe, the others in safe places and the captain with his sword. He stabbed at the shadow which promptly seemed to writhe in place. So he signalled me to swing with the axe and I did and.....then I found myself holding the splintered heft of the axe, everyone around me looked bloody or winded and the captain was accusing me of attacking him. Clearly silly - though my head was clouded, very confused. Then we were attacked by this strange shadow.
Even now I can remember its cruel evil touch. How will I know when it might come for me? When it might be lurking? Or what else might lurk in those darkest of places? I shall have to be on alert - for the thought alone, I will admit here in private, fills me with dread.
Still, it disappeared and despite my advice to press the attack we continued on to land.
The crew meanwhile decided they wished extra pay, I thought it fair but the captain wished to argue. Still, the rest of the senior crew convinced him and we paid their requirements - as I pointed out, it was only those who had survived this long that wanted it, and the odds of them surviving much longer were relatively slim.
We got onto land and debated what we would do.
And debated.
And pondered.
And finally the captain dug himself a hole and got in it while we created a circle of logs with gunpowder and lamp oil to help them burn. The fire was lit, and I stayed close to it to avoid the shadows while the others attacked the shadow once it emerged. It seems it died quickly - but while everyone celebrates I can't help but wonder what terrible price we will pay later down the road for this.
Also we are debating what to do with the fragments of the enchanted axe. I shall continue to urge Sira to forge them with one of my spare hammers into a new second warhammer - while I work on my resolve. Still, this extra time at sea has allowed me to finish my study, even watching Helene has helped. I now boast mastery over all the elements, and have found balance. I can claim more than most can - I can claim to be an archmage. Though I think I shall be subtle about it for now - I do not want people trying to burn anything down.
We lost little time in deciding to take on the Captain's shadow. We gathered on the rear of the ship, me with the axe, the others in safe places and the captain with his sword. He stabbed at the shadow which promptly seemed to writhe in place. So he signalled me to swing with the axe and I did and.....then I found myself holding the splintered heft of the axe, everyone around me looked bloody or winded and the captain was accusing me of attacking him. Clearly silly - though my head was clouded, very confused. Then we were attacked by this strange shadow.
Even now I can remember its cruel evil touch. How will I know when it might come for me? When it might be lurking? Or what else might lurk in those darkest of places? I shall have to be on alert - for the thought alone, I will admit here in private, fills me with dread.
Still, it disappeared and despite my advice to press the attack we continued on to land.
The crew meanwhile decided they wished extra pay, I thought it fair but the captain wished to argue. Still, the rest of the senior crew convinced him and we paid their requirements - as I pointed out, it was only those who had survived this long that wanted it, and the odds of them surviving much longer were relatively slim.
We got onto land and debated what we would do.
And debated.
And pondered.
And finally the captain dug himself a hole and got in it while we created a circle of logs with gunpowder and lamp oil to help them burn. The fire was lit, and I stayed close to it to avoid the shadows while the others attacked the shadow once it emerged. It seems it died quickly - but while everyone celebrates I can't help but wonder what terrible price we will pay later down the road for this.
Also we are debating what to do with the fragments of the enchanted axe. I shall continue to urge Sira to forge them with one of my spare hammers into a new second warhammer - while I work on my resolve. Still, this extra time at sea has allowed me to finish my study, even watching Helene has helped. I now boast mastery over all the elements, and have found balance. I can claim more than most can - I can claim to be an archmage. Though I think I shall be subtle about it for now - I do not want people trying to burn anything down.
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