Mission 1, Denuvo Turn 4 (All Crew)
*CurrentTurn will end
10 PM UTC, 7 October*
ANY POSTS made after that time will have to apply to next turn. (roll dice) The scent of fresh garlic and manure hung over everything. As stealthily as possible,
Argy wrapped the
potion on the captain's table in a
random scroll and pocketed it. (roll dice) After checking that the
small chest could be lifted, she handed it to
Monkey to take up to
Mighty. "Rugs, why so many rugs?"
Argy wondered, as she began lifting them to search for any trapdoor underneath.
Bhrigu quickly followed
Argy down the rope into the
captain's quarters (#5), the air pungent with the garlic grenade's scent. He immediately turned his attention to the
captain's desk. The ink looked normal enough, but he stowed the papers there for perusal later, then went through the drawers as quietly as he could. (roll dice) Locating the
logbook, Bhrigu grabbed it too, then observed a discrepancy in the length of one of the drawers. There was a
hidden cubby behind it. (roll dice) Acting swiftly, but carefully, Bhrigu pulled out the first drawer to reveal the hidden cubby and
pocketed the small mirror and parchment he found there. Turning his attention to the books, he saw
Argy hand a small chest to Monkey and then she started to pull back the rugs. (roll dice) Grabbing a nearby sack,
Bhrigu shoved several of the more interesting
books inside, then went quietly to the table near the door to grab the
two scrolls Argy had left. There was another ordinary looking greenish chest just peeking out from under the table, but so far he had not seen any indication of the hidden chest Polly had sent them for, and the
maps she sought must be outside the cabin in the
navagation room (#2).
Hearing Polly's cry,
Pugwash shifted his attention from the dock to the Ship below. As the first
vampirate sought to top the rail,
Pugwash fired. (roll dice) The bolt hit, but not the heart. Instead it
pinned the vampirate to the rail by his upper arm.
Pugwash swiftly began to reload.
(roll dice)
Aylar had broken out of his momentary daze. Flexing his injured hand he muttered a quiet word of farewell to Larissa and quickly scanned the
officers' quarters (#1) . (roll dice) There were no loose papers or logs, but he did
find two potions, one marked for Healing, and one for Curing. (roll dice) That done
Aylar exited the quarters to find a
vampirate emerging from the stairs right in front of him (near #8) . (roll dice) This one looked slightly different, more human, it reminded him of the female he had studied at the tower. Didn't Polly say something about a half-vamps aboard? Being a half-human himself,
Aylar recognized the blending now, but it was no time for studying. (roll dice)
Aylar's instincts and natural swiftness allowed him to parry the first blow of the
half-vampirate's cutlass aside. (roll dice) As
Aylar parried the half-vampirate's strike wide, his own stroke reversed to cut the
half-vampirate deeply to the hip, crippling the half-vampirate's movements and allowing
Aylar to kick it backwards into the stairway again where it was more contained.
(roll dice)
Kyp quickly moved around
Durik to the
main stairs between the longboats and the main mast. His fingers rapidly
weaving a trap to trip up and contain any reinforcements that might come from below. That done he joined
Durik, preparing to fight.
Count Karnstein glanced over Larissa's ruined body as the necrotic disease ravaged it. It was hardly the time for reflections, he told himself. His eyes searched the deck through the
vampirate captain's ashes. (roll dice) Among the gaudy rings and 'bling' lay
an amulet with the VO symbol, but this one bore a symbol of command and radiated a power of its own, a power the
Count recognized. (roll dice)
Grabbing the amulet, Count Karnstein gracefully slipped through
Kyp's trap, adjusted his cloak and radiated his best imposing noble presense as he stepped on the lower deck. "Hold there!" he said firmly, holding the amulet in plain sight. "You're outnumbered and yer boss is no more! But ye can still come out of it unscathed, ye scurvy dogs just need to do exactly what I tell ye." (roll dice)
Two half-vamps dropped from deck ceiling, where they had been waiting to pounce. Eyes wide at the sight of the
Amulet of Command in the Count's hand, they came to attention. "Aye, Captain!"
(roll dice)
Count Karnstein nodded imperiously and proceeded to command them to put good flush of water into each gun barrel. Then used the hammocks to
securely tie each half-vampirate to the mast pole.
Bellandra was aghast at Larissa's fate, but had to keep going and focus on the ongoing fight. (roll dice) She used her advantage ruthlessly, rotating her joints to
sever the blinded vampirate's head and jump back swiftly (roll dice), but
could not entirely avoid the explosion of ash. Horrified she shook it off and looked at her hands ...
there was nothing. (roll dice) Looking at the deck
Bellandra saw the ash laying upon it, inert, and came to a realization. While she was not immune to the life drain, the ash did not infect her.
The disease worked upon living flesh, not her own. Still considering this realization,
Bellandra quickly went to help
Queen Origi to her feet. (roll dice) She asked the Queen to use the flyer to wipe off her blade, but
Origi was already moving to loot Larissa's body. (roll dice)
Bellandra was going to help
Durik, Kyp and Captain Baldbeard when she was blasted off her feet by another
Cone of Cold. (roll dice) Rolling to her feet, a bit slower than she liked,
Bellandra saw the
vampirate Mage standing just outside the doorway to the stern castle
Queen Origi had previously opened.
The
vampirate First Officer, the Mage Polly had warned them of, glared at
Bellandra, then saw
Durik, Kyp and Captain Baldbeard with the Shadows behind her. Lifting his hands, the mage began to chant.
Grog'tial swiftly realized the precarious situation he may be in as Polly called a warning about repelling boarders. He crouched down and moved backward to present the smallest possible hit target to the
deck watcher as
Bellandra engaged it. However, not wishing to squander the positive impression he's made on the Admir'l,
Grog'tial scanned the railing and deck for the boarders.
Pugwash's bolt shot past,
pinning the first boarder to the railing by it's upper arm. (roll dice)
Grog'tial saw it bleeding, but there was no open heart shot. (roll dice) The
second boarder suddenly scrambled on all fours like some insane bug over the railing to land on the deck.
Grog'tial aimed a stake-bolt and shot (roll dice) but the humanish looking vampirate shifted at the last minute and
Grog'tial's bolt hit the back of the neck instead, knocking it flat to the deck.
Seeing the
Shadows rising from around the longboats (#9),
Durik put down the cannonball and grabbed one of the wooden rods used to operate the cannons. (roll dice) Wrapping a bandage around the fleece top used to light off the cannons, he quickly
improvised a torch and lit it with one of the matches he carried. (roll dice)
Durik waved the torch at the
Shadows, and was satisfied to see them
retreat from the flame, but only temporarily as the
Shadows began to shift and spread out.
(roll dice)
Captain Baldbeard moved to join
Durik, glad to see the torch idea seemed to keep the
Shadows at bay, but it only worked on one at a time, and
more Shadows were rising and moving to encircle them and Kyp. He counted five now. (roll dice)
Captain Baldbeard was about to motion
Durik and Kyp back towards the captain's cabin behind them when
a cold wind came at them from behind. (roll dice)
Baldbeard spun around in time to see
Bellandra rolling back to her feet as his nose picked up the scent of cold magic and the
vampirate mage now facing them all
just outside the doorway and beginning to chant. The small group had been just outside the range of the blast, but whatever that mage had in mind,
Captain Baldbeard was not going to be caught between the frostbite of the
Shadows and the cold magic of that
mage without reinforcements. (roll dice) Bringing the harmonica swiftly to his lips,
Captain Baldbeard called the pack.
Five spectral sharks came to the call, and while normal weapons of non-magical nature might not touch the
Shadows, the phantasmal sharks were not in any way normal. (roll dice) The
pack tore into the Shadows, savaging them while gaining energy from feeding upon the Shadows own natures. A frenzy ensued, but at least the sharks were
keeping the Shadows from Captain Baldbeard, Durik and Kyp for the moment.
(to be continued below)