The Wrong Guys IC II

[Strawberries]

Audric nods together with Laars "I can't say I have much experiences with boats, either" he says. If you exclude manoeuvreing a small dinghy in the sewers. That has to count for something he thinks, and smiles. "But I can help, too, if you need me."

[Ajadea]

"He said you were going to Diamond Lake." It's not a question. "My price is 4 gold. You bring your own food, you sleep where there's room, and the dog is to remain abovedecks at all times," the dwarf states, ticking off her requirements on her fingers. "We'll stay out of your business and you'll stay out of ours."

[Strawberries]

Audric nods, bowing slightly in acknowledgment. "That shouldn't be a problem." he answers politely "Thank you, ma'am."

[Savannah]

Rana nods silently, apparently feeling that the less attention the brings on herself, the less likely she is to be found out, and pulls a rope from her pack to wind a makeshift collar and leash around Shadow's neck. He gives her a reproachful look but flops down on her feet with a sigh and lets her finish.

[Ajadea]

The boat is large compared to some of the other boats here - at least seventy feet long and about twenty feet wide. Its hull probably was painted red at some point, but most of it is now just the dingy grey of old wood. A rail runs around the deck to keep people and cargo (but mostly cargo) from falling into the river. It has a sail, unlike most of the other boats. A cabin takes up nearly all the deck space behind the mast, though there is just barely enough space for people to walk around the cabin single file.

Boxes and barrels that apparently would not fit in the cabin or below decks take up most of the space in front of the mast. Three long oars lie on each side of the cabin, between its walls and the railing. They are reminiscent of the pole you used to manuever the little boat in the sewers, but they appear to have been intentionally crafted to be ridiculously long.

The crew (seven dwarves (including the one who spoke to you earlier), two halflings, and a human) seems mostly content to ignore you as they scurry around preparing to leave the docks. Few orders are given - everyone seems to know what they should be doing.

These orders do not seem to take in to account any of you. There is barely enough free space for all of you to stand in. Finding a place to put your bedroll is not going to be easy.

[Savannah]

Before boarding, Rana slips away to quietly cast speak with animals and explain the boat ride and the orders to stay on deck to Shadow.

Ajadea, is the roof of the cabin flat? Or at least not incredibly steep? Also, I can't remember, did we have time to sleep/re-prepare spells between deciding to leave and now?

[Strawberries]

As soon as he is onboard, Audric gives a quick look around himself, assessing the situation on the boat. He moves near the dwarwen woman from before, careful to avoid getting in the way of the other sailors doing their job "You mentioned helping with the rowing, didn't you? Where do you need us?"

[Savannah]

Rana and Shadow head up on top of the cabin to keep out of the way.

[Ajadea]

"Nowhere until we get going," the dwarf replies. "Still waiting for a wagon of seed potatoes. You and your friend can row on the starboard with Rorik when we get those loaded."

One of the dwarves, brown as a nut with a braided beard and ponytail just a shade darker, raises a hand and waves briefly before getting back to work. Presumably, that one was Rorik.

There doesn't look to be any room for the seed potatoes anywhere, but no one seems too concerned about this.

[Strawberries]

He smiles and returns Rorik's greeting with a wave of his own "I'll get out of your way, then, for now." he says, and climbs up on the cabin roof, together with Rana. Both to keep out of the way, and to keep near the half-elf, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

[Ajadea]

A couple people at least try to stop and stare at the 'dog' climbing up on to the roof of the cabin. The dwarven woman gets them working again rather soon, however. The seed potatoes arrive, eventually, in sacks. Most go into the cabin, but some are wedged into the front and back ends of the boat, and a couple are lifted up onto the roof with Rana and Shadow when it is clear that there is nowhere else for them to go that would not pose a tripping hazard.

Once that's done, the boat is untied from the docks and you set off. Movement is a little erratic at first, but once you're clear of all the other boats (a state of affairs that takes a surprisingly long time to come about), rowing is relatively boring, though it is physically taxing work. Most of the rowing serves only to avoid a crash with rocks and such.

No river krakens or other such threatening things appear.

Audric and Llaars row until sunset. The water looks almost like blood, in the red half-light. Supper is eaten in shifts of three at a time. Food for the sailors appears to be hard bread, harder cheese, ale, and a cucumber a piece. According to the deal, none of you get any of it.

Once the first shift has eaten, two of the dwarves come over. "We'll take over from here," one of them explains. "Maneuverin' in the dark is hard. Don't need ye scratching up our boat, now. An' I'm sure ye'd appreciate some rest."

(Go forth and RP. Because I have more homework to do )

[Strawberries]

Audric gladly hands the oars over to the dwarf, and gives a smile and a friendly gesture to Llaars "I think it's right about the time to eat something ourselves" he says, motioning the big man up to the cabin roof. He, too, climbs the ladder, sitting down again beside Rana. He opens his backpack, rummages inside it for a couple of seconds, then looks up from it with an embarassed expression "Ah... it seems I have actually forgotten to buy food." He takes out a couple of rusks and dried fruit from his backpack and looks at it distastefully "I still do have a couple of rations that I can share... but I wonder if we can persuade the sailors to sell us something."

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Painfully clutching his arms in a effort to exaggerate his fatigue, Llaars follows Audric upward. With hungry eyes, he anticipates the bounty within Audrics bag only to be presented with disappointment. With a laugh, he smiles at the paladin. "We're not the best at planning, huh? Anybody know how to fish?"

He looks over to Rana with hope.

[Savannah]

Rana rolls her eyes and pulls up a string of fish. (She's totally been fishing all day. Totally...)

Spoiler

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Survival take 10, total 23. Can easily feed everyone.

[Strawberries]

Audric's expression lightens up as Rana pulls out the potential dinner "Good. Fish is..." It takes a moment for him to realize they are on a boat, and cooking anything becomes an issue. "Er...raw fish, apparently. Can't really say I ever tried eating it raw" he adds, cautiously, but without losing his smile.

[Savannah]

"It's kind of chewy, but doesn't taste too bad. Give Shadow anything you don't want."

[Nanoblack]

Laughs

His eyes light up at the sight of Rana's catch. Slightly less so when the concept of eating it raw is presented. "I've eaten worse food that was prepared less. I won't complain." And with that, he takes his portion and prepares to eat.

[Strawberries]

Audric grins at Llaars "You did? Do I want to inquire where?" He takes a fish from Rana and carefully sets to clean it, removing the head and the skin. He tosses the head to Shadow "I wasn't aware wolves ate fish, but here you are. Enjoy." he says to the wolf, then sets to eat his part. He pulls a face at the first bite, but doesn't complain aloud. Serves me right for forgetting a basic thing such as to buy food, I guess.

[Savannah]

Shadow gulps the head down in a single bite, then lies at Audric's feet, staring up and licking his lips.

Rana neatly cleans her own fish and eats swiftly, tossing the scraps to Shadow.

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

He rolls to his side as he picks meat from his meal. "You wouldn't believe it just lookin' at me, but I was enrolled at the Swordsmans College for a time. Basic training is in the woods... they use it to toughen you up and weed out the wussies. I was eatin' grasshoppers and crickets for a day an' a half till I picked the wrong berry and took ill."

A disgusted look draws across his face as he reminisces being poisoned by a bush. "Probly woulda died if some farmboy in my class hadn't known what I'd eaten and gave me some herbs to take care of it." He chuckles lightly. "Went through all o' that just to find out that just to find out that I can't swing a sword to save my life and dropped out. Funny, that." He finishes his story and rolls his eyes as he continues to nibble on the fish.

[Strawberries]

The paladin looks at Shadow "Sorry, I think I am actually hungry enough to finish it." he chuckles. He relents just a few seconds later, however, and slips the wolf another piece of the fish. He likes dogs, under normal circumstances, and even if he is aware a wolf is bound to be a bit different from the average dog he finds it hard to think about Shadow as a wild, dangerous animal. Unthinkingly he stretches out an hand, meaning to scratch the wolf between his ears, but he realizes at the last moment what he is doing and stops short of touching the animal “Ah...sorry” he mumbles. It’s not clear if he is speaking to Rana or the wolf.

When Llaars speaks, he looks amused at his tale "I didn't have to do any of that at the Temple, thank Aldaran" he says, with a bit of a smile in his voice "There was more doctrine and less surviving involved, I guess." He shrugs "I did mess up a lot when I was learning swordplay, I admit. It is not something that came natural to me either. But it is a skill you do have to learn, if you want to take the vows. I got it pretty much drummed into me, in the end." He smiles. From what he's seen of his companion so far, Llaars is more effective with his bare hands than Audric could ever hope to be with a sword, despite all the training.

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

As Audric speaks, Llaars absentmindedly tosses bits of bone off the boat and watches the tiny splashes. "Swordsmanship to take the vows? That only for pally's or the whole priesthood?" He lets his mind process a bit more of what Audric had said. Finally, he sits up and leans forward enough to allow his knuckles to brush the floor. "Hey. Question for ya. They say a mans choice in arms says a lot about him. Why'd you pick the longsword? You don't really look like you enjoy fighting much, I figured you'd have picked something a little less... whats the word... lethal?"

[Strawberries]

"It applies to paladins, mainly. We are the... champions of the priesthood, I guess. The armed branch." He makes a thin smile, but looks perplexed at Llaars'question about weapons "Uhm... I never really thought about that. Aren't weapons lethal pretty much by definition? The longsword is what most of us use, anyway. And..." he seems to have remembered something and smiles "And well, now that I think about it, Jarret dared me to. I seem to remember the words "spineless coward" were involved, somewhere."

[Ajadea]

(Sorry about the delay folks! Should be worth it though)

After the meal of raw fish from a river that trash and other waste is dumped into on a regular basis, you fall asleep on the roof of the boat, surrounded by potatoes. Sleep doesn't last long- you are awakened around dawn by the sounds of footsteps and cursing. A sliver of pinkish clouds to the east is the only sign that it is not, in fact, the middle of the night.

"You two! Get down here! It's a bit rocky in these parts an' we don't need ta gut the ship on somethin!"

Spoiler

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Strength Check or Profession Sailor. Roll 2.

[Strawberries]

Audric awakes slowly, and it takes a couple of moments for him to realize exactly where he is and what he is doing: he was dreaming, oddly enough, of following a tiny path in a field full of yellow flowers. He concentrates to wake up properly and gets himself down on deck, where apparently he is needed.

"What do you need us to do?" he asks, but he is already looking around, trying to figure out what he can do, and moving to help the crew with whatever he can.

Spoiler

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If I can do profession sailor, I will (yay for wis +3!). It is an untrained skill for me, but since you offer....

profession sailor - (1d20+3)[5]
profession sailor - (1d20+3)[10]
(to turn those into a STR check, just subtract 2)

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Waking up to the call to arms, Llaars wastes no time jumping down to the deck. There, he looks around for anyone who might be struggling with something requiring a little muscle, whether it be pulling a rope taut or holding cargo steady.

Spoiler

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Strength checks galore!
(1d20+3)[22]
(1d20+3)[4]

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Waking up to the call to arms, Llaars wastes no time jumping down to the deck. There, he looks around for anyone who might be struggling with something requiring a little muscle, whether it be pulling a rope taut or holding cargo steady.

Spoiler

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Strength checks galore!
(1d20+3)[13]
(1d20+3)[21]

[Ajadea]

Maybe it's exhaustion. Maybe it's the fact none of you can see what you're doing. The dwarves haven't bothered to supply any light, that's for certain, and the overcast sky isn't doing you any favors. But explanations sure as heck don't patch boats. And the boat seems to have run into something...

The dwarven woman grimaces as shudders wrack the boat. "Everyone ta the starboard an' push off from the rocks!" she yells. You don't see any rocks, but the ship had to have caught on something...

"Don't remember this part," one of the sailors grumbles. "Shut yer trap and row!" another snaps. "One! Two! Three!"

Strength checks please?

[Strawberries]

Audric suppresses a swearword, running to the starboard together with the others, and trying to mimic what he sees the others do. I have to assume they know what they're doing. Or at least, I hope.. He squints down at the water, trying to see what the obstacle is.

Spoiler

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strenght - (1d20+1)[14]
Also, [roll=spot]1d20+3[roll]. Let's see if he can see something Edit: gah. I'll post again OOC.
((Sorry for the delayed answer, I've been very sick. So if this post doesn't make senseI blame the fever. ))

[Ajadea]

Audric

Spoiler

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It looks like a series of almost-identical ridges and spikes in a neat rectangular shape has caught the ship. Suffice it to say, that's not a natural piece of work.

A few sharp jabs with the poles seems to dislodge the boat. Unfortunately, the second round of cracking sounds and the fact the boat is noticeably listing towards the starboard side would seem to suggest that you're not out of the metaphorical woods yet.

"Someone get down there and see if it's leakin'!" the dwarven woman bellows.