Around the Planes in 80 Days

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It seems that Aemaria was not exaggerating the devestating nature of the Voidbringer's weapons. Combined with the boost from the scroll of cloudburst, they wrought destruction on the Hand of Judgement as it approached. Many crew members fell when they drew close, as the gunners that manned the harpoons were especially vulnerable.

The shugenja size up their enemies on the Voidbringer's deck. Each of them has a red-hot ball of fire dancing above their hands. Some of them standing by the sohei touch their naginta while murmuring words under their breath. An armored figure chants blessings while sprinkling holy water on the assembled ranks of the sohei. Standing by Raith are two armored figures, one of them was the matronly woman that asked Caer to prepare the beds. They have no weapons, and are crouching behind massive tower shields. Ashvor, the figure in spiked armor is cajoling them as they form ranks "Form up! We will be resilient in the face of the enemy. Prepare to go over the top" Reylin recognizes what Ashvor is doing. Ashvor like Reylin's father is a marshal, a war leader who uses their presence and knowledge of tactics to increase the effectiveness of soldiers under their command.

Tern gives the assembled soldiery an even glare "Get off my ship"


The Devil responds to Raith's prompting "Hmm.. thats all very true, and I would consider that from any other person. Except you are missing a rather large detail. You are an incompetent assassin There is more of Tanarii then Baatezu about you. I'll let you sit there and think about it for a while. Get creative. Now if you excuse me, I just heard my cue..."

As Mibaax keeps searching for the little girl, he sees a figure pop into existence nearby him "why hello there!" The Devil says in a cheery voice "seems selfish of you to hog all of those souls. Mind if I help myself?"

Game Information

Spoiler

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All shugenja have produce flame active, some of them cast Magic Weapon on the sohei. Bless has been cast on the sohei.

Bunker offers total concealment to anything directly behind it.

Healers are taking total concealment behind their tower shields.

Mibaax recognizes the Devil as a bearded devil, without its glaive

Ashvor is equipped with a spiked chain, sohei are each equipped with a naginta, falchion and javelins.

Row of sohei behind Mordecai have activated ki frenzy

Cloudburst is active around the ship

[The Big Orc]

To the devil, "Do you know who Malius is?"

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The Devil barely manages to conceal its shock before adjusting its tone back to the lazy-contempt with which it addressed Raith previously"and what would that name mean to me?"

[The Big Orc]

"As it would seem, just enough to know whom I speak of. Perhaps more. He has deemed me worthy. And I have a way of contacting him once I am back aboard the Voidbreaker. And so again, I ask, what is it that you want?"

[WyvernBlade]

In response to the bearded devil's appearance Miibaax jumps, or at least attempts too but his aged knees allow for little more than remaining upright. "Who the devil are you?" Weighing his options Miibaax realizes that he has little chance against the devil and besides he was not hired to protect this cargo. "Now that you mention it is kind of selfish and I would hate to be selfish, so please take some, preferably those over there," Miibaax gestures to the gems he has already searched. "Also if you do not mind me asking, but do you know what happens if I were to break one of these?"

To Modecai Miibaax replies, "The psion? No, I would not say that I am the psion, due to the fact that I have felt a much stronger psion aboard this ship. I am a psion though, in that you were correct. As for my business partner he is the usually cautious chap with the feathers. I am sure my business partner will stand down, for like I said, he is usually cautious. My other friends however, I am afraid I will have more difficulty convincing, for we are not all of the same mind when it comes to handling situations. So I will do what I can to arrest their violent tendencies, but if they refuse I would still ask that you preserve their lives. Soldiers will fight for a cause and whether one disagrees with their cause or not you must respect that they are willing to lay down their lives for the cause they believe in."

Miibaax then starts speaking to his fellow part members in order to persuade them to arrest their violent behaviors, like he just promised Mordecai he would. "Friends I do not think that we can win a physical battle against these odds, so I plead with you to lay down your arms and surrender. 'Live to fight another day' is that not how the saying goes? Why must we slaughter these men and women when we do not know whether they are correct in their accusations. Xanian would you kill those who may be acting lawfully without a fair trial? Reylin we were came here to investigate Tern's ship, which the hand of justice seems to know a lot about, so why not discuss it with them? Caer I do not think you would want to fight against a crew of trained killers so let us make peace with them. Pixie you claim to serve good and so do they, albeit a different deity, they are still working for good. Kaigen I do not know the full extent of your relationship with these fire benders, erm I mean, fire men, or what ever they are, but I do not think killing them would help your relations with them at all. So team what do you say? Will you lay down your arms and surrender?"

[NightAngel16]

Xanian quickly rebukes Miibaax through the mindlink, "There is no law out here in the void old man, it's kill or be killed. We who stand here, act as judge, jury, and executioner. You may think I enjoy such bloodshed, and it is true that my demeanor has been forged through countless battles, but I have refrained from landing a first strike. You talk of laying down our arms in surrender, however, observe what our enemies are conspiring on deck. Those do not look like prayers of thanks and forgiveness..."

[Arkady]

Holding back his last shot before impact, Reylin will stand forward from the ballista he was firing to speak, loudly enough to carry across to Mordecai and the others gathering to attack.

"If everyone doesn't mind, could we all just calm down for a second here? I'm pretty sure that everyone would prefer to stay alive today, so perhaps we can talk about that? Now I know that we have already traded blows, and we have already lost several people on both sides. Let us end this before it goes any farther. Until recently, I believed that you to be murderous fanatics bent on killing every last one of us. Until recently, I had no reason to believe otherwise. I did not know why you were coming, I did not know how you could find us in this empty expanse. I only knew that my life and the lives of my friends were in danger. Of course we were going to defend ourselves. Of course we would fight back. Wouldn't you? Yes, we did send people onto your ship, with the express purpose of trying to stop this from ever happening in the first place. I don't know all of the details of what happened aboard your ship, but I regret that we were not able to avoid this bloodshed. Now, up until a few minutes ago, I believed this ship to be a simple cargo ship delivering weapons to some war in the Elemental Plane of Earth. I, and much of this crew, were lead to believe this. Recent evidence has come up that suggests otherwise. I understand that you expected this to be a prisoner ship. Well, you are correct. After it was revealed to us that there was a secret compartment aboard this ship, several crew members went to discern the true nature of our cargo. We discovered a lead-lined room filled with souls trapped in gems. This came as a surprise to many of us. The very reason we fought against you has become irrelevant. I am willing to stop fighting now, let you take this ship without resistance, if there is even a chance that we can end this peacefully. I am sure that many of this crew will follow suit. I was hired to guard this ship, but I will not defend the enslavement of souls. There, I have said my my piece. Will you discuss terms? Or are we going to have to fight this out to the bloody end?"

After his speech, Reylin will stop for breath, and wait expectantly for the outcome.

Spoiler

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Diplomacy Roll (pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework) (1d20+4)[11]

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The Devil responds to Raith "What do I want? Your asking me the question: what do you want?. The irony of this situation is too much to take. Praytell: how do you know Malius?"

Mibaax hears the screaming voices of the trapped souls as they become agitated by the Devil's presence. The Devil responds to Mibaax "Why thank you, its rare to encounter a mortal with manners these days." He starts to shuffle forward to where Mibaax indicated as to your question, I haven't the faintest idea. He offers Mibaax an evil grin filled with pointed teeth. Why don't we find out?

The Voidbreaker's crew members start balking in disbelief. Tern raises his hand and steadies them "Reylin, you choose to mutiny agianst me after I saved your life? I am disappointed in you. Out of your entire group of misfits and rejects, you were one of the few that wasn't a massive headache for me. Suffice to say, you misunderstand the situation. That which your friends found below deck is there for a very good reason."

Tern hefts his massive greatsword and stares at Mordecai "You lot haven't travelled the Astral Plane before, have you? Now out of all the travellers you could waylay, you choose us.. I do not believe in coincidences. You do not strike me as masters of stealth or subtlety"

Mordecai addresses the Voidbreaker's crew "Any who lay down their arms will taken into our custody, and there we shall determine the depths of your guilt and complacency in this matter. That is my offer. I have had my full of Sigilian treachery today. Refuse, and you will face my wrath

Tern yells back "Child, you talk far too much"

The crew of the Voidbreaker seems quite nervous, and none of them have put down their weapons or spellcasting equipment.

Mordecai begins to advance.

[Arkady]

"Tern, if you have ever been truthful, do so now. Why should we defend what seems to be a perversion of nature? Give me one good reason to fight for something that we can't possibly win. Anything! You have lied time and again about the nature of our mission. I signed on for this in the hope that you were an honorable man, that what rumors I had heard about you were false. I would gladly fight to the death if I thought it something worth dying for, but right now I don't know which side of this I'm on. I have no wish to mutiny, but neither do I wish to die a useless death."

Reylin is very conflicted about this fight, he may not immediately take action if combat breaks out.

[Rofltrollcopter]

I did not lie. I simply only told you what you needed to know. There is far, far more at stake here then you can imagine

[Arkady]

"Not good enough Tern. You do realize what you are asking of us, right? To fight and most likely die for something we do not even understand? You can give me that vague 'for the greater good' crap all you want, but you are going to do a whole lot better than that if you are going to ask me and mine to lay down our lives for it."

[Rofltrollcopter]

Tern says nothing, and adopts a defensive stance. He stands alone near the front, like a rock bracing agianst the coming tide.

[Arkady]

Reylin throws his hands up in the air. "Dammit Tern! This is too much." Reylin turns to look at the other members of the crew who still seem to want to fight. "What is wrong with you people!? This situation makes no sense to me. You all seem so ready to die for something that I can not help but see as a foolish waste of lives. What is it? What is so worth it that you are willing to die defending it? Sibi? Ventus? What have you to say for yourselves? And you!" Reylin rounds on Tern again, furious at this point with everyone's willingness to die. "You would ask all of these people to join you in death? 'There is more at stake than you can imagine.' Well I damn well can't imagine much if that's all you're going to give me."

[NightAngel16]

The dark knight facepalms, again... With a note of finality, Xanian speaks again through the mindlink to the entire party, "I have no more words for you damn fools. Say your prayers and may the divines have mercy on me should I meet you in another life." Xanian waits expectantly as he tightens his grip on his weapon.

Spoiler

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Readied action to fly 20 ft above deck when the enemy makes the first attack.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Tern doesn’t even turn to face Reylin as he speaks, but many members of the crew look shaken. Ventus speaks up “Reylin my friend, there is nothing right about this situation, and I suspect this is my last voyage on this ship no matter what happens. But if I am going to die, I’d rather die fighting than in some dungeon”. All of the crew members are shaken, but they are loyal. None of them will take intiative.

[WyvernBlade]

Miibaax is not comforted at all by the screaming crystals, but he attempts to listen for the girls voice in the screaming. As Miibaax strolls over to the next batch of crystals he says to the devil, "Yes manners are rare nowadays. When I was a youth you would be given the strap if you so much as smelled the wrong way." Shaking his head as he remembers the old days, "Kids these days." Miibaax looks on intently curious to know what happens when these crystals are broken.

As the devil is about to break one Miibaax is glad that the devil is not breaking his property, but that thought leads to him thinking about the owner of the crystals. Tern what are you up to with these? Miibaax ponders quietly. Deciding to ask instead of continue his pondering he telepathically communicates with Tern, "Old Geezzer One to Captain Tern I have located the booty! Now would you please enlighten me on what it is and why we have it." After a short pause Miibaax adds, "Oh and before I forget there is a devil down here that also wants to know."

After speaking with Tern Miibaax says to Mordecai, "I have attempted to dissuade my companions from the fight, but there decision is there own. I do have a question for you though Mordecai. Why now? Why come attack us here and not come to find us when we were in port either at the start or end of our journey? For surely finding us in Sigil would have been easier than tracking us through this plane. Or is my reasoning flawed and finding us here was easier than I previously thought. Do you have some method to track us or how did you locate us?"

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When Tern hears of the Devil's presence, he responds to Mibaax's promptings with a telepathic incomprehensible scream of rage that it is quite different from Tern's stoic nature.

Mordecai responds "The ways of the Speaker of the Order of the Consuming Flame is not for the likes of you to know"

Kaigen and Caer recognize the term Speaker as the title of the Spiritual Leader of the Order of the Consuming Flame. A child is born in Arcadia who can hear the voice of the Flame, and through it the Flame provides direction to the people. The current Speaker is a young boy about ten years old.

[WyvernBlade]

Tern's scream makes Miibaax even more uncomfortable than those the crystals are making. "I knew that the devil's presence was not good, but what can he do that causes you such anguish?"

To the devil Miibaax says, "So what interest do you have in these crystals? And if you don't mind my probing, how did you come here?"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Questions like that will cost you The devil says with a wink, while shuffling through the soul gems "What are you willing to pay for it?"

[The Big Orc]

"I know Malius because he came to me and offered to fix a dead person legal problem for me in return for a favor. He then informed me I was now in 'true power' and left me a way to contact him. Aid me. Clearly you know who this Malius is and whether Malius is an ally to you or an enemy, I can help you once this is all done. You perceive me to be a weak excuse for an assassin. If Malius thinks that I am worth the effort, why shouldn't you?"

[Arkady]

Reylin will stop, suddenly calm about the whole situation. "Alright Tern. We do this your way. May all the gods above and below help us. But when this is over, you had better have some answers for me."

Spoiler

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Alright, here goes nothing. Reylin will man the ballista he is beside, aiming the loaded acid shot at the marshal, Ashvor. He will ready an action to fire should the fighting start. After that point, he will take off and fly up 15 feet, readying that scroll of lightning bolts he got from Kaigen.

[WyvernBlade]

"Hmm there always seems to be a cost. You wouldn't happen to be interested in a large supply of red herb would you, because if you are that I can arrange."
Assuming this devil does not take up this offer Miibaax propose a second option, "It was a long shot, but I thought I would try. As for a payment that you may find interesting I offer you entertainment. Now before you laugh, for that was not the joke, let me explain, currently my party, my shipmates, and I, are being attacked by your ex-captors. They out number us and are better prepared for combat. The battle will be followed by negotiations, which will be fairly one sided, unless one of the parties were to know things they should not about the other party. Think of the expression on your ex-captor's face when things he does not wished revealed to us are known already known by us, and his frustrations in the coming negotiations. So will be watching a standard boring negotiation or a negotiation with some fun twists?"

[ErminaPix]

Ermina will use her acorn to create a giant wall of thorns spanning the bridge between the ships. Hopefully this will help prevent the boarding party from charging us. She'll then draw her bow with a sleep arrow strung. Fritz will growl, indicating for the both of them where they stand on the defense of the ship.

[Daphoa]

Disliking the coming storm, Caer runs under the ship and looks for Miibaax, sitting with him and the devil until this all blows over.

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The Devil responds to Mibaax. "hmm, true true. But all the same, I still feel that I will come up short in this arrangement. Do not worry, I will find my own way to make things entertaining. Mind if I invite some friends to crash this party?

The Devil responds to Raith "You throw around that name far too much mortal. A being like Malius does not have associates, he collects tools. Some tools are useful because they are good at what they do. Others are useful because they are disposable. You follow?

Mibaax has found the pile that contains the small girl, but it will take him one additional round to dig it out.

Inerak grab's Caer's shoulder as he tries to run away. "I want you to listen for once. Nobody cares about you, or what you want. All that everyone wants to do is make it through today. You helped get us into this mess, so grow a damn pair and help get us out of it. If you can manage that, you can run back to Sigil and screw around like the little chickens*** you are"

He lets go of Caer's shoulder.

Spoiler

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OOC:
Initiative Order:
Mordecai's group
Voidbreaker Crew
Aemaria's group
Party (I'll let you change your actions if you want, technically everyone had prepared actions so you didn't get a surprise round)
Ashvor's group

Ill update with the first round of combat tomorrow, too sleepy now.

[The Big Orc]

"And how often does he appear personally to the disposable ones? Seems like a waste of time."

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Game Information:

Spoiler

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Initiative Order:
Mordecai's group
Voidbreaker Crew
Aemaria's group
Party (I'll let you change your actions if you want, technically everyone had prepared actions so you didn't get a surprise round)
Ashvor's group

Inspire Courage +1 is active

Sibi cast mirror image before the fight

Mibaax knows the abilities of a Barabazu

Mordecai cast Divine Power using a swift action.

Naginta have reach

Bunker now only provides 75% cover

Sibi took 45 points of damage and is dead.

Every sohei on the Hand of Judgment, and the shugenja in row 22 have not gone yet.

Otorin’s song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUuul9R5VlY (he’s just a level 1 bard)

Inerak will be able to spit acid again in three rounds

OOC: music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4BKRHPKE1I

Mordecai speaks up AND THE HAND OF JUDGEMENT SHALL COME CRASHING DOWN

He mutters a prayer, and rushes towards Tern. Tern easily sidesteps Mordecai's swing, and the scene looks quite comical as the older Mordecai seems to have no place on the field of battle, with his grey hair already showing signs of sweat.

The four Sohei behind him charge forward and rushes Sibi. With a loud cry, one brings his naginta down and stabs one of Sibi’s images. One of them runs by Tern and rushes Xanian. Tern clips him with his greatsword, but the sohei does not falter. Kage rears up and shrieks, causing the sohei to miss his mark. Another darts to side and swiftly draws a javelin and throws at Fiona. The javelin widely misses its mark.

Otorin cautiously starts playing a slow steady tune on his lute, bringing to mind countless tales of small bands of warriors winning agianst incredible odds. Sibi grits his teeth and works through the the pain, and with tears in his eyes he cuts off a small piece of his familar's tentacle with his knife. He shouts "WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP" whilst flailing his arms in the air. Massive tentacles erupt in the space between the Voidbringer and the enemy ship. Several of them grab the sohei beside Mordecai, who lets out a cry of shock. He is held, but manages to fight them off and prevent himself from being grappled further.

Ventus steps forward and casts his spell, centred around the cluster of hiding shugenja. Inerak maneuvers to reach the best position to use breath weapon, and spits out a large line of acid. Mordecai and the first sohei manage to duck in time, but the one held by the tentacles is unable to move as it hits has face. Inerak brandishes an axe and yells at the Order “THIS IS THE WIFE” he pulls out another axe “NOW MEET THE MOTHER-IN-LAW”. Fiona moves forward and jabs at the Sohei with her spear, but misses her mark. Maratra casts sanctuary on herself. Tern steps to the side and takes two massive swings at Mordecai, both of which slip past his armor and slices deep into the old man. “Children have no place practicing swordplay.”


Ashvor raises a mailed hand into the air and points it at Sibi. The Shugenja behind the bunker open up small hatches and use them to throw fireballs from their hands at Sibi. Having already cast the spell before hand, they choose to stick to their cover instead of casting additional spells. The remainder of Sibi’s images melt under the onslaught, leaving him exposed. Aemaria walks out of the range of the silence spell and yells to a shugenja on the other side “CHANNEL THE STORM”
Aemaria and a shugenja on the other side step forward, pointing their left arm towards the sky. Lightning flows down and strikes their outstretched arm. They take another step forward and raise their right arms towards Sibi, and the lightning is redirected through their bodies and strikes towards Sibi. Sibi lets out a cry of terror, and his small squid jumps of his shoulder and moves into the path of the blast. The lighting is not impeded by the path of the small creature, and it is fryed before continuing into Sibi. Sibi ignores his own pain as he barely manages to catch the squid. He craddles it in his arms, crying terrible broken sobs with large tears running down his face. Then Sibi is hit by the second blast of lightning and is instantly killed, his body falling to the deck without even a whimper.

Aemaria and the shugenja stand emotionless, moving back to a ready position. Ashvor raises his hand agian, and points it at Ventus. I really don't like the way they are looking at me. Ventus says nervously.

[Daphoa]

On his way out Caer turns and glares at Inerak. "I've been attempting to save our lives this entire time, but it's failed because of those who want to fight. I've done all I can. Now those that can fight may try, but I will be no help."

[WyvernBlade]

"The more the merrier, or at least that is what my mum always said, or was it something else? No matter I think more devils would make a hell of a party!"
After a moment of silence Miibaax speaks up again, "I do have another question for you though. Do you intend to just take the crystals and leave after how your captors humiliated you? I'm just thinking here, when your captors have finished with this ship they will all say how they sent a devil running. They will say that you were scared of them and fled as fast as you could, with your tail between your legs! Hohoho, they may just take that as in invitation to summon you again and put you in one of those circles again. Of course if I were you I would not accept such insults from the likes of them. I would strike now, while they are focused on this ship. I would teleport in behind their back line and sink my teeth deep into their unarmored necks. They would be have great difficulty mocking you from beyond the grave, and their wagging tongues would never again spread their 'truths'. Their order would not be so quick to summon or capture devils again that's for sure. But of course that is just what I would do. Or have they indeed scared you off, because if they are too strong for you then fleeing may be the more prudent option."

Spoiler

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Diplomacy: (1d20+26)[39]

[WyvernBlade]

To the crystal with the girl in it Miibaax says, "Hello are you in there? I have found you, your suffering will soon end. What is your name little one?"