[3.5] Celestial Spheres: Tales of Kadur IC II

[Venger]

Aleister helps carry shass aboard the vessel, seeing there is nothing more he can add.

[Kymme]

Sasha watches Dez and her friends debate from a couple paces away. When Natsu begins to guide to boat into the current the brawler strides over, a new-found spring in her step.

So, she calls to the others, eyes glittering with amusement in the moonlight, Are we going, or are we going?

[The Viscount]

Alexei chuckles quietly as he boards.
Very well Sasha. Come, I will take up the oar.

[Piggy Knowles]

The boat is wider than your typical riverboat, perhaps eight feet wide and roughly twice that in length. It is shallow-bottomed, almost flat, and the bow comes to a rough point in the front. The boat itself is battered but sturdy, its dark wood stained white in places from the mineral-heavy waters of the Milk. The joints of the boat where the boards come together are reinforced with metal. In addition to two large oars on the side, with wide bottoms meant to fight the river current, there is a long pole that allows you to punt the boat forward.

Oddest of all, this boat carries a sail, something unheard of for boats of this type. A low mast about five feet high is juryrigged onto the boat, with a small sail of oiled canvas. The sail is currently furled, but it is plain that there is but a single sail, rather than the more popular mainsail and jib you would expect to see on one of the bay vessels.

Untying the boat is difficult, because the current pulls the rope taught, but after a few moments, you are able to tie it securely. As soon as it is loose, the waters begin carrying it downstream...

OOC: Boats! Everyone loves boats. Right now the waters count as "vigorous," which is a DC 8 profession (sailor) check to steer in. You can also just go along with the current, which does not require any check (but does mean you are at risk of running into obstacles and will not be able to turn the boat).

The maps are rough things, barely more than sketches, but they can grant you a +2 circumstance bonus to your knowledge (geography) checks to navigate the rivers. You don't actually NEED to make these checks at all, since you know that all rivers in these parts eventually empty into the bay of Malkus, but a successful check can assist you in choosing the fastest or safest route.

[Piggy Knowles]

Almost before you can get your bearings, the boat begins to travel down the narrow Milk River. Soon, though, with careful use of pole and oars, you manage to steady yourself, and swiftly glide along. The boat makes little noise as it cuts through the river, and only the sound of the oars striking water rise above the noise of the river itself.

Down, down you go, swept along in the current. You seem to be making no progress with the oars, but the current itself is swift enough to carry you along at about three knots, and so you make good time. You seem to be losing altitude as well, as you descend toward the bay.

The river widens as you travel as well, with small rivulets joining into the Milk periodically. As it grows wider and deeper, it seems to lose the milkiness that gives it its name, though it remains swift.

There is a great rushing sound to your southeast that grows louder the farther east you travel. Looking at the rough maps, you can see that the Milk will soon join with the much larger (and faster) Trinity River, which cuts almost due north. The water begins to churn as the two rivers combine, and the small boat begins bouncing up and down on the rougher water. Ahead of you, you can see the waters coming together...

OOC: Where the Trinity and Milk meet, you'll go through a brief period of dangerous currents, which will require a DC 20 profession (sailor) check to prevent the boat from overturning. Alternatively, you can try steering the boat to shore before you hit the heavier current, which will require a DC 13 check.

[Piggy Knowles]

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4316/...335capsize.jpg

The two rivers rush toward each other as they make their way north toward Malkus, churning up white foam at their violent intersection. Your boat rocks, then sways, bouncing on heavy waves as it is carried inexorably along the river. Try as you might, your oars do nothing to steady the boat, and are jarred out of your hands at a particularly rough jolt. As you struggle to regain control, the small boat tips. Another wave crashes into it, and it upends itself completely, spilling all of you out into the deep running water.

OOC: This is rough water, meaning it's a DC 15 swim check to move up to one-half your speed as a full round action. Failure means you make no progress; failure by 5 or more means you go underwater.

At this intersection of the river, you are fifteen feet from the riverbanks. Each round that you move, you will also be carried downstream thirty feet by the rushing water, unless you use some of your movement to cancel that forward motion. Every fifteen feet you are carried downstream, there is a 5% chance you will strike rocks or other detritus and take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

For those who seek to drop to the bottom and walk across, you can do that, but you must find a way to brace yourself or be swept downstream as above. Even Siegfried is not heavy enough to simply walk across without being swept along.

[Kymme]

Sasha is hurled full long into the river from her position at the boat's keel. She finds herself thrashing about in deep water for the second time today. The converging rivers prove immune to the effects of her kicks and the brawler starts to sink beneath the choppy waves.

In a last ditch effort, she reaches upwards and tries to find handholds on the hull of the upturned boat.

[Venger]

Aleister grabs hold of the boat and sticks his cane out for others to grab ahold of.

All aboard that's coming aboard!

[Morcleon]

Natsu gasps as the cold water strikes her. She goes in at an odd angle, and immediately goes under, flailing around her. "Gbggbgllb!"

[The Viscount]

Alexei splutters in the water, then yells to Desmond with uncharacteristic volume.

Mr. Blackstone! Help me push this useless burden onto the boat! Mr. Crowley, take his arms! I did not protect this fiend only to have him drown!

[Venger]

I am ready!

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried struggles against the current for a few seconds, then thinks better of it and holds onto the boat. "I will be happy to be off of this river. I can barely swim in calm water."

[OMG PONIES]

Mr. Blackstone! Help me push this useless burden onto the boat! Mr. Crowley, take his arms! I did not protect this fiend only to have him drown!

Desmond splashes loudly into the water and immediately pops back above the surface. "Likewise," Desmond grunts as he struggles against the current. While he doesn't make any headway of his own, he's able to position himself next to the guard.

With a gulp of air, he dunks himself beneath the water and uses his shoulder to nudge the possessed guard onto the capsized vessel. As they drift 30 feet downstream, some jagged rocks scrape the far side of the boat, but they luckily don't strike Desmond.

Spoiler

Show

Swim check of 13 after Lucky Dice is enough to aid another, bumping Shass onto the ship. Now let's just keep him there.

[Venger]

Aleister grabs hold of Shass and grunts with exertion as he drapes him over the ship.

"I'm not the type to lecture you on the differences between us, but I have no wish for you to drown, Shass!

He pulls his wrists over the curve of the boat so he can float along with the rest of the party.

[Piggy Knowles]

The boat rushes downstream, bouncing hard against a set of high rocks as it makes its way down the river. Scattered and bedraggled, you manage to cling to it even as the rocks and rushing water batter you and drag you forward. It continues down, still moving rapidly, everyone in it thoroughly soaked. Finally the new river widens out, and the pace slows to what it was before. Together, you manage to turn the boat over and drag yourselves into it.

OOC: Everyone who was clinging to the boat takes 2 points of nonlethal damage as it runs up against some rocks on its way downstream. After about a hundred feet, the waters calm somewhat, and you can flip the boat upright.

Everyone who is swimming, continue making swim checks and percentile checks until you either reach the banks or you've been swept forward more than ninety feet. Then you can try to meet up with the rest.

For those on the boat, it's a DC 13 profession (sailor) check to steer the boat to shore; failure doesn't mean you re-capsize or anything, it just means you travel downstream another 15' without making shore.

[The Viscount]

Alexei sinks into the rapid, turbulent water. Some time later he rises from the calmer water and makes his way toward the boat, looking no worse for the wear, or even out of breath.

Let us never become sailors, friends. We are not cut out for it.

[Kymme]

Sasha reappears on the surface, sputtering and paddling slowly back to the boat. She grins mirthlessly at Alexei.

Yeah. I could have sworn I mentioned something about avoiding rivers and bodies of water at all costs... Guess it doesn't matter anymore. She hauls herself up onto the boat's side, surveying the river around them. Is everybody alright?

[OMG PONIES]

Desmond grumbles as he slowly rotates his shoulder. A rocky outcropping had clipped the man, and he wanted to ensure that he still maintained full range of motion. Satisfied that he had, he grunts, "I'm fine."

[Piggy Knowles]

Separated and soaked, you all manage to drag yourselves out of the water and regroup on the eastern bank of the Trinity River. The boat's little compartment full of maps is surprisingly water-tight, and by tracing the lines of the river, you can see that you are perhaps only a few miles southwest of the line of coastal cliffs that lead out to the Great Waters and that form the walls around Malkus Bay.

Flipping through the sheaf of hand-drawn maps, you find one that is heavily marked up, and seems to show closer details of the area you are coming up toward. The Trinity descends into the Great Waters at the Trinity Falls, where three great rocks split the stream of the river into three magnificent falls that tumble down the cliffs. There are rough scribbles near the falls, indicating some kind of camp near their base, and hidden stairs behind one of the falls. There are further scribbles showing a small stream that feeds into the Trinity just south of the falls. Following that upstream a short ways, there are several streams and rivulets that follow a complicated path toward the Malkus Bay, bypassing the falls completely.

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried shakes some of the water off of his body, then looks closely at the maps. "I have no particular inclination to go over the waterfalls. If we wish to continue by water, then I vote we take the path through the streams."

[OMG PONIES]

"Seconded," Desmond grunts as he pours water out of one of his boots.

[Kymme]

Sasha wrings out her hair, letting it fall loosely about her bare shoulders. I agree. Let's try to give anybody we might encounter a wide berth.

She pokes one of the gems on her belt, more for comfort than any need of its healing energies. The gems fail to light up, however, and the brawler brings her hands up to massage her temples.

Sometimes I forget that this thing only has so much juice. When we get back to Malkus, we're definitely gonna to need to take a nice, long breather. Turning to their newest companion she adds: I don't know about you, Desmond, but this' been a pretty stressful day, after quite the string of stressful days.

She walks up behind Siegfried, looking over the metal man's shoulder at the maps. Do you think that we'll be back by morning?

[OMG PONIES]

Desmond nods to Sasha and pulls a cigar out of his pocket. He offers it to her for a moment before realizing that even his cigars have become waterlogged. He scowls and grumbles, "Guess we should wait for 'em to dry out. Otherwise it's basically chewing tobacco."

[Piggy Knowles]

It does not take long to get to the small crossing indicated on the map, following the wide line of the Trinity River as it snakes closer and closer to the cliffs. You pass several similar places where small rivulets feed the wide river before it rushes off into the Great Waters, but soon reach the stream as marked on the map.

It is a small stream, and shallow, perhaps only five feet deep at its center. Pushing the small boat along it, you often bump or scrape the bottom along its muddy banks. The current is steady but weak compared to that which you saw on the Milk and the Trinity, and while it slowly pushes the boat back toward the Trinity's wide waters, you are able to use oars and poles to brace it against the gentle flow and keep it from sliding backwards.

Still, once on the small stream, it is slow going. Unlike before, you no longer have the current to push you forward. The stream is often too narrow and shallow to fully row, and so it becomes less a matter of rowing and more a matter of pushing the boat forward like a gondola by driving the oars directly into the muddy banks. Worse still, the stream meanders and curves, and you often find the boat beaching itself on the low sloping shore as you try to cut in one direction or another. After about an hour of this, your arms are sore and your backs begin to knot up from the constant physical exertion.

Luckily this too, like all things, must end eventually. After much pushing and forcing the boat forward, with the stars slowly making their way across the sky, you eventually make it to your next crossing. This is a wider, swifter stream, and this time you are following it downstream. Following the map, this one winds its way down a series of ridges rather than cutting straight off the cliffs like the Trinity River. Looking at it, you can see white crests of water in the night where the swift rapids crash over rocks.

OOC: Because the waters of the first stream are calm, no check is required to get up it. Eventually you make your way upstream until you find the split that the map referred to. This one appears to be your final destination - but the waters are swift, often becoming actual rapids, with frequent switchbacks as it snakes its way down several ridges in its descent to sea level.

[OMG PONIES]

"No."

Desmond shakes his head and massages his shoulder as he eyeballs the rapids ahead. Waist-deep in the soft, shallow waters of the gentler stream, he weighs the probable outcomes in his head. For some it would require an abacus and a quill, but numbers come naturally to Desmond in the same way that whitewater rafting does not. "We walk from here," he says gruffly. "The odds of losing him here are even greater than before, and we know how that turned out. Besides, an escape in this current would be more...permanent. We walk." As he speaks, he hoists himself out of the water on the shoreline before turning to extend a helping hand to his compatriots.

[Venger]

Lead the way, Mr. Blackstone

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried nods. "Agreed. I have had enough water for today, and losing Shass after all of this trouble is not worth any extra time we might save should we take the stream down."

[The Viscount]

A wise decision, Mr. Blackstone. I am not afraid of a little walking, especially after all that water.

Seeing Sasha's obvious discomfort at the exhaustion of her belt, Alexei pulls out the belt taken from the guard. He puts the monocle up to his eye to inspect it for a moment, then clucks his tongue has he removes the monocle, turning to Desmond.

I believe this belt may be able to ease your pain, but I cannot know for sure. Mr. Blacksone, could you take a look?

[Kymme]

Sasha glances at Alexei, nodding slightly and flashing him a quick grin.

She leaps onto shore like a grasshopper, landing noiselessly on the hard packed bank. Turning to survey the rapids ahead, the brawler folds her arms and squints. Sasha shifts from foot to foot, standing on her tiptoes to get the best view possible. She tilts her head slightly as well, trying to pick out any noise above the rushing water.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Perception time!

10 spot to see if anything awaits us down there.
28 (nat! =D) listen to hear if anything... suspicious is hanging around.

[Piggy Knowles]

The night seems calm. Even straining to hear beyond the cacophony of night-dwelling insects and birds, crying out in unison, and the rushing water, you hear little else, nor do you see anything. This part of the cliffs seems deserted of men or large animals.

Working together, you manage to drag the boat along as you follow the rapids downward. The descent is steep and the trail is rugged, and several times the boat is pulled away from you by the grasping waters. However, it is a sturdy boat, and usually you can retrieve it from the rocks a few dozen yards down. The rapids are swift but deep, and it seems like only a skilled sailor could make their way down these waters. Still, slowly but surely, you manage to descend the great cliffs that cradle the city of Malkus. As you move further east, you find yourself following the water as it works its way down a series of tall ridges. When you first crest one of these, the view is absolutely breathtaking. It is deep night now, and you find yourself staring over the Great Waters from a height of more than a thousand feet. You are far enough away from the constant lights of Malkus that the stars seem to form a river of their own, poised just above the endless, lapping ocean. Small islands trace a path outward, and you can just make out the island of Sankwen Cliffs, where for many of you this whole debacle began. And off to the north, there is a faint glow coming from where the cleft where this line of cliffs ends and another begins - a faint glow that can only be the great city of Malkus, with its teeming life, burning torches and lanterns against the dark of night. You can hear the ocean as well, though you are far above it, the sound of waves crashing against rock echoing up to you from below.

And still you descend. You make your way down lower ridges, each time coming closer and closer to the Great Waters until finally, you find yourself on a rocky shoal down at sea level, a small sandbar only a dozen feet wide pressed against the sloping cliffs. You are perhaps half an hour south of Malkus Bay, and though you have traveled most of the night, there are still a few hours before dawn.