The Necromancer's Pact VIII: The Rising Tide

[Dr._Bob]

Having finally decided to stay together during the assault, you elect to continue the conversation in the morning, once your heads are clearer. Everyone agrees to mull over the options - overground or underground - while getting some rest.

...

The Rashemi fleet sets off before dawn, pushing through the thin ice that formed overnight. The crackling awakens you, and you shake the frost from your furs before closing your eyes again, hoping to catch another hour or so of sleep while Tryntha and the other hathrans steer the warboats. Your three boats form a small triangle, with the red and yellow boat in the lead. The other Rashemi boats are invisible in the darkness.

An inarticulate cry of rage startles you fully awake. Grynde is sitting up staring at his hand. The cloisonne ring is gone ...




OOC: Please submit a Listen check and a Spot check. I will send PMs depending on how successful your rolls were ...

[namo]

Adalmar

Shaking the sleepiness from his mind, the ranger turns to the source of the noise.

Spoiler

Show

Listen - (1d20+14)[17]
Spot - (1d20+14)[34]

For Kir :
Listen - (1d20+16)[19] That's a 10.
Spot - (1d20+7)[27] That's a 36.
...though he may trouble expressing what he saw...

edit : oops, I inverted the modifiers for Kir.

[Naleh]

Retay

Retay leaps to his feet, reaching for his greataxe until he realises it came from the black boat. He groans. "What's the problem now?" he demands.

Spoiler

Show

Listen - (1d20+4)[18]
Spot - (1d20+3)[20]

[Darius]

Tanner Gondsman

Tanner quickly looks over to the shout and cannot help but wonder why Grynde has not learned to keep quiet.

Spoiler

Show

Listen - (1d20+2)[17]
Spot - (1d20+2)[21]

[Matticus]

Grynde

Anger welling up inside of him, he stands up, looking towards the shortest person onboard, and clenches his fists.

Spoiler

Show

Listen...Spot...Check...
"Listen" - (1d20+7)[18]
"Spot" - (1d20+6)[20]

[Koji]

Khazrael

Khazrael starts his morning by leaning overboard and splashing frigid water over his face. Without batting an eyelash at the temperature, he removes his mirror from his pocket, along with his small pot of kohl, and reapplies his makeup.

Spoiler

Show

1d20, 1d20=[17], [2]--spot check 17, listen check 2

[barawn]

Damian

Damian stirs awake, rolling his eyes as he looks over to Grynde as the source.

Spoiler

Show

Listen - (1d20+4)[17]
Spot - (1d20+4)[22]

[Diarmuid]

Tryntha

Tryntha had been looking across the water in the direction the witchboats were traveling. She enjoyed piloting the craft and wondered, as she often did, as to their creation. The shout from behind her had her spinning about, worried that winged, flaming horses from the abyss were going to be descending on them. Upon seeing the half-elf apparently unaccosted, she carefully glided over near him and leaned close to him, her ivory mask hiding her displeasure, but her voice, coming through as a harsh whisper, betrayed the venom she felt;

"If you cant learn to control yourself, you can start practicing swimming in freezing waters. You dont have scores of your countrymen throwing themselves in harm's way in the hopes that these three boats carry the salvation necessary to save their lands. Your spiritual leaders have not been murdered and impersonated bringing these evils down upon the lands. I will not have your outbursts ruining the chances of this plan working. If we have to we will tie you up and gag you....but that wont be necessary.....will it?"

Intimidate - (1d20+1)[9]

Shoulders heaving as she breathes heavily, Tryntha makes her way back to the prow of the boat. She signals to the other hathrans that all is clear and the should proceed. She grips the edge of the boat tightly with her hands to stop them from shaking, thinking to herself,

"That...was probably a bit too much. Perhaps I am still too quick to let me emotions guide my thoughts and actions. I must be able to put them aside and do what is best for Rasheman if I am to honor this mask and trust I have been given. Strength Tryntha. Have strength."

Spot - (1d20+4)[22]
Listen - (1d20+4)[6]

-Edited descriptor to be more accurate -

[kuja.girl]

[@Diarmuid - Grynde is the obnoxious half-elf, Retay is the barbarian....]

Tiriel

Tiriel groans and rolls over after a quick peak at the situation. Whatever is going on isn't important otherwise there'd be more shouting... right?
listen - (1d20+3)[14], spot - (1d20+2)[20]

[ooc: holy-guacamole! those are good rolls for her...]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

So much for that idea...

He thought with a sigh as he started to drift off to sleep. A longer day then he had hoped for was now ahead of him, and he would need all the sleep and patience he could muster to get through it without snapping mentally.

---------------

It was in fact the inarticulate scream of rage that woke up the necromancer who had been sleeping rather peacefully. No nightmares, no restlessness or sleep walking....and it was disturbed by Grynde. Irritation flashed in his opal eyes as he rose from his sleeping position and glared at the half-elf. The hathran's approach seemed a bit...blunt to him and he had the feeling that it just wouldn't work either.

Instead he got up and physically placed himself between Fizahn, and he was indeed looking at Fizahn, and Grynde. A stubborn look was in the necromancer's eyes but when he spoke it was...calmer then what might have been rightfully expected. "What is the problem Grynde? And it had better be a good problem to warrant you screaming your head off on a mission requiring stealth. Take a couple of deep breaths and calm down some first, we don't want any...mistakes to happen that you've done before and if need be I'll restrain you until you are Grynde...so calm...then talk."

Spoiler

Show

OOC

Spot: (1d20+5)[12]
Listen: (1d20+1)[6]

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika glares across the gap between the boats at Grynde. Augh. What is wrong with him... She absently watches Grynde, hoping for a better explanation for all the screaming.

(OOC: Listen Check (1d20+7=25)
Spot Check (1d20+13=22))

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn rolls over in his sleep, and looks irately at the half-elf. "Baravar Cloakshadow, or whichever diety Lissa's always talking about! Some of us, no, wait, all of us are trying to get some sleep. Keep it down and ignore your nightmares about whatever screwed up past you have!" Fizahn rolls back over on his bedroll and buries his head in his pillow. "Some of us actually have the brain capacity to understand a stealth mission," he mutters into his pillow.

[Aveda]

Gala

Gala is awake instantly when Grynde starts screaming right next to her. Narrowing her eyes, she settles back down when she realizes there is no immediate danger. Why, Torm, why must I be stuck in the drama boat?

Spoiler

Show

Listen - (1d20-1)[15]
Spot - (1d20-1)[15]

[Matticus]

Grynde

He looks scornfully at Tryntha after her little display, contempt etched into his countenance, asides from the anger.
When the women of this group have stopped embarassing themselves, maybe Fizahn would like to tell me where the ring went.
Hands balled tightly into fists, he stares at the short and apparently tired gnome.
I wonder how much he values his head. Maybe he'd like his ugly mug more if I redecorated it with my foot...

(OOC: Ooh, theft.)

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

"Stick it Grynde. I'm still sleeping. Maybe when I wake up, we can discuss your inadequacies." Fizahn does, however, roll over to look at Grynde. He opens one eye slightly to make sure the deranged half-elf isn't about to stab him.

[Dr._Bob]

Although your three boats are at least 10 yards apart at the moment, quietly streaming directly westward into darkness, they had been moored together during the night.

If indeed someone has stolen the ring from Grynde, almost anyone could be a suspect, though one would expect that someone would have seen or heard something in the night ...



OOC: PMs have been sent detailing what your character saw and/or heard last night ... If you didn't get a PM, then your character slept through the night without any interruptions.

[Dr._Bob]

No one admits to hearing or seeing anything overnight.

Grynde grits his teeth as he looks at the rest of the party for help, but none seems to be forthcoming.

"First an assassin, then a murderer, and now a thief among us," Aeroz observes wryly from his position in the black warboat.

The boats continue to sail westward as a breakfast of biscuits and jerky is provided. You chew on the cold, but filling, foodstuffs as the sky lightens. The air is thick with hostility and resentment, mostly radiating from Grynde ...

[blackfox]

Anika

Anika sighs. She is unsure as to who is the 'assassin' Aeroz is referring to--herself, or the mage Linda that had previously traveled with Aeroz. Linda had been possessed by Sethra and killed the group's cleric, Sedryn.

Anika keeps an eye on Grynde and keeps mostly quiet as the boats sail on towards Shaundalar.

(OOC: Augh! My grammar hurts! )

[Koji]

Khazrael

His sharp teeth help him make short work of the jerky, which he seems rather pleased with the taste of. He does his best to ignore Grynde, whose bad mood has been making him more impersonable than normal.

[Naleh]

Retay

With nothing particularly interesting happening to him, Retay returns to hunching in the front of the red boat, glaring at the horizon. He accepts the food wordlessly, tearing into it in a very barbaric manner.

Occasionally, he can be heard whispering to himself.

"They... will... PAY..."

[Darius]

Tanner Gondsman

With a heavy sigh, Tanner takes wing and flies over to the boat where Grynde is located. "What seems to be the problem here? The holy aura ring is missing? If I may say to whomever is hiding or may have picked up the ring, that ring is very valuable and may be the key to us succeeding the upcoming conflict. If you feel it is better served on someone else's hand, then so be it, but let us decide this as a group as we had done with our method of entry instead of taking matters into one's own hand."

Tanner looks at Grynde, "I am assuming you still want to wear the ring, correct?" (assuming an affirmative response...) "Is there anyone else that does not have a ring that would wish to wear the enameled ring? Before you wish to accept, I may need to remind you that the ring seems to harm those who it deems to not be of a similar moral compass."

Tanner will wait to see if anyone else wishes to wear it before he himself throws his 'hand' in the ring.

[barawn]

Damian

Damian glances over to Tiriel and Elthan, in the same boat as him, and speaks in a quieter tone. Speaking to those in other boats requires a fair amount of effort, and the situation didn't seem worth it. "Normally I'd say that I hope this makes Grynde realize that doing things on impulse when you're in a group of individuals at least as talented - if not moreso - than you are is pointless, but Grynde hasn't exactly shown himself tremendously capable of 'learning'. Honestly, I've never met anyone more capable of rationalizing his own shortcomings as the fault of others than that half-elf."

He pulls out one of the daggers in his belt, lazily twirling it, while still keeping an eye on Grynde and Fizahn. "If he goes after Fizahn, though, I'll have to do something about that. Would he really be stupid enough to try to attack someone in a boat?"

A thought crosses his mind, and he glances over to Tiriel. "Hey, Tiriel - how exactly is it that you're able to - um - look normal? Are you restricted to just this normal form, or is it more like Anikawhateverherrealnameis? I just had a thought that we might be able to mask our numbers somehow."

[Erikkin]

Fizahn:

Fizahn keeps a wary eye on Grynde as he goes about his business. Doesn't matter if I took the ring. He's going to jump me either way. He groans slightly as Tanner flies over to his boat. He doesn't pay much attention to the human, but does chime in at the end. "It doesn't really matter who wants it, does it? Grynde doesn't have it; therefore, he can not give it to anyone. Not that he would, without payment. Everyone knows the first rule of business: The best deal is to barter that which is not yours. You make a better profit that way... Or was the first rule of business: Don't trust filthy goblins? I can't remember."

[Callos_DeTerran]

Callos

It was with a groan that Callos saw Tanner winging it over to his boat, much like how he had seen Grynde glaring at Fizahn ever since the ring had been stolen away.With a groan, the necromancer pulled himself up to his feet and stretched languidly.

"Tanner, I want you to listen to me very carefully and know I'm not picking a fight or argument, right now at least, but you have to stop deciding that every problem needs to be resolved with by everyone. The last thing we should be encouraging is herd mentality and thats all your really doing. You don't agree obviously, thats your choice, but I assure you we can handle things just fine by ourselves over here. Despite what you have implied we are perfectly capable of thinking for ourselves without your help and we were just as capable of it before meeting you." Callos said with a small sigh. It would most likely pick another fight he truly had no interest in pursuing but it had to be said before his own irriatation forced him to do something drastic like slapping the man. It was always clerics...maybe thats why he had never taken up the cloth instead of the book. Had always made sense to him anyway.

"Now if you'll excuse me, if you could come with me Grynde." He said curtly, turning his back to the cleric and gesturing for the hateful warrior to follow after him. Perhaps no sleep would be had but he could get something done right...

Spoiler

Show

Gonna drag Grynde back to the Private Conversation thread. Let the theraputic healing begin!

[Matticus]

Grynde

Although Tanner may be speaking tactically, his little tirade makes Grynde chuckle out loud, and the sadistic smile present when he spoke about his past to Callos returns to his features.
You're forgetting, holy dolt, that the moment I find out who took the ring I am going to craft them a new pair of ears, made entirely from their liver.
Turning to face the necromancer, he sneers and reverts to common.
Right, necromancer, sure, I'll talk to you.
At this point, he draws one of his shortswords, and will thereafter follow Callos to wherever he's intending to go. (Namely, the Private Conversations thread)

[Dr._Bob]

The sky remains gray and overcast. The surface of the water is smooth and dark, like slate, broken only by the 'V's the witchboats leave behind. As far as the eye can see to the north and south are Rashemi boats heading westward. Your three boats appear to be hanging back toward the rear of the fleet.

While Grynde and Callos converse, the rest of you prepare yourselves for the battle ahead. With relatively little intelligence about the ruined city's defenses, you are mostly relying on Adalmar's adolescent recollections.

You have a variety of options, but will most likely need to choose your tactics once you have landed on the shores of Ashanath and can assess the situation.

It seems that no one is overly alarmed (or surprised) at the theft of the cloisonne ring. Many of you assume that Fizahn was responsible, though there are others among you who likely have the ability and/or motivation to filch the magic item.

The overnight shenanigans do nothing to alter the hathrans' already dim opinion of your characters. They remain silent as they guide your boats westward.

[kuja.girl]

Tiriel

Tiriel had been watching the proceedings on the other boat carefully. Callos was playing at being calm and rational but, in her experience, that usually didn't last long. And Tanner's intervention was irritating. He was proving himself a nosy busybody if nothing else and he didn't seem to understand that his "help" wasn't always needed.

Tiriel tears her gaze from the other boat to answer Damian. "No it's nothing like either of those things. It's an enchantment and it only works to hide my wings, not much else.
"I don't know who took the ring but we'd better find out who has it before we get to shore. I didn't like Gynde having it but at least we knew where it was."

Remembering what Khaz had said about magical communication last night, Tiriel tries to signal him. If there was someway that to talk without everyone over hearing they might be able to get to figure out who had the ring...

[barawn]

Damian

"Beh, well, there goes that idea. Well, Anika, Adalmar, and myself can always stay out of sight to at least reduce our numbers by three."

Damian nods at Tiriel's assessment of the missing ring. "Yeah, I agree. There might be the possibility that the ring up and relocated itself on its own, too. We've got a better idea as to what the rings do now, but something like that wouldn't surprise me. Might make sense for each of us to check over our own possessions and see if the ring just showed up."

He shifts his gaze over to Elthan, the grim look on his face fading. "Well, before nightfall and our resident drama queen interrupted us, to get back to us working together, I'm glad to hear you don't have a problem - it'd be best if I knew what spells you could cast and how often." He sighs slightly. "At least it would be good to show the hathran that some of us can work together and treat each other as equals."

[Koji]

Khazrael

Seeing Tiriel's gesture, Khazrael puts a finger to his lips, mutters something, and points at her.

His whisper drifts lazily on the air toward her, inaudible to even those standing in its path.

Spoiler

Show

"What's up?"

[King_of_GRiffins]

Elthan

Elthan sighs as events finish playing out. It was hard enough sleeping without wondering if someone was going to kill him in his sleep (still a reasonable fear) and take away his wallet. He shakes his head at Grynde and replies to Damian. "He's going to be a nuisance our whole trip unless we put some effort in making him less annoying. Nobody would be quite surprised if he had let the ring drop into the lake while he slept. I would feel sorry for the way he acts if I didn't expect him to tell me to stuff it down my throat."

For now, he rids the thought of the half-elf from his mind to contemplate on what he knew. "Absolutely. Let's get down to buisness and see if we can't leave them some good impression. My former notes were lost, but I've rewritten most of them. All of the spells I know are listed in my notes, and are set into groups by tier. From each tier, I can cast five to seven times." While speaking, Elthan retrieves a thin, leather bound book form his pack and hands it over. The interior is filled halfway with minor observations, alchemical recipes, and the spell list in a small, sharp scrawl.

Spoiler

Show

Check my sig for my character sheet and take a look at the spells if you'd like. Command Undead might be one Damian and Elthan should share.