Kingslayers: Wild Magic of the Seekers

[BlueWizard]

OOC_ I will have to continue the combat round vs the hobgoblins later tonight.....

Crusty Bucket:
The Prince feels the tide turn against him and continues, "You must understand... all my information is through my wife..." When Cassy mentions tossing his wife overboard, "As to resurrecting her, Cassy, I thought you of all people would know... the price my extended family pay as nobles: We cannot return. At least not after some years in servitude to their patron deity, and then usually they reincarnated you... or time has passed... I apologize for insulting you. Please, do not dishonor my station. If you keep me prisoner for long or mistreat me, you may start another wizard-war. One insult is all that separates the Northern Kingdom and the Empire from an all-out Arcana War. The thought scares me... even the dragons know to be careful on these grounds. I am a Prince of the Old Empire! Not some merchant-assassin."

[Roland St. Jude]

Latigo

"We'll let the crew deal with that, they seem to have a ritual for everything out here. I imagine an honorable burial for the Captain and a far less honorable one for these boarders."

Latigo thinks for a moment, "I don't suppose we have any way of bringing the Captain back to life?" He furrows his brow. He genuinely liked the Captain - and he wasn't too sure how the Queen would feel about losing an Admiral like this. Not to mention the thought of young Robero running the ship made him a bit queasy.

He turns on the prisoner the moment he gets and answer or realizes he isn't going to get one, "So no one but you knows who is on this ship or why? You haven't communicated to anyone since you set foot on the boat? Will the Queen be sending others and, if so, how do we avoid them?"

[BlueWizard]

To Latigo:
"Only I know of this mission now. Queen Kalima paid me in secret when I was hired. As far as I know no-one else is involved. No communication possible. The wizard was to send the message. He's a non-porter... my mistake.

There may be others coming. Her husband might get curious, I could tell he was itching to move.... something odd about Tunia's older brother.... that boy frightens me. You best be wary of him. Phillip is quite dangerous when he spends his wife's money."

[tgva8889]

Abigail quickly says, "Thanks for the assist," as she passes Taros. She'll stay behind the forefront of the attacks, much more able to fire her bow in a group of allied soldiers.

Now in a relatively safer position, Abbie draws arrows and proceeds to fire as before, unloading a few more shots into the unsuspecting hobgoblins. If possible, she'll aim for hobgoblins generally around Taros, targeting the mithral chain-wearing one with her first two shots and other weaker goblins around Taros with her last two shots.

Spoiler

Show

(+15/+15/+15/+10, 1d8+3 to hit, Point Blank Shot if applicable.

46/47 HP, 23 AC)

[Vazzaroth]

James
AC:29 HP:105/105 Stance: Stonefoot


James is glad to have everyone close together, it's too hard to keep track of allies when they scatter.After he slices through the goblinoids, he sees one that seems to be worthy enough to hurt Taros. He will focus his attacks on the mithral hobgob.

((Full attack if within reach: +17/+12, 1d10+9, 17-20, Ready to use Lighting Recovery on any miss to re-roll an attack with a +2 to hit. If not within reach: Disarming Strike: +17, 1d10+9, 17-20, if hit [/w dmg], disarm attempt, no AoO or chance to disarm me.))

[Idiotbox90]

"Do you hear that? It's a Prince of the Old Empire, not just some incompetent thug. Of course, Prince, you just said that no one knows you're on this ship. For all the world knows, you could already be dead."

Anthony shrugs.

"I think having him die from wounds recieved in combat sounds like a good idea. After all, we wouldn't want to start a war by imprisoning him."

[BlueWizard]

Hobgoblin Caves:
The soldiers see Cara run into the illusory Bull. This convinces the rest. They now all see the ugly old man in red. The sergeants {3rd} shout, "Wizard!!!" And they rush to Cara's side to aid in disrupting the spells. The corporals {2nd} will scatter, those in charge of the horses will actually pull them toward the hobgoblins and Taros. The hobgobs seem to be dispersing before the fear of James' sword.

No-one sees Trillo as a green ray zaps at the red wizard. The green ray is dangerously targeted, and whizzes by Cara and a few soldiers in front of him. The ray burns a hole in the red robe, and scares the ugly man, he is hurt severely!

Taros begins to expertly cut through the hobgoblins around him, standing quite strong where various colors of goblin blood is splattered all over the place like a Pollack painting. {7+15 d:12; 20+10 crit 11+10 d:19} Taros attacks the mithral-clad hobgoblin with two short swords. He batters the tough goblinoid, and draws a lot of blood from its shoulder. Blood flows freely down his arm.

Abbie helps clear out the farther passage with Taros and picks off 4 hobgoblins with arrows, dropping them all! She is smooth, and pin-point with with her accuracy.

James joins Taros at his side, only able to get one attack as he moves to aid Taros. {1+18 merely a miss} James slips in the messy hobgoblin blood, and bumps into a few dead hobgoblins on the ground.

The hobgob in mithral swipes at Taros with a whirlwind of blades. Only once did the ranger clip the paladin. {d:9} The rest of the hobgobs flee or are ineffective in their attack.

The fire wizard tries the five foot-step back maneuver, away from the soldiers and Cara, to cast. Cara is on him the whole way and unloads her full attack on him, as she steps five feet with him as he casts. {11+9 d:10; 10+3 miss; 2+8 miss} Cara doesn't knock him down, but she thumps this ugly fire wizard on the head hard with her mace, causing blood to rush into the wizard's eyes. She totally messes up his spell again! And he loses another fire spell, fire ball this time. Cara can smell sulfur in the air as the wizard's yellow powder fails to launch or ignite. He glares at her in fear and anger, but keeps his face of grim determination. {Note the soldier at Cara's side will miss his attack.}

End Round 3------------------------------------->

Initiatives:
Soldiers
Trillo {Greater Invis.}
Taros 12+1 {hp 86 of 82}
Abbie {d:1}
James 8+3
hobgoblins
Cara
Fire Wizard



Crusty Bucket:

Heron looks a little perturbed. Anthony seems to especially bother him, "Oh that wouldn't be good... you'd send me straight to Tiamat, then my mother'd know right away. Look. I will be co-operative. I'm in no hurry to leave my privileged position here on this plane. I personally have a store of wealth IN Kandor. We can sneak you in, take what you like, and get you out. Look, perhaps I can even fill you in on the old kingdom of Kandor. I am guessing you are looking into the slave-trade. I can't dabble in it, but I could point out some of the locals around there. Queen Kalima is one of the big slavers in the southern region of the Kandor Seas. She deals with the illithids, and other strange alien-beasts, like the Neogi. It is scary out here, let me tell you. You may not like what you find when you snoop around Kandor. I only go there when I want to deal with really bad men, or generous bankers." He smirks an ungodly smile. {OOC- Heron the Red's charisma is unnaturally god-like, at 25. This trait runs in the imperial royal family, through Heron the Red's grandmother, Arrianna II. In fact some bards say that is why the Fire-empress married Zathos II and put him on the throne, because of the family's god-like beauty.}

Eventually, young Ramey will call for her brother, and he will find out about their father. The three siblings will then mourn together in the captain's bedroom.

The Prince sighs, "I never understood the navy's desire to put children as officers. My mother does it too... I'd trust an old sea dog anyday before most of these whipper-snappers." He eyes Robero, who is intimidated by this strong, imposing man, even as he is bound. {Heron is 29, but looks battle worn, it adds to his looks.}

The Prince looks to the handsome Antarian, Latigo, "A bit out of your element here. Not many Antarians trade in these waters. Usually only outcasts and criminals. If you want to avoid any other scouts you best sail straight in. I don't think they're expecting it, but you'll be on constant duty... Maybe even have to have night archers ready for any more bounty hunters. I give Kalima a month before she begins to wonder what happened to me. I can even... under your witness give falsified Sending reports to her. I have no problem screwing her over, she has too much of my father's gold as I see it. If you cause her to spend more of it, that is a good thing to me. Look I am a powerful man, and want to be treated well. I have been more than co-operative. This is war people. Whether the cold noses of the North want to admit it. My great-great grandmother put on record that we were at war until the North was ours once again! My action was no more murder, than you killing my wife and assistant." He is using his charm to the best he can, and seems very genuine.

[dauphinous]

Cara
HP 68/68 AC 28

Not afraid of this wizard in the slightest, Cara just stays with him, concentrating on watching him carefully for the signs of spellcasting. No way is he putting a fireball on these men. Not while she's around. He would have to kill her first.

{
Second verse, same as the first!
Ready action: attack as soon as he casts.
to hit (mace, mace, shield): +9/+3/+8 (or +11 on a single mace attack if he moves)
damage: 1d8+2 (mace), 1d4+2 (shield)

Active spells:
Bless (everyone but Abbie)
Magic Circle vs. Evil (on Cara)
Greater Status (Taros, Abbie, captain)
Status (James, Reollo, Deeker)
}

[Eratosthenes]

Taros

Now with James to assist, Taros tries to maneuver the hobgoblin ranger to allow James to flank. Goading the goblinoid leader, he remarks, "Maybe you should spend more time with just one of those swords, instead of play-fighting. Here, have mine." With that, Taros jabs at the ranger.

His shield also springs to life, the dragon-head trying to bite at the warrior.

{
Full Attack: (1d20+15)[23], (1d20+10)[24]
Damage: (1d8+6)[8], (1d8+6)[12]

Dragon shield attacks: (1d20+8)[11], (1d20+2)[4]
Damage: (2d6)[8], (2d6)[3]

Move Action: Goad on the hobgoblin, DC 15 Will save, or he has to attack me in melee
}

[Vazzaroth]

James
AC:29 HP:105/105 Stance: Punishing


James will maneuver to help Taros flank, if necessary. He raised his sword and drops his shield arm low, increasing the power of his strikes. He failed with his last maneuver, and simply works on bringing the trained hobgoblin down. He didn't want to miss again.

((5-foot step to flank if needed, Full attack: +17/+12, 1d10+9+1d6, 17-20, Ready to use Lighting Recovery on any miss to re-roll an attack with a +2 to hit.

[kariokie]

"Not murder? She killed him in front of his kids, you royal jackass. I don't care how you try and excuse it, what you did was wrong. You aren't getting away with this." Cassy's close to Heron now, pointing her staff in his face, green eyes blazing with anger.

After a few more seconds of staring into Heron's eyes, she calms down, and looks at Anthony and Latigo. "Maybe we can use his help, but after we're done, he's going to jail. If we can't do that, I'll just have to figure out a way so he can't hurt anyone. Maybe he'll just disappear somewhere. Not dead. Just gone, somewhere no one will ever find him." She turns to smirk at Heron, "Bet you're happy you can't be scryed now, huh? There's no one to help you."

[BlueWizard]

Hobgoblin Caves:
The soldiers near Cara hold as the priestess does, the others with horses move them farther up, stepping over dead hobgobs.

Trillo sees how badly the wizard is hurt and points another green ray at the wizard, this one is not disintegrate, but dimensional anchor. The fire wizard is hit, and he curses violently as a shimmering emerald field surrounds him. "He's not going anywhere!"

The dragonface on Taros' shield comes alive and snaps at the hobgob in mithral. He slashes the hobgob a bit, but the snapping dragon mouth only nips air and frightens the mithral wearing hobgoblin somewhat.

Abbie can't see the wizard above the horses and men behind her, so she fires 4 arrows into melee, and hits the mitral-hobgob with 3 of them. {d:11, 8, 5} The hobgoblin is now looking really bad.

The tough mithral wearing hobgob has been softened up severely and bleeds grey blood all over the rocky ground. James {13+17 d:22; 5+12 miss LR: 13+14 d:15} batters the hogoblin and gives it no chance to retreat. His last blow whiffs, but a lightning backstrike decapitates the lead hobgoblin killing it outright and covering the silver mithral chain with gray blood. The whole area clears out and a nearby rumbling to the right can be heard and screams of crushed hobgoblins rip through your ears close-by.

Cara and the soldier hold for the anchored fire wizard, and pound on him.

The wizard steps up to cast defensively... it is so bad he loses whatever spell he had, but manages to avoid an attack of opportunity.

Cara {19+9; d:3 11+3 miss; 14+8 d:5} knocks the wizard out, and he now lays bleeding on the ground. He is still alive and dying.

Combat is Over! -------------------------------------------->

The sounds of hooting hobgoblins and rumbling rocks echo and almost disappear after sometime. There always seems to be the hint of noise in the air now. Abbie can feel air flowing in from the left area. There is an open area to the right, but it is also still full of dust in the air from the many fallen passages.



Crusty Bucket:
Heron the Red is quiet. He definitely looks threatened by Cassy, and shuts up. He will continue to co-operate, but is even more subdued. He looks at his ankles, and then at the tights binds upon him.

Robero will lock the prince in a lower holding area in storage, with a constant two-man watch. Robero thinks that Prince Heron shouldn't EVER have his hands free.

Robero will ask that one of you 3 break the news to the crew. He also wants Helmav the wise veteran and Orman the old crew chief to be alongside you. It is depressing to a crew to lose their Captain, and should be handled delicately.

[dauphinous]

Cara hates this part. A second ago, she would have bashed his head off. But now? He's lying on the ground, bleeding to death. All of a sudden, killing him feels wrong. She'd made this decision many times before, but it never got any easier. Leave a downed foe alive to question and imprison, or simply end it so he can cause no further harm? Use the gifts of Pelor to heal him, believing in the possibility that he can change, or take his life, knowing that some stains run too deep to erase? Sometimes, the choice seems clear one way or the other. Sometimes it doesn't.

Cara kneels beside the slowly dying hobgoblin mage, and casts a spell, putting a hand just on his chest.

{
Cast CMiW to heal 1 hit point in the hobgoblin mage.
}

[Eratosthenes]

Taros

As James fells the hobgoblin, Taros takes a moment to look around at the battle, taking in the scene. The ambush seems to have been thwarted; he can Spy Cara and a soldier finishing off the other threat.

Turning back to James, Taros says, "Well fought; you've trained your men well."

[kariokie]

"Handled delicately, huh?" Cassy waves her hand first at herself and then at Anthony, "best we don't get too involved then. Not that we're not both terribly charming -- me more than you, Anthony, of course -- however we both tend to say. Um. Things." Cassy knows she could bluff her way right through any speech to the crew, fool them into thinking everything was under control. However, it seemed as if they should hear something a little more honest than that. And 'honest' has never really been her forte.

"I can stand behind you, though, Latigo, and look terribly sorceress-like. I've got a staff and robe and everything." She looks down at her bare feet, "Everything except shoes."

[Roland St. Jude]

Latigo

Latigo will interrogate Heron for every detail he can provide about their destination, the slave trade, and current events. He seeks names, places, and any other information that will forward or speed up their information gathering. Perhaps he can give them leads or even the information they came for that will save them time. Finally, he'll ask the man to describe every personal power or skill he has, as well.

When he's gotten all he thinks he can or has run out the clock on Cassy's suggestion spell, he moves on to other duties. He agrees with Robero's idea, but takes it a step further ordering Heron's hands be balled into fists and wrapped in cloth and then tightly bound, feet together and hands apart. He orders the man not only guarded, but watched at all times, and he says Heron should be awakened every four hours for a brief chat about the weather. If the man doesn't list seeing in the dark among his skills, he'll be kept in pitch dark room and guarded by sailors who can. And, of course, he orders the man stripped naked of everything but his anklets.

When it comes to speaking to the crew, Latigo will stick to the truth, telling them that we were boarded by spying assassins who were seeking to find out what valuables we carried and where we were bound for. When the Captain confronted them they slew him in a typically cowardly surprise fashion. We have captured their leader and, as they saw, Cassy destroyed their skiff and wizard. The body of the slain assassin will be turned over to the crew to burn in effigy or throw over board or whatever will improve their moral (Latigo will work this out with Robero, Helmav, and Orman in advance.) He will include a stirring eulogy for the Captain and a plea for the crew to carry on in the Captain's honor.

Spoiler

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My brain is too fried to draft an actual speech right now.
Take 10 on Diplomacy - 29+ any aid another modifiers.

[Vazzaroth]

James looks around at the decapitated heads around him.
You'd think this sword is, what did that merchant call it... Vorpal.(( ))

Aye.. Thank you. Your act of bravery to rescue our ally was quite fitting for a paladin. Very heroic.

James smiles at Taros, but returns to the task at hand.
Perhaps that training helped Ethan and Wolf stay alive...

[dauphinous]

Cara looks up at the soldier standing with her and tells him to "bind and gag him, then sling him over one of the horses. No sense giving him any opportunities to get away if we can help it." She fishes a rope out of her pack that he can use if he needs it.

After standing up, she looks around. "Taros, James, does the sheer volume of hobgoblins here strike you as odd? We do have a prisoner now if anyone wishes to interrogate him." She gestures back to the downed wizard. "That is not my forte."

[kariokie]

Cassy stands behind Latigo as he speaks, doing her best to look all-powerful. Primarily that consists of holding the runestaff and furrowing her brow like Taros sometimes does, but she also manages to nod knowingly at appropriate points of his speech.

Later, she retires to her room to send Cara a Sending. "We were attacked by assassins. They were lame. Captain dead. We're okay. I can kill people with my mind. It's weird. Talk soon."

{Aid Another (Diplomacy)! (1d20+15=24)}

[BlueWizard]

Hobgob Caves:
Cara is more right about the fire wizard than anyone else realized, as she touches the wizard to stop his bleeding head, she sees he is only half-human, and clearly part goblinoid. A nasty, black whiskered beard is at his chin.

The 3 sergeants begin binding the fire wizard, eager to follow Cara's divine words.

Abbie can look ahead a little, as the hobgob screams are long gone now. She will see that a smooth, ancient natural aquifer in the stone is nearby off a branch from this rougher cave. The party can leave the more recent hobgob-built caves that you are in now.

Captain Basvarti {5th level guy} sighs and looks about, answering Cara, a little out of place. {As she addressed Taros and James.} "Goblin-kin can breed fast. And there's lots of old tunnels in these mountains! We never been able to wipe'em out in the wars, more like seal them in. They got endless goblins down there. I killed at least three hundred in my 15 years. These might be some we HAD secret agreements with."

Trillo looks about, very frightened, "Yeah... but why is a half-hobgoblin fire wizard down here! Those are the robes of the empress' special fire wizard university... or Academy.... Whatever she calls it."

In the dark passage ahead, Abbie's fine ears do hear some sort of uneven breathing, after the distant echoes die down.


Crusty Bucket:
More info from Heron the Red:{he continues to talk even after the spell wears off}
Slave Trade VERY complex system of heirarchy, which is the main source of income for the Pirate Guilds
Yes, multiple pirate guilds. Some even one ship. Including Kalima's fleet.
Master of Slaver Guild: Twi Vontilla
Many Wizard-Seeker hirelings
Slaver Guild, of course controlled, by Greater Guild
Latigo can extract a page long list of Seeker names, Serapi is on it. {Selma's mom.}
Ringleader of Arena/ Master Slaver of Galorine: Count Cal-alal
Many pirates work the Imperial seas for slavery and profit
King of Kandor's good friend is Vito the Fourth
King of Kandor seeks independence from empire
Heron believes King of Kandor set-up Heron's eldest brother Valdis, now no longer heir.
House of Cal-alal has a great hall of records, with careful documentation of all slaves and owners... very well-guarded with magic. Heron the Red can help in this. Personally he is against slavery, though he owns slaves, because he is imperial royalty.
{This is among lots of other mini-details of the arena, slave-breeding, and other vices involved in this trade.}
Heron the Red: is a Sea-ranger/Sorcerer/Bard/Priest {of Loki} and seems to be wanting to develop other skills. Other terminology may have been used in his many tales.

{OOC- This takes sometime as even the depressed prince is long-winded, and verbose. If you were in better moods, you could see how he could be a great orator as well. As is you probably want to stick a sock in his pretty mouth.}

Man-at-arms Highline is overjoyed at actually having ship duty besides 'weapon-maintenence', and will be assigned a team of sailors to rotate and help keep constant watch on the prince. Heron the Red is stripped of everything, but the anklets. Latigo will find that some of the items are really nice, and might even be magical. Heron's wife has things too. Heron only asks for his bejeweled signet ring as well as his wife's. Heron is stripped naked, and bows his head, in utter humility in his bound state.

When the crew is gathered and listens to Latigo's solemn speech, all listen. Somehow, Latigo never loses the faith of the men, and with imposing Cassy standing nearby, he actually inspires the crew!

The dead wife of the prince {Maura} is stripped and presented to the crew by Buck and Robero. She is drawn up on ropes, and splayed out for all to point and laugh at. The children of Seawell come out for this. Jerica then douses the assassin in lamp oil and they light her on fire. She goes up in flames. The crew holding the rope are careful to position one of the booms over the sea. Eventually the charred woman's body burns off the rope and falls into the sea. There are sharks here, drawn by the blood in the water, they will devour the assassin in a frenzy, as her blackened body steams in the sea.

The boom-operators conveniently positioned this all outside the Prince's air hole in the brig. The scent of the burning flesh probably filled the prince's cell. Highline will be sure to take his nightly revenge out on the prince, but will do so secretly.

Seawell and the sea Druid are buried at sea {They are wrapped, preserved, taken away from the sharks, and with heavy-weights attached dropped to the bottom of the sea}, with appropriate honors and ceremony. A small delay. Constant watch occurs as every man becomes aware of the danger they were all now in.

Robero allows that Jerica or any of the other Seawell kids can whip the prince publically any time they want. Salt will be poured on the wounds, and Robero wouldn't mind pouring salt in the wounds to help with scarring. The rear window is boarded up with spare wood. Making the Meeting Room/Officer's Lounge darker. It was now lit by candles and lamps.

Veteran Helmav will be asked to be new 1st officer, and all of the ship rejoices. Helmav could probably captain the ship himself, but he comes from a poor family.

Latigo's requested crew list:
Captain Robero Alandra
his apprentice: Jerica Seawell
his secretaries Ramey and Andov Seawell
1st officer: Helmav; wise veteran
crew chief: old man Orman
man-at-arms: Happy Highline

among ~25 crewmen {and women}:
Monsieur de la Cramme: former imperial, swashbuckler
Deckhand Taylor- former pirate {imperial}
Omarf: strongest sailor {imperial}
Balina: The very ship-able, one-legged woman {imperial}
Rugus the cook {northerner}
Miss Lefeur: cook assistant {imperial} {fresh out of the empress' cooking university}
Nalfal: teen servant of cook {imperial} rescued pirate boy
Elise Pickford: most dexterous sailor {imperial}
4 Antarian sailors {Fa-dal, Rionico, Belzag, and Zelmea-a fled princess}
Buck Longleaf- burly, bearded barbarian of a man {half-imperial}
Others.....`
Note: Zelmea is not pompous, and actually one of the best in the crew. According to Rionico, Zelmea is a great sea-ranger. All four Antarians are friends of Queen Allanna.

[dauphinous]

Frowning, Cara looks back at the fire wizard. "Not so strange, really. I am sure his kind are planted all over the place, just to cause as much trouble for anyone outside the Empire as possible. And possibly within it if it suits her whims. They apparently don't grow them very smart there, or he'd have stopped wearing the robes. Would you-"

Cara stops abruptly and gets a very unfocused look for a few seconds. Then she says (to Cassy), "Fighting hobgoblins in the hills here. Try raising him? Trillo is here, I could teleport to do it tomorrow. I'll Send later." She blinks a couple of times and looks back at James and Taros. Mostly at James. And she picks right back up where she left off, as if there was no interruption.

"-like to interrogate him before we move on? Perhaps it would really be better to have Trillo remove him to someplace secure to ensure he does not escape from us. We do not, in fact, know much about his capabilities other than that he can cast fire spells. He may also be able to do some sort of teleportation, even while bound and gagged."

[Idiotbox90]

Anthony scans the items of the assassins for magic. Later on, he approaches Robero.

"Since you're Captain now, I think it's appropriate for me to make you an offer. I have with me a ring that lets me make do with little sleep, so I'd like to help with the night watch, if that's all right with you. I can see in the dark, unlike the rest of this crew. But I also am here to request something from you." The warlock seems serious, his usually casual demeanor gone. "I think I somewhat understand our prisoner, as I used to think in sort of the same way. He doesn't see killing the captain as anything personal, he just views it as his job. He might even think he's some sort of patriot, a hero, for killing a pirate. But killing an innocent man for money is wrong, no matter how you're able to justify it for yourself. Likewise, torturing a man is wrong, no matter how you justify it to yourself. Keep him naked, keep him bound, you may even want to gag him. If you ask him a question and he doesn't answer, call me and I'll make him talk. But don't publicly whip him. This isn't so much of a request, really. It's more of a reminder, because I know you wouldn't really whip a prisoner, right?"

[tgva8889]

Abigail departs a bit from the group in general, searching about the cave and the hobgoblin corpses for some usable arrows. Her senses turn out to be much more attuned than she believed, however, as she discovers the airflow and the aquifer. Taking some time to examine the aquifer, Abbie notices the breathing from farther down the cave. Making a mental note of everything she seems to have noticed in the cave, the elf makes a quick return to the others who seem to be dealing with tasks at hand. She notices the tied up man in wizard-like robes, though it seems of rather little importance to her.

As she reaches the others, she picks up the end of Cara's words, and decides to begin. "I think I've found another tunnel. It seems more natural than the one we've been traveling through, so at the very least it should be less prone to caving in. There's...something there. I couldn't hear it well enough to tell what it is, but there's something down that pathway." She says the last bit at a lower volume than the first, and looks about the cavern a bit as she speaks, still examining. Not as familiar with cave systems as she would like to be, she takes in as much as she can. Once she finishes, she looks about the group, waiting for a response, before returning to check the other pathway.

Seraph mostly stares down the passageway, not otherwise doing very much. She knows she would have trouble flying in the cave, and can't otherwise do very much. She does spread her wings a bit, though.

[BlueWizard]

Hobgob Caves:
Trillo will take time to teleport to King Finn's palace and will drop the fire wizard off with the King's wizard. He will pause for a moment, before leaving, when the topic of Captain Seawell comes up, "Oh... Cara. I thought you knew. These nobles make a deal before they come into this life. They no longer serve the material plane when they come. They have one shot and then, they're in their deity's hands. Seawell is probably swimming with Ægir or something. This is only true for the extremely well-positioned nobles. The merchant class and rank-nobles aren't cursed like this... though often times their families cannot come up with the required coinage for raising materials. It can be expensive."

Trillo will then bid, good-day and head off with the fire wizard. He will later catch-up with the group as they continue on. Trillo has skills in divination that will help him find you all. The fire wizard is stripped to his loincloth and taken away with Trillo, tightly bound and gagged.

As Abbie says this there can be heard a deep rumbling from the earth around you and above! This area is not stable.

Already James' men move into the directed passage, steady though, for they fear the horses hooves may help the cave-in. Trillo will pop away with the fire wizard.


Crusty Bucket:
Robero considers what Anthony says and nods. "I got upset." He will say to Anthony in private. "His wife's punishment was enough. I am told two of our crew forced the prince to watch the burning through his air vent." He will nod, and command the man-at-arms that no harm was to come of the prince. Highline gives his scout's honor.

The crew is serious now, not that they weren't serious before, but now it got personal. With Helmav as 1st officer this ship sails quick and sharp, not needing the sea druid's assist with the beneficial winds aiding.

Some more time will pass {a few weeks} as the group nears Kandor in a round-about curvy way.
Over dinner one night, the captain will admit to his special officers in private, "I have felt at one with the sea since I came here. I feel its presence watching over me. My sister said it was her only escape from the confines of our station. I told her it was the library for me, but she just laughed... I am dedicating this journey to Poseidon, the imperial sea god. That is who my sister followed."

[dauphinous]

Cara just blinks at Trillo upon his explanation. She has absolutely no response to it and says nothing further to him before he goes. When he is gone, though, she shakes her head. "I wonder what they get in return for giving up their true mortality. I probably would rather not know." But she says it quietly and cleans up her mace while she waits for the group to move ahead of her. She takes up the rearguard position again.

[kariokie]

She'd had to leave the deck when they started mutilating the body of Tunia's sister. Since Latigo had handed the body over, Cassy didn't feel she could interfere. It's just a body. No one lives in it anymore. Of course, she has to add to that: Because I killed her. Still, the act drives a wedge between her and the crew. It's all too much like something the Guild would do. From then on she stays distant, even taking most of her meals alone.

At least she felt the crew would be smart enough to know her feelings on torture – she'd already chastised them once on deck about it when they first had Heron in hand and she took him from them. Anthony seemed to be clarifying the issue when she left, anyhow. No matter how much the warlock acted as if he didn't care about anything, he was probably one of the few people she knew who would object to torture. Maybe 'cos once you understand it, you don't think it's so clever any more.

Or maybe he just thinks it's something that should be done in private, she has to add.

* * *

Cassy just looks up from her food and then shrugs at Robero's declaration. The gods meant nothing to her. They'd still done little to prove they weren't self-centered brats only rewarding those who fed their ego through worship.

Well, okay, Pelor seems fine. A bit nosy, though.

[Roland St. Jude]

Latigo

Latigo expects the disrespectful burial, it didn't offend him, though it's not how he would have done things - for several reasons. He was willing to accept certain customs of these people, though. The seas were their home, and he know they had their own ways. His conversations with Seawell had made that clear. I should check in on the Seawell children more.

He would have put his foot down at torture, if he'd ever heard of it, but apparently the crew didn't take things that far. When he peeked in on Heron, he found the man unharmed, so the thought of torture never occurred to him.

Latigo secures the assassins' goods, divvying them up to Cassy or Anthony as they desire. He holds the signet rings himself; he doesn't return them to Heron, but he suggests that might be possible.

***
Latigo is somewhat comforted by Robero's captaining. He was a strong believer in meritocracy, and would have chosen the veteran to run the ship, but again he defered to the typical practices of these people. He takes Robero's news politely, not sure what to say. He was not a religious person himself, though he was certainly both spiritual and committed to good.

[Idiotbox90]

Anthony does not claim any of the gear, but he does make a comment about the signet rings.

"Latigo, about those rings. Heron seems to want them. I don't care about that. I'd rather he not be in pain, but his happiness is none of my concern. However, the Seawell children just lost their father. I think it'd be a nice gesture if Heron were to give one of those rings to them, as something of a reconciliation gift. Of course, I also think it'd be nice for them to get one of the rings anyway, no matter what his opinion on the matter is."

[Roland St. Jude]

Latigo

Having held them back mostly because of how much Heron seemed to want them, Latigo isn't terribly concerned with the rings' disposition. Except...

"Does it make them a target though? They seem to be our best piece of bargaining chip against Heron, should we somehow need it. It's what he seems to care most about - beside himself, obviously. But I agree the Seawell children deserve and would be helped by some gesture in this regard. But I assume the holder of one of these becomes a target for vengeance - especially Heron's. No?"

This was certainly something more in the warlock's expertise, but Latigo thought his concern was a valid one.

[BlueWizard]

Hobgob Caves:
The underground party has moved on, and is now safely in a real underground stone passage. The Hobgob-made caves collapse a short time after you all exit, making the horses frightened as the rumbling echos follow you and you are all covered in a fine layer of dust and debris, blocking your vision down hear for some time.

Abbie carefully leads you all down what looks to be a well-traveled passage, by now the tracks of dragged soldiers is long gone.

There is a big commotion some distance ahead, in the dust long, dark underground passage.


Crusty Bucket:
The Seawells would only destroy the rings, and probably grind the gemstones for wizard's spells.

About a week and a half from the assassin's night, the ship will spy in the distance a barge complex. No-one will know what it is, or what 'city' it was. It looked small, and perhaps only 50 people lived there. Helmav and Orman have never seen it, and think that it is probably an upstart pirate-king.

Robero thinks it best to avoid it.