Golden Age of Sail IC

[remetagross]

Ota hurries as much as he can, weaving and bobbing through the heavy underbrush. When he first gets his eyes on the clearing, he just has time to see Rattlebone vanish into thin air, while one of the pirates seems stone dead on the ground and the other enraged and ready to fight. No good.

"Surrender!" bellows the small sailor in Spanish, as he has heard the others speak, though not so loudly that it can be heard from too far away.

Spoiler: OOC

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Double move action to AH8.

[Almostdead]

Eldon rushes through bushes, trying to catch up with Ota and Sophie. But there is a growing gap between him and the other two. "Rats, I'm too slow. I hope Ubirajara and Rattlebone are safe." He thinks to himself.

Spoiler: Action

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Double move again

[El'the Ellie]

@All: Ota, Sophie, and Eldon arrive, perhaps a bit out of breath from the run through the underbrush, to see a dead pirate, and a living one furiously gritting his teeth and holding a scimitar. He seems shocked when Rattlebone vanishes, but given the severity of the situation he finds himself in, it's not the first thing on his mind right now.

He spits on the ground in the direction of Ubirajara, but then throws down his scimitar in anger. "F**k you all. Fine.

Hand to God, I don't really know why we're here. We dropped anchor after hitting an island town. Most of us are just getting some time with our feet in the sand. Enjoying spoils of war and all that."

He looks at the five of you, a mixed bag of sailors. "What the hell are you all doing here?"

Spoiler

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Blood and Water, Part 1
Ubirajara, Rattlebone, and Ota get 450 xp
Eldon gets 500 xp (considering he is level 2)

At this point everyone should have either 3600 xp (for those that are level 3) or 1650 xp (for Eldon, being level 2).

Mateo has surrendered so we can leave combat. If you'd prefer to keep fighting him you can, and I'll put initiative back up.

[remetagross]

Ota, panting a little, first indicates the body lying on the ground.
"*Hurf* Let's see...if it's still time to save him..."
Having witnessed that the fight has gone out of Matteo, the Pygmee kneels near El, and applies a Blessed Bandage to his bloody chest.

Spoiler: OOC

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Is the Blessed Bandage used up all the same if the poor sod's already dead?

All the while, he speaks up to Matteo with a severe look. This is not a time for cracking jokes.
"We're here because of your spoils of war. We want them back at Dominia, both goods and prisoners. What about them?"

[El'the Ellie]

Spoiler

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If a bandage is applied to an already dead person, then it would still be used.

@Ota: You hustle towards the unconscious Englishman. The other pirate takes a step towards you, but backs away when he sees the bandages in your hand. You wrap them around his chest, and after a moment of worry, they begin glowing a faint blue color. But that much would be expected even if he had already died from his wounds. As you're turning him over, you see his chest rise just a bit. Immaculately, he's alive! But barely. If you had been a moment later, chances are it would have been too late.

@All: Mateo barks out a laugh, devoid of any actual humor. "Oh I see, the noble guard. Of what? There are no laws out here, and no country to answer to. You want to take things back then I won't stop you, but the others might. Our ship's that way; good luck." He points deeper into the jungle, in the direction you know their ship to be. "You might be a bit late for the couple we took."

He looks up at the sky, completely obscured by gray clouds swollen with rain. A smile briefly flickers across his face. "Then again, maybe not. They're that way, maybe a ten minute walk. Could be longer for short folk like you. I doubt you'll get within a dozen yards of them, though." He points again, this time northwest, in the direction that El had been about to run to.

[remetagross]

"By the beard of Davy Jones! It was not too late." Ota stands up from his position, and turns to fully face Mateo. His face is hard and his gaze level.

"No laws, no countries to answer to. Exactly. Meaning there's no one to prevent us from counter-raiding you and plundering back all that you've taken. And given the fight you've been able to put up, you and your friend, I doubt there'll be much resistance from the rest of your crew either." It's pretty much exactly one of the possible situations I was advocating for, back on the Vensinda.

Ota enjoins the rest of his team to enter the fray as well with a wide gesture of the hand.
"Alright, tell us what we're up to when we get to your ship. Maybe we'll be able to spare some more lives of your crew. Maybe not. It's up to you. We remain here for two minutes, including the time to take care of you, before we go. Start talking."

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll gladly Aid Another someone more scary than Ota into an Intimidate check: DC 10 (d20+1)[10]

[Almostdead]

As Eldon catches up from behind, he hears his teammate interrogating their prisoner. He sees another Englishman lying on the ground a few steps away. Eldon is going to help the wounded man but Ota takes the action first. He patches the man up and clearly stabilized the man's condition.

Relieved, Eldon turns his attention to the yelling prisoner. Through the prisoner's speech, he realizes there is no time for gentle persuasion, so he takes a different approach. He summons his eldritch energy in his palm and show it to the Englishman deliberately, "Stop pretending you don't care. It is up to us to save or destroy you. And we've been mercy to you and your friend. That's the chance you don't want to blow. Now talk! Tell us whatever you know. Or I will burn you alive with my flame, bits by bits. Then torture your soul for millions of years." Eldon ends his statement by shooting the eldritch blast on the ground beside the man, before he resummons another dark flame in his palm and stares at the Englishman threateningly.

Spoiler: Intimidate

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(1d20+11)[19]

19 + 2(aid from Ota) = 21

[El'the Ellie]

The man jumps back as the bolt of black flame strikes the rock. He whispers a few choice cursewords, and looks at Ota without quite meeting his sharp gaze.

"I don't know what to tell you about our ship little man! She's a galleon, named Blackmark's Gold. We've got... I don't know, two hundred fifty men and women as crew. Maybe more. 'S why I don't think the five of you are gonna do much. Most of 'em are fighters. Even if you get the drop on them like you did us, I don't think they're going to give up the ship easily. Like I said, they're all on the ship or on the shore drinking, whoring, fighting: you know, relaxing."

He hesitates, but continues under Ota and Eldon's piercing gazes. Clearly he has no real concerns sharing information about the crew of the Blackmark's Gold, but rest takes a bit more convincing to get out.

"The two we took aren't there though. Look, me and Elmore didn't touch them, you know? We haven't laid a finger on them, so really if you're pissed at people taking them you have to take it up with someone else. Like I said, they're over there." He points towards the pit the five of you were already headed towards. "We got a good size group with them." He spends a second counting in his head. "Eight of us, besides me and El, Captain, plus a couple of dogs, and a wen-- uh... a lady." A side glance at Sophie makes him rethink his word choice.

"Look, I'm glad you all didn't kill El. Is he gonna be ok? Whatever suicide mission you five have in mind ain't worth our life over. You let us go and we'll stay out of your hair, ok?"

[Dimers]

"What are they doing with the captives?" Rattlebone's disembodied voice floats across the clearing in the direction the pirate pointed.

[remetagross]

His gaze still stony, Ota answers the terrified Matteo.
"Your comrade will be fine. Pay attention not to move him around too roughly to not reopen the wounds. And tell you what, whatever mission we five have in mind is not worth your life either. So you'd better answer the question that was just asked. And then we might decide to let you go out of our hair."

[El'the Ellie]

Mateo searches with anxious eyes for the source of the voice, at least recognizing it as the man that originally ambushed him. Unable to find it, he looks at Ota when talking.

"By God, I don't know. Some sort of witchcraft. But I guess you all already have some experience with that." He notes the black fire Eldon holds and invisible Rattlebone. "We asked her about it, but she was cryptic. Some sort of rhyme, but it was in English. El said it was like... She was supposed to kill them, and then it would start raining? There's more, but hand to God I don't remember it."

[Almostdead]

Eldon squints at Mateo, the thing he just said brings back his memory. "She? Tell us what you know about she. Is she the mastermind behind all this? What kind of power she possess? Speak!" Eldon closes his palm and dismisses his eldritch flame, but still stares at Matro.

[remetagross]

Ota checks one last time that El is doing fine, while Matteo spits out whatever he can about that mysterious "she" person. Once all is said and done, the Pygmee readies himself to move again.

"Time for us to disrupt that ritual, whatever it is. Time for you to take care of your crewmate and avoid being a nuisance to any of us in the meantime. If I were you, I'd remain here by El's side, because if you leave to start off the alarm, you could come back here and find him half-eaten by these plant-animal-things, if not by worse stuff."

That being said, Ota waits for everyone else to be ready to go, and starts hustling towards the pit as fast as the undergrowth allows him to. As soon as the crew gets out of earshot of the two pirates they've faced, Ota asks the others between two pants:
"What d'you think we should do about the ship? We can't take it by force. We could signal its location to Piet maybe, if I send Ntwa. Opinions?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Hustling towards the chasm (running is made impossible by the difficult terrain) so double move action per round, when accounting for difficult terrain penalty that's 15ft per round.

[El'the Ellie]

"Okay, okay!" Mateo hold up his hands defensively at Eldon's continued demand. "Captain Blackmark picked her up in the Port of Spain. Edge of the southern America. At first we thought she was just some whore from the island..." He shakes his head. "They call her the Seafoam Lady, though I've heard Captain say her name was Maria. She's..." He shrugs, "a witch. Caplata, I hear people say. One of our crew was running his mouth about her: she made him drown there and then. I've seen her bring a wave down on a man and strip his flesh from his bones. And what was left she made turn around and fight. People stopped questioning her after that. I guess Blackmark's still in charge, but these days..."

He nods in vigorous agreement with Ota, happy that you all seem to be leaving.

[Dimers]

"Send him," Rattlebone agrees, fading into view as he pushes through the heavy foliage. "Does he know everything we've heard?"

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

When he judges that the group is getting close to the pit, Rattlebone drops down to one knee and makes a gathering gesture to beckon the others close. "Ubirajara. May I have Eçaiara's blessing, please?" He offers the head of a crossbow bolt for venemous anointing. Speaking with quiet haste, he tells his companions, "When you see me again, I'll have Mateo's appearance, the better to sow confusion. Sophie -- what time do you mark now, and will you have any magical aid to offer for either charming or battle?"

[remetagross]

Ota silently acquiesces. The dragonblessed reaches into his empathic link with his familiar. He sends out a wave of need, of mild distress, of wanting, of longing. Ntwa would understand.

"Ntwa cannot hear through me, so it'll first have to reach us so that I can tell it everything directly." mutters Ota. "Then, it'll fly to Piet. It'll be a little while before it arrives here, given we're quite far apart. But I guess the pirates aren't leaving anytime soon anyway."

When close to the pit, Ota readies himself for potential battle. He slowly inhales, exhales, and calms himself while Rattlebone prepares. He raises an eyebrow at the bokor's mentioning of him taking the appearance of Matteo. But they're now too close to the ennemy to allow himself a witty remark.

[Almostdead]

Satisfied with Mateo's answers, Eldon walks to El. He mumbles something, then puts his hand on El's head. A shining wave of energy appears in between, healing El's body. Eldon then stands up and looks at Mateo again, "Your friend will wake up soon. You can leave and take him with you. You've earned it, don't waste this chance. And I'm warning you: if I ever find out that you're relate to piracy again, I will pay you a friendly visit. Do remind your friend and yourself." He makes a evil grin and leaves with his teammate.

Spoiler: Action

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Use healing belt on El (1 charge)
(2d8)[7]

[Chimaera]

Ubirajara keep quiet and pointing his bow to Mateo while the others question him, but frown and sigh when Eldon save the dying man.

"The spirits seem keen to keep you alive. Stay out of the way and we'll see that you stay alive for tomorrow".

When the others start to leave, he make a gesture with his hand and have Eçaiara follow suit. When they're away from them, the cook think in asking them why they were merciful to those two, but decide to watch and understand instead of voicing his doubts.

"Eçaiara's blessing is bitter and sweet, but may not be the best for today", he says to Rattlebone before taking a flask from a pouch, "This one would be better suited for today". He dip some of Rattlebone's bolts in the poison extracted from the tentacle and give it back carefully to him.

"This is strong. Be careful", he says and hand another flask to him "In case you sting yourself, drink this".

Spoiler: Toxin and Antitoxin

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Applying tentacle poison to ten bolts and giving it back to Rattlebone as well as giving him his antitoxin vial

[El'the Ellie]

@Ota: You reconnect mentally with Ntwa, sharing with it your need for it's return, and within a moment Ntwa comes fluttering down to you. Sharing the details with the bird, you send it off to find Piet and inform the master-at-arms.

@Eldon: You place your hand on El's forehead, sending healing magic to him. He doesn't wake, but that's not surprising given how hurt he was. The man is not quite at death's door now. Mateo hesitates for a moment, then nods to you. "Aye. To be honest, I don't plan on ever crossing paths with the lot of you again." As you all prepare to leave, he hefts his friend onto his shoulder and starts making his way back into the woods, in the direction of the ship.

@All: The four of you and Sophie pass through the woods in the direction Mateo pointed, more quickly than before with a hint at what is at stake. Your way through the underbrush is relatively unimpeded, though the foliage and menacing storm clouds make the woods quite dimly lit. Despite being just before noon, it's as dark as late evening. As you go, you walk past another one of those plant-like creatures almost five feet tall. Sophie gasps in amazement as it runs off (and looks for a moment like she quite wants to follow). Despite it's great size, it seems to be just as skittish as the rest.

Once again, you hear a voice before you see its owner. A feminine voice, chanting loudly and passionately. The language is unfamiliar to any of you, but it sounds harsh and demanding.

You all draw closer, finding a hiding spot among the roots and trunk of a large tree. For the first time you get a good look at the pit and those inside it.

You stand on the edge of a circular ring, almost two hundred feet across. Like a bullseye, this pit is formed into rings ending in a circle in the center. The edge you all stand on drops sharply down about ten feet before creating another ring about thirty feet wide. Then it does the same thing again: ten feet down and thirty feet wide. Then it drops the same distance once more, before ending in a stone circular platform. In this way, the pit has four tiers, with you all standing on the topmost.

Scattered on the tier below you are six other pirates, all dressed similarly to El and Mateo. They look on edge. Two of them hold the leashes to dogs, and all of them have weapons held out: half of them carry bows, two with pistols, and one with a longer gun. A few trees have also managed to take root on this tier. They're not as large as the one you all hide behind now, but they could serve as cover for one or two of you.

On the third tier, you find what you came here for. Across the circle from you, you can just barely make out six people, though from this distance its hard to make out many details. In the center, with their hands tied to a simple wooden post, is a man and woman. They are perhaps early twenties, and their clothing is torn and sullied with dirt and blood. In front of them is the one chanting: a woman, dressed in teal silk robes. She moves around them energetically as she speaks. To the right of all this is Captain Blackmark: his position is obvious from the black and gold embroidered clothes he wears. Flanking the group are two more crew members, each holding the chains to a dog as well. This tier has a few trees as well, though not as many. None of them are larger around than a man's waist, so it seems like they'd get in your way more than anything else.

The final tier is more or less empty: the stone circle in the center is etched with deep carvings of some type, and around the edge is a divot a bit deeper, almost like a storm drain. Those same carved runes cover the entirety of the pit. Whatever their original purpose, they would also make fantastic hand and foot holds for climbing up or down tiers.

Sophie looks down curiously, and scratches at the dirt around the tree root. As she pulls a bit of earth out of the ground, you realize these carvings continue out to at least where you are standing. It's uncertain how far they stretch, though. The young wizard looks at it in interest and mutters, "Negatives..."

Rattlebone pulls her out of her thoughts with more practical concerns. She pulls out her pocket watch.

"It's been... One hour, forty-seven minutes. We have a lot of time before Piet knows to do anything." She nods as well to his second question. "I was about to say as much, yes. A few. Gather around, it's harder the further away people are."

Sophie pulls a few hairs from the pouch at her side and mutters under her breath. The hairs are quickly consumed in a green light that, hopefully, isn't too visible. It spreads to all of you before fading away, though you can still feel the spell's heartwarming effects.

Spoiler: Sophie's Magic

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Each of you gains a +4 enhancement bonus to constitution, as per the Bear's Endurance spell.

When she's done, she appears to be sweating faintly, as if the spell took no small amount of effort. She takes a drink from her water skin, then continues speaking. "I have two others as well. One of them is short lived, so it would be best to save it until just before we make our move. The other lasts longer but... might make us obvious. A can make one of you much larger: I'm not much of a fighter myself, but I imagine a larger reach can be valuable in close combat. But I'm afraid if I do it now, we will certainly be seen."

@Eldon, Rattlebone, and Ota: The runes in the circle are not just fanciful carvings. You all recognize them as arcane runes. Their purpose is unclear, but they mark this area in some way.

@Eldon: For a moment, the runes puzzle you. They seem off. Then it snaps into place: these are 'runes in the negative'. The space between the carvings, not the stone itself, make the arcane runes of this area. Runes in the negative were tossed out of practice and study by the world's artificers long ago: they are hard to make, and have a tendency to make any craft much, much larger than it needs to be. They would be completely impractical for anything one would carry. However, they have a few advantages over typical runecraft.
First, they are simply generally more potent than traditional runes. Second, because the magic lies in the space between the runes, the medium between the stone can have some impact on the effects. Typically this is air, but anything could fill the space. A clever arcanist could tweak the effects with some other medium. Third, runes in the negative hold up better over time, and are more resilient to attempts to smash, erase, or obfuscate them.

@Ota: Beneath the loud chanting, you hear a bit more. First, two dogs barking at each other. Then, the woman, calling out for help. And fainter, the man frantically reciting the Hail Mary. To save him, or to prepare his spirit for what comes next? Not even he knows.

Spoiler

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I'll have a map up tonight to help clarify this picture. Imagine an upside down wedding cake, with four tiers.

The bottom most tier is a circle. It contains a number of carvings on it's surface, as well as a divot that runs along its outer edge, but is otherwise unoccupied.

The second tier from the bottom has the most points of interest: the two captives, whose hands are tied to a post. The chanting woman, who is presumably this 'Seafoam Lady'. Captain Blackmark, obvious from his attire. And two pirates, each holding a dog on a chain.

On the third tier, six pirates are positioned, mostly close to the side that the Captain and woman are on, but they are a bit scattered out. The two of them closest to you have dogs as well.

Everyone (except the dogs and captives) have weapons drawn, but only as a preparation: they don't seem to have seen you. Three of the pirates on the third tier have bows, two have pistols, and one has a longer barreled gun that may be unfamiliar to your character: a musket. Each of them also carry a scimitar on their hip. The two pirates on the second tier have bows slung across their back, but are carrying large axes. Captain Blackmark has a shortsword and pistol at his hip, and a longsword drawn. The Seafoam Lady has in her hand a simple iron dagger, and no other weapons to speak of that you can see.

[Almostdead]

Eldon studies the runes for a while. He is confused at first, until he hears the word 'negatives' from Sophie. Suddenly all things come together, these are 'runes in the negative'. Eldon knows the natures of this runes. "They are probably trying to create something there, something big and terrible. Using the two captives as medium." He whispers his speculation to teammates. "We're seriously outnumbered. But our goal is to save the two captives. So we've still got chances."

"I wonder if we can use these runes to our advantage." Eldon thinks to himself.

Spoiler: Knowledge Arcana Check

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Do Eldon know any ways to "tweak" the runes? E.g. To create distraction or stop the runes from functioning?

(1d20+12)[26]

[El'the Ellie]

@Eldon: The area these runes cover is huge: too huge to be able to quickly understand. With a few days or weeks of study you might be able to understand the runecraft going on here, but short of that all you can do is guess. They could be broken, of course: any magical system like this can be. But breaking runes are always prone to dangerous and unpredictable side effects, and runes in the negative are naturally more resistant to breaking. it could take hours of hard labor smashing rock to break this.

So your thoughts wander to manipulating the ritual taking place here. To do so in a calculated way would require a deep study of this particular configuration, and an even deeper study of artificery. However, simply ruining that woman's plans might be enough. The easiest and most direct way to change things would be to change the medium that fills the runes. Right now, it's 'filled' only by the air around you, but the runes are, physically, just a groove. You know as well that, generally speaking, centrally located runes are more important to the overall structure than those on the outside.

[remetagross]

Following Eldon's remark, Ota wracks his brains to see if these carvings under their feet brings something up to memory. From an ancient tome he has pored over, or a magical event of the past?

Spoiler: OOC

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With Trivial Knowledge feat, Ota rolls twice on Knowledge checks and picks the best result.
Knowledge (History): (2d20)[27]+7
Knowledge (Arcana): (2d20)[6]+7

Yeah, didn't think about that. Will reroll in the OOC.

Alarmed, the gnome mutters to his companions.
"One of the captives is praying for his soul! That must mean he believes he's about to die! And the dogs will sniff us if we try to sneak in...what can we do?"

[El'the Ellie]

@Ota: From your vantage point, you can recognize some of the runes in the pit below you. However, trying to ascertain their purpose from just a glimpse would be like trying to describe the plot of a book just from reading a few letters of it.

Runic circles aren't uncommon: many parts of old towns, castles, and so on have protective runes carved among them. But their nature tends to be a closely guarded secret. In your study, those runes tend to be inscribed upon something, usually to preserve or augment what is already there. Here, the runecraft is the main feature, not supporting something else.

[Chimaera]

"If we can delay a minute, I may be able to ask the spirits' guidance to help us", he sayd and look to.Tall Tale, "But I'll also need your help as well".

"Those plant creatures were attracted by the smell of burning tobaco and the spirits may grant me a large ammount of that. Maybe if we set ir on fire we can attract a large group of them to make a distraction and change the numbers of the battle".

He look at the others and see if they agree or not, "I do ask secrecy about this ability as the spirit's boon isnt to be used on trivial things and many find it creepy or out-right blasphemous". After a pause, the cook give them another option, "Or we could sharpshoot theor sacrifices and prevent them to do whatever they on doing".

Spoiler: Burning Tobaco

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If the rest agree, Ubirajara will spend a minute to manifest Minor.Creation to make 2 cubic ft of tobaco and ask Ota to set it on fire

[remetagross]

Ota, having failed to glean anything useful from the runes, throws a pissed look at the scene below them. The cook's suggestion brings him out of his resentment. The Pygmee raises his eyebrows high at this very surprising proposal.
"You got such a power, and you've kept it hidden from the crew all along? You're better at that than Rattlebone or myself. But alright -" the small sailor remembers the oddish creatures they've encounterer earlier. Some of them were fairly big, and he has no doubt enough of them can be brought forth to overrun the defenders of the pit.
"I can inflame the stuff. Though then we'd need a way to throw the burning tobacco down there in order to direct the mob of creatures there. And then, we don't really know what they can do - they didn't seem aggressive. But yeah, that can make a very good distraction - all the more so for small guys like Eldon and me, or for invisible/discreet ones like you too. We could sneak through with the herd towards the centre...maybe you won't want to do that, Sophie though?"

Ota strokes his chin, as he tries to process the possibilities before them.
"If that fails...Eldon, d'you think if we shoot down the captives, that'll interrupt the ongoing ritual somehow? I'd like to avoid coming to that if possible, I'd prefer trying to overcome the pirates by ourselves, but if that ritual is as dire as it seems..." Ota's brow creases with worry.

[Chimaera]

Ubirajara listen to Ota's comment about his secrecy and shrugs, "Rattlebone is far from discrete with his skull hat and you...", he look at the pygmee and smile, "You've got a big mouth for such a small man".

"And if the crew knew that secret I would have to summon rum and tobaco and who know what else on a daily basis and I would rather not: one thing is to use these powers to get a handful of herbs to make tea to calm down Maíra's stomach", he steal a glance to Sophie, "Other would be to use it for futility".

[Dimers]

Rattlebone grins and laughs silently. "I work hard for this reputation, yes. Ubi, avaré, I like your idea. Give me the tobacco and I'll bless it with rum -- the loa will love that sacrifice and it will burn quite readily. Then I'll carry it invisibly to the center and light it afire. I left my sparker on the ship, though, so I should bring a torch or burning stick as well, if one of you will kindly provide."

[El'the Ellie]

Sophie gives a noncomittal shrug when asked about the creatures. "If it helps us rescue them, then I think it is okay. But whatever we do, we should do it quickly: it will take the smoke time to disperse, and more time for those creatures to locate the source and arrive." She glances up at the sky. "The rain could ruin our plans for burning, if we take too long."

[Almostdead]

Eldon shakes his head as he can't think of a perfect way to sabotage the ritual. Luckily, Ubirajara makes a good suggestion. "It sounds like a good plan. We should proceed as you said. And look for opportunities to save those hostages."

He sighs after hearing Ota's question. "Let's hope it won't come to that. But if we fail to rescue them before the ritual ends, they're going to die anyway. And the ritual might pose a bigger threat after that. So..." He nods to Ota without saying anything else.

[Dimers]

Rattlebone readies his tools while Ubirajara works his own wonders: a fine-looking straight dagger, a flask, a charcoal stick and a small jar of white paste. He marks his hands, arms, face and chest with practiced motions, whispering invocations. The sudden smell of tobacco is joined by that of fine alcohol as he upends the rum bottle over the block, soaking the top quickly. Finally, the bokor brings one drop of rum to the earth and one drop to his tongue, dons his pack, picks up the tobacco block and vanishes.