Seas of Change, Winds of Fate (IC)

[DJDeMiko]

Jovar

"I'll keep it away from you if you keep that tube of rust you call a gun from pointing at me old man."

Jovar laughs and heads towards the bunk house.

[GryffonDurime]

Adagio

Adagio surveys his lack of options from Reika's back, seriously contemplating whether going with Reika counts as "paired up" given the only other major choice at hand.

"I think I'll just--" he begins, pulling at Reika reins softly to have her rise up, testing the water for Stonehoof's reaction.

[Gig_Complex]

Kale the Farseer

His blank eyes taking the scene of the fort in, Kale seems concentrated on something elsewhere. As the others pair up to begin to search through the abandoned fort, Kale notes Adagio's apprehension at being paired up with those left, himself included. Without turning to face Adagio, Kale raises his voice loud enough that the soft whisper can be heard by the mounted Adagio,

I suggest you pair up with someone Adagio, that pet of yours doesn't look like it will fit in one of these bunkhouses. Besides it would be...prudent to have a pair of eyes to watch your back and with no offense to the others present, I'm the least likely of those left to not leave you to die should things take a turn for the worse. Whether or not you wish to work together I shall be investigating that bunkhouse.

At the last sentence, Kale points at the bunkhouse closest to the fort and to the right (D). About half way there he stops in his tracks and turns around perfectly, seemingly changing face 180 degrees without the motion in between before speaking in a harsher voice, with a deeper tone, then any has heard from the small halfling before,

If you come across a halfling, do not harm them in any way, shape, or form. You will let me know and either bring them to me, or if that is impractical or would result in injury for the halfling, bring me to them. There will be no negotiation on this matter and should I find that you harmed a brethren of mine, I shall ensure that the torment you suffer will be like nothing that you have ever experienced before.

[ColonelFuster]

Jon Cameron Held his shootin' hand and his spellin' hand at the ready, and slowly opened the door to the bunkhouse, checking out the inside with his large elven eyes....

[WhiteKnight777]

Most of the crew found nothing - the insides of the bunks were mostly free of remains - perhaps one or two gore-stained splatters, and plenty of broken furniture.

However, as X and Cameron moved about their assigned cabin, they heard something - a soft squeak, like a frightened mouse, and they came upon a small man, in the tattered rags of what once must have been finery. Shivvering, and covered in blood that did not seem to be his own, he looked up at them with wide, frightened eyes, saying nothing.

[Whiplord]

Xxzyx raised a thing blond eyebrow.

What have we here?
Mmm, what have we here?

X stares down at the man, wondering how he should proceed. It was pretty clear they weren't they officials. For that matter, he had a feeling this man was the officials. Or what was left anyway.

Oh well, best to get it over with. He put on his best attempt at a friendly smile, and spoke, saying, "Would you mind telling us what happened here?"

[ColonelFuster]

Taking the friendly route, eh? Jon Cameron thinks as he keeps the gun trained on the man. One wrong move, and he'll have a faceful of force damage, no matter who he is. Jon thought about calling out to the others, but decided that it may be neccesary to take actions that only he and his tentacled friend could stomach... well... maybe....
"Oi! Kale, could you get in here? Alone?"

[DJDeMiko]

Jovar

Jovar nudges the lone mangled corpse with his boot, the look on his face suggests that he feels a mixture of boredom. He tries to get a feel for what type or weapon might have slaughtered the man. He looks away, trying to find any other clues and gets down to inspect the area under an only partially destroyed bed frame.

"You've been at see longer than I old man," Jovar calls out to Ol'Cobber, "have you ever seen this sort of &$%& before? I myself have seen slaughter on the battlefield, but I am more used to an orderly fight, not stumbling through broken remains and mysterious fogs."

As old cobber answers him, he grunts upon finding an illustrated copy of "Gnomes Gone Wild" and slides it back under the bed.

[Darkantra]

Ol' Cobber

"Naw, I ain't seen anythin' like this, but I can guess. Coulda been a damn powerful mage," he kicks a shard of wood and keeps looking through the room, "But everythin's torn up, so there musta been somethin' big and strong wadin' through all them soldiers."

Ol' Cobber pauses and looks in a smashed chest on the floor before continuing.

"Fog ain't always a wizard through, ther're plenty of druids that are damn angry at the empire, and they do roam around with big beasts. The worst part is that these 'ere bloodstains," he scuffs one with his boot, "Means that a good chunk of the garrison got slaughtered before they could get outside, or that they fell back to the bunks as a last resort. Even then, whatever killed 'em dragged 'em back out and tossed most in the sea..."

The older man straightens his back with a couple of cracks and spits on the floor.

"Short story? No clue."

Spoiler

Show

Search, Spot and Listen for anything hidden

Search - (1d20+3)[10]
Spot - (1d20+18)[24]
Listen - (1d20+16)[35]

[Gig_Complex]

Kale the Farseer

Finding nothing in his bunkhouse, the diminutive halfling makes his way outside when he hears Jon's call. Making his way to the bunkhouse Jon and Xxzyx had gone to search slowly Kale readjusts the pistol held loosely in his robes before entering.

What capabilities of mine do you require Mr. Cameron?

[ColonelFuster]

"Can you make him talk?" Jon says simply, but tries his best to make the words hold as much weight as possible.

[Darkantra]

Ol' Cobber

"Alright, we ain't findin' anythin' here. Let's get back outside and rendevous with th'others."


Ol' Cobber kicks anything within reach and moves back towards the door, motioning that Jovar should go first.

[WhiteKnight777]

The man simply shivvered, huddled against the wall. When he got a look at X, he screamed, his eyes wide in abject horror, before he stuffed his fist into his mouth to stifle his own outcry. The sound of his now-muffled screams mixed with the rapid scrabble of his feat as he tried to push himself further back from the hideous abomination - though his only recourse at this point was to try to move through the wall of the bunkhouse.

At last, seeing that he apparently wasn't about to have his face ripped off, the man stopped screaming and nervously withdrew his hand from his jaws, revealing red bitemarks where his teeth had pierces his flesh as he bit down reflexively in terror. Taking a deep breath, he began to speak in a breathless babble.

You... you're pirates, I assume? Yes, yes, must be... well, no matter now. They were supposed to protect us from you lot, ha ha, jokes on them I see. Wasn't what was on the sea that we needed worry about, but what was under it. Ha ha indeed, yes... under it. Teeth. So very many teeth.

He began to mutter, gesticulating with his hands while staring down between his shoes, apparently forgetting that he had an audience.

Meanwhile

Outside, the others slowly emerged from searching the cabins, having found little to nothing, besides the sparse belongings of the soldiers and - by the gear found in some of the trunks - the workmen or excavators who had been quartered in the fort. By the estimations from the bunks, there had probably been between thirty five and forty soldiers, and twice that many workmen.

However, just as Stonehoof was about to bellow another set of orders, a strange scent stole over the walls of the fort with invisible fingers. A stench of rotting fish and a deep, aqueous musk that was redolent with the muck of the sea-bottom.

[Whiplord]

X scowled. He didn't even have his other appendages out! Well then, if the man wanted to be scared, X would give him something to be frightened of.

Working several muscles in quick bursts, the three tentacles swiftly uncoiled and poised threateningly in the air, hovering around X, as they sprang forth form the specially modified points in Xxzyz' armor and clothing.

The man's words, while certainly interesting, and a bit unnerving to be sure, were entirely too cryptic to be of any use. His first choice would not have been to frighten the man, but seeing as it was too late not to, he would have to make the best of the situation.

In another quick movement X's tentacles lashed out at the man. He let the barrier between his and Lump's thoughts drop, the symbiont's hollow mental laughter reverberating in his skull.

A feral grin spread across his face, as he bent closer to the man.

"You will tell me everything."

Spoiler

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Yay! Good to have this back.

X is attempting to grab the man by his arms. Maybe shake him up a little bit. What kind of rolls do you want for that? Grapple?

[DJDeMiko]

Jovar

The scent hits Jovar, who was still joking around with Ol'Cobber and the smile left his face in an instant. His face becomes the hard mask of a man who knows that blood will come soon. He draws his sword and nods towards the old man.

[WhiteKnight777]

The man stared as the tentacles burst forth from X and began to twine about his limbs. Then, he began to scream. Again.

It occurred, belatedly, to X, that this was perhaps not the best method of dealing with someone already obviously traumatized.

[Darkantra]

Ol' Cobber

The stench hit the older man like a blow and after a moment of swearing he holds an arm under his nose to minimize the scent.

"Alright, let's get back to the others, we can't be affordin' the chance of gettin' cut off," he takes a quick look around and swears when he can't see Xxzyz or Jon, "Bugger, those two musta found somethin'. Jovar, you'd better get them, I'll keep an eye out for whatever's makin' that god-awful stench."

Ol' Cobber smacks the butt of his rifle into his should and starts scanning the walls as he walks backwards towards where the rest of their crew were.

Spoiler

Show

How far through the fog can I currently see?

Spot - (1d20+18)[24]
Listen - (1d20+16)[35]

Huh, deja vu.