The Giants' Crown (Alpha) Ch1 - The Fateful Voyage

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

"Well, that does seem to be our only way out alive at this moment." Xenka says as he slams his hand in frustration on the gunwale. Well, alive for us ship crew at any rate.

[Qualia]

Farhl

The bosun shakes his head

"Surrender is not wise. Let us make all haste to port and see how close we get."

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

"How close? Aren't we at least several days away?" Xenka scratched his head in puzzlement. "In the Windspear's condition, we'll be hard pressed to keep ahead for the next several hours."

Spoiler

Assuming I got the passage of time correct. It was several days to the next port since the elemental fight. And only one day has passed thus far.

So Zuhaitz casting waterbreath for underwater sabotage is out of the question then?

[Qualia]

Spoiler

I have waterbreathing and warp wood available, so I can do slow them down, at least.

[gareth]

Kwikweg turns to Melsitel.
If I swam underwater towards that ship, would the ghosts be able to see me?

[Mantid]

Melsitel shakes his head. "Ok, ok," he says. "I think we got carried away. This is all speculation. We don't know who or what may be on the ship, only that its an Aerenal wingship and that it seems to be following us.

"If there are ghosts on board, they aren't likely to have any special senses that an elf wouldn't have. They would just be better at searching, being that they can pass through walls and don't have to breath."

He sighs and looks at his fellow elves. "We may be wise to bring Es'tal'en to help us."

"But what about Be..." Celidea starts to exclaim.

Melsitel quickly snaps, "His wards and seals do us no good if the Aerenans stop us here!" He turns to regard the crew of the Spear. "He is no stranger to necromancy and magic. If there are undead operating that ship, he will be invaluable, if we can hold off an encounter long enough for him to prepare the incantations. We just need to know what the plan is so he knows what to prepare."

(On time: It has only been a day since the elementals attacked the ship. The port was an estimated two or three day journey away, so its still a day or two south. You're final destination is another week away after that.)

[gareth]

Kwikweg looks relieved.
That's good, we can still sneak up on them. Right, anyone who can cast Water Breathing, cast it on Xenka, Farhl, and me. Other casters, cast anything on us you think would be useful. We'll swim over underwater and sabotage the ship.

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

"No need to waste waterbreath on me, I have my own. Even if we can escape detection, we still need to think how we are going to sabotage the ship. Any ideas?"

[gareth]

We should get under the ship and attack the rudder, try to damage it as much as possible. They can't catch us if they can't steer.

[Qualia]

Farhl

The changeling scratches his chin "Hiding our passengers would be better. Throws them off the scent. Sabotage ensures they stay on our trail."

[gareth]

Kwikweg frowns.
I don't think we can hide the passengers from them, if they have the ghosts searching. And we'd have to make ourselves an easy target in the process. I say we stick with the sabotage plan. Who's with me?

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

Xenka seems to think for a while. One could hear the palpable creak of rusty metal as underused, corroded gears seemed to turn in his head ""Uhm... Well... I say we sabotage their rudder and make it look like an accident, so they can't point their finger at us."

Spoiler

Xenka's impromptu considerations:

Underwater Sabotage
Pros:
-If it fails, we can still retreat back to the ship, and then maybe try something else

Cons:
-As soon as their rudder is repaired, they'll be on our tail again (but provided we can get the ship repaired by then, we may be strong enough to win the fight)


Hide passengers
Pros:
-If it succeeds, they probably won't bother us for a while at least

Cons:
-If it fails, we will be at their mercy, since they will be onboard the ship and surrounding us.
-Even if we convince them the elves have left us, they may decide to kill us anyway, just to make sure.
-Its reliant on them not using zone of truth or similiar stuff, and not having magical means of detecting the elves

[gareth]

It would be very difficult to make it look like an accident. They'd hear us banging away at it. Even if we could magically break it, the timing would still make them suspicious.

[Qualia]

Farhl

The bosun attempt to take charge of what is rapidly becoming a swirling vortex of indecision.

"We don't have a working plan at the moment, so we head for port as fast as we can until we can come up with a plan."

[gareth]

Kwikweg nods.
Right. Except we should just steer for the closest land, not a port. We'll be much safer once we get ashore, wherever we are.

[Mantid]

Melsitel nods to Alimor. "Get Es'tal'en," he instructs. As the elf's brightly colored hair disappears below deck, the grinning leader turns back to you. "Regardless of what we choose to do, if we are dealing with Aerenal fanatics, he is worth consulting."

After a moment Alimor returns above deck, the cloaked figure of Es'tal'en following behind, his hood hiding his face. Without a word, the aged elf walks to the aft of the ship and stares out at the pursuing wingship. Raising a finger to his face, he mutters a series of arcane words, his eyes glowing blue for a moment. "Men'nen'el's Wingship. He serves the Undying Court directly," he replies, turning around to face you. "You can expect their chosen warriors on board, both living and undead, although he keeps more ghosts than the living."

The elf turns back to regard the ship and continues, apparently thinking out loud. "Interesting they would send him. They should know a ghost ship is at a great disadvantage to me..."

[gareth]

Kwikweg looks suspiciously at the cloaked figure.
What do you mean? If you have some kind of magical attack they would surely have taken that into account.

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

"So what do you suggest? I can try to turn undead if the need should arise, although I'm not terribly good at it."

[Mantid]

"A secret weapon?" Es'tal'en replies. "Hardly. I am well practiced in dealing with undead, however, so Men'nen'el is unlike to deploy his ghost crew onto our ship. Most likely the Undying Ones assigned him to the chase in hopes that our... shared history would give him the fervor to succeed. I'm uncertain what he may plan, however. If he can not board us, he is likely to try diplomatic means. Or may just plan to sink the ship from beneath us.

"I'm afraid the spells I have prepared for the day are not for dealing with undead. I have a few wands that may help, but would need some time to prepare a more appropriate repertoire."

Melsteil steps in. "I should mention," he says, "that Es'tal'en has been using his magic to hide us from other enemies. Every moment he spends helping us against the ghosts, it becomes more likely that more powerful foes may find us."

[Qualia]

Farhl

The changeling stands still, pondering the situation.

"Then we continue to try to outrun them, then once they close, we see whether they want to parlay or fight and respond in kind."

[JeminiZero]

Xenka

"Sink the ship beneath us? Thats not good, I'd better take a look." With that, Xenka drops a rope into the water, climbs down, and takes a look around.

[gareth]

I agree with Farhl. If there are no objections, I'll steer us for the coast and try to outrun them.

Spoiler

Profession (Sailor) check: plot the fastest possible course to land and set the ship on it. (1d20+14)[29]