Difference between revisions of "JesseLowe/PirateMonkeySession27"

Latest revision as of 21:50, 8 June 2010

• Back to Session 26

TonyC [to jetman]: Anyway, you're betting that we won't annoy Mask enough that he won't ignore his other problems and swat us first. People do that sometimes. And Deathlords are people too!

You say, "That said, it's pretty damn cool. Makes me want to run a heroic ghost campaign someday."

TonyC [to Apollonian]: So, will Mask have that End-Boss transformation spell then? Oh, why I even bother asking. Of course he does.

You say, "Neat stuff on Stygia, more arcanoi for ghosts, and ooooh.... pretty necromantic stuff. And war machines! And -- sweetness upon sweetness -- there's a Labyrinth Circle Spell that lets you summon a warstrider made of bones!"

Apollonian [to TonyC]: Screw that, did you see the page and half or so on the maggots in Juggernaut?

jetman [to TonyC]: Yes, I am, and yes he is... the two go together. The Mask is greedy and impatient... and he doesn't have a good asset left to come out and do smiting at sea.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I'll have to peek at this at the FLGS... )

TonyC [to Apollonian]: Nope. I don't actually own Bone and Ebony. It's nice, but it really is a GM supplement and I don't plan on running an Exalted game soon.

Apollonian [to TonyC]: Oh, well in that case...

Monkey is content with just browsing.

The Storyteller rubs his hands and cackles gleefully.

TonyC [to Apollonian]: Besides, now it'll be a surprise!

Apollonian [to TonyC]: Actually, if you're playing a ghost, a necromancer, or an Abyssal, I'd say it's a player's book too. Lots of beautiful crunch mixed in with fluff.

You say, "Anyway, we can get started as soon as I get my second cup of coffee and some CDs to rip while we play."

TonyC [to Apollonian]: Let the merriment begin.

jetman [to TonyC]: I had a subplot idea for Monkey... We know the Admiral had a Lunar friend/mate back in the day, and he'll be looking for her for answers and the next circle of sorcery... what if she sees Monkey and is smitten with him?

TonyC [to jetman]: Re: ships. Up to you. It's your past life, your plot hook. Me, I'm reasonably confident that by the time we actually face Mask, I'll survive. (I say survive. Not win.)

No Need For Monkey!

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku's going to start with half his peripheral and all of his personal Essence left due to burning off demon fogs, okay? )

The Storyteller . o O ( This also means he's got anima flare going on, but today is not a subtle day. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( What about willpower? Full? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Willpower is at full. BTW, Tony, in answer to the question posed in e-mail: This does qualify for your Limit Break condition. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Down 15 essence, meaning he's used the burn three times. )

The final shreds of fog burn away under the light of Kaizoku's anima, revealing a choppy blue sea under a noonday sun. Clouds scud eastward across the sky like scattered ships before a storm, and in the middle distance betwixt the horizon and the gunnels of the Unconquered Sun, the billowing sails of V'neef Barada's fleet can be seen. They gleam white and green in the sunlight, bearing the crest of the Merchant fleet on the mainsail and their captains' crests on the foresail (if any) or the banners that fly from the mainmast. The sailors of the Solar Wind Fleet can faintly hear the drums and pipes of the Realm keleustes carried on the wind.

The Storyteller . o O ( Actually, I figure he's just paced himself. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Approximate distance and time to intercept? The Admiral's been saving a trick, but it needs an hour or two. )

TonyC says, "Speaking about subplots, here's several. 1. Ambassador To The Unfortunate. "Next time we meet, it will be as friends." 2. The deathknight Relentless March of Inevitable Nirvana (formerly known as Gatash of Sijan) has a beef against Monkey, White Soul Weeping, and Glint of Blades for attacking his caravan. White Soul Weeping is the one who delivered the final blow, but clearly Monkey was his commander. (Kaizoku wasn't seen then.) 3. You know that Still Moon looks like Monkey? Well, funny, that. You see, Still Moon was supposed to be the Solar Exalt. But due to a huge snafu, Monkey got the shard instead. The Loom of Fate was creaking dangerously when someone suggested to exalt Still Moon in some other way and thus jury-rig Fate from self-destructing. Still, the Pattern Spiders aren't happy, and an entire Bureau is dedicated to finding a way to switch Monkey and Still Moon's exaltation, and as far as the Bureau is concerned, Monkey doesn't have to survive the process."

The Storyteller . o O ( The fleet is about two days away from Marin Bay. Incidentally, Marin Bay is the main port for the Lookshy fleet, something I'd forgotten about until I reread Outcaste. Time to intercept is at least an hour. They're moving at speed 5, you at speed 2. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Jaysus, that's a Byzantine subplot. )

The Storyteller looks again.

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, that's three sub-plots. )

Monkey . o O ( Pick one. Or all three. )

The Storyteller . o O ( One of the things I like about AC/DC is how adolescent their music is. Makes me feel 16 again. )

Monkey . o O ( If all else fails, I'm still waiting for Mecha-Godzilla. )

The Storyteller . o O ( But back on track... )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, yes... Hm.... HMMM.... )

The Storyteller takes some quick notes.

Admiral Kaizoku directs the sailing chief and the signal corps "Best possible speed to avoid intercept... I will need more than an hour..." He then returns to his quarters, golden coat flaring out behind him.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The plan: Art of summoning... Giant Squids! )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Octopoid, to be precise. )

Monkey . o O ( Monkey is supposed to find some time to teach Kaizoku archery. For convenience's sake, let's say both him and Kaizoku are in the same ship.. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yes. )

Even from this distance, the lookouts can track the Realm fleet, and a count of the enemy is quickly delivered to all captains. The main force appears to be three packs of 5 triremes each, two marine squadrons of 5 biremes each, a screening force of twelve fast couriers, and a single light First Age Warship -- Barada's flagship. They are arranged in three lines: scouts, triremes and flagship, biremes.

Admiral Kaizoku has the Corona and Stormhammer (Razor Leaf aboard) fall into position in the back of the Solar Fleet formation, with the biremes next, the Sun, and ahead of the rest, the captured merchants and support ships.

Monkey climbs the mast and tries to estimate the distance between Corona and the flagship.

The Storyteller . o O ( It's several miles. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Admiral, what're you doing? )

Monkey . o O ( Also, I'd like to estimate how long it will take them to catch up if Corona is to stay still and how long if Corona sails away. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Setting up the ritual to call up Octopids, as many as possible, using the Art of Summoning. )

The Storyteller . o O ( At full speed or at the same speed as the prize ships? )

Monkey . o O ( Same speed as prize ships. )

Admiral Kaizoku instructs the lookouts, gunners and archers to be on the alert for flying demons, as well.

The Storyteller . o O ( At current speed, they won't close for about 90 minutes. If closing on a stationary ship, make it 45 minutes. If the Corona turned and attacked, it's 15 minutes till contact. (That, by the way, is not ramming contact, but Long naval range -- when both sides could start shooting at each other.) )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The Corona isn't to turn and attack, just fall back so it has a clear line of fire past the other ships. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( For when the time comes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Are y'all on the Unconquered Sun or the Corona? )

Monkey says, "Pstt, Captain. Admiral. Arrgh, it'll be a while before I get used to this."

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The Sun. )

Admiral Kaizoku looks up from his ritual work to say "Longer than 'Captain Monkey?'"

Monkey says, "Ah, well, that's different. I've been sailing since I was six. 'Course, those be fishing ships, but I got experience. Anyway, I'm a pretty good swimmer. What if I were to dive down, stay underwater until Barada's flagship went over, climb it, and just steal the flagship under their fleet's nose? What do you think?"

Admiral Kaizoku shakes his head. "You'll be needed in a command position for this battle Monkey. Your idea has merit though... when things develop and close, we'll execute it so that you sneak aboard the rear as I take the front."

The Storyteller . o O ( Hmm... Does that make Monkey a butt-pirate? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Aiieeee! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Mission accomplished! )

Monkey . o O ( Heard worse. You're talking to someone who can hold a conversation with yaoi fangirls. )

Monkey . o O ( and slashfickers. )

The Storyteller is impressed.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I just tune out the yaoi girls when I must hear them... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( segueing to tentacles, the storyteller will need to figure how many octopids are within three miles (presumably, that includes three miles down). )

Monkey . o O ( I only do that for the uncute ones. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Anyway, yaoi fangirls aside, I'm gonna say it's difficulty 2 for summoning the Octopid(s). )

On 1d10, you rolled 10.

The Storyteller . o O ( Hm. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( OK, should I roll, manip + Occult? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yes. Cost is 3 motes, of course. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Spending 1 WP for auto success )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on Man+Occ and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Woo! So, 3 extra successes, and thus they arrive in 1 hour 15 minutes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yup... which should give you fifteen minutes for them to wreak havoc. Should. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( At least. )

Just as the admiral finishes the ritual, he and Monkey hear a pair of thunderous *cracks* from the deck above and feel the ship shudder and slow in the water. The cracks are quickly followed by screams and shouts from above.

Monkey scrambles out to see what happened.

Admiral Kaizoku draws his sword and strides out onto the deck, having anticipated this.

By now, it's getting to be a depressingly familiar sight: Your masts shattered to stumps and bleeding sailors all over the deck. You can feel the tell-tale traces of Essence on the wind. Someone has cast the Mast Shattering Spell upon the Unconquered Sun. Looking across the line of the fleet, you see that -- for the moment -- the Sun is the only one so stricken.

The Storyteller . o O ( Make Per + Awareness rolls )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 4 dice on No Awareness yet and got 5 successes.

Monkey rolled 3 dice on Per+ Awa and got 2 botches.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Typical... )

Scanning the sea and sky around the ship, the Admiral sees the culprit. High above and aft, a demon wasp hovers, its rider watching the crew of the Sun struggle with damage control.

The Storyteller . o O ( It's about two and a half miles out. )

Monkey . o O ( Mast Shattering Spell has that kind of range? Wow. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yep... naval spells are generally line of sight. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( And better than the Lightning Ballista, darn it. )

Admiral Kaizoku orders Saji and his spotters to keep a close eye on said wasp, and burn it to cinders if it comes into range. "Barada's sorceress paramour may have a few more surprises... but not many. Her power is limited by her blood" he tells the crew, getting Balm and orderies to tend to the wounded men below deck.

You rolled 6 dice on something and got 4 successes.

Monkey says, "Alright, you pansies. Clear the debris and get those oars out. Unless you'd rather this ship be a standing target."

With practiced efficiency, the medical staff clears the casualties from the deck, and the uninjured (and merely scratched) clear the deck and get the ship ready to repel boarders. The sails are taken in as quickly as possible, while the shards of the masts are swept overboard.

The Storyteller . o O ( This is where we run into a small clash of assumptions... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( That a Tender has oars? )

Monkey . o O ( They don't? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The picture shows them, but the description makes no mention of them, or oarsmen. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Bingo. Illustration to the contrary, there's nothing in the text of the Tender entry that says a trireme has oars... )

Monkey . o O ( Was there mention of oars for trireme and biremes? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yep, and the rowers needed. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Tenders just have sailing crew though. )

The Storyteller . o O ( I'm inclined to think, however, that it might have something... probably something like six oars to a side for simple maneuvering. The trireme and bireme entries have rowed speed entries, too. )

Monkey says, "Alright, you pansies, clear the debris out."

Monkey turns to Kaizoku, "This ship is a sitting duck, Captain. Shall we abandon ship and transfer to Corona?"

Admiral Kaizoku walks to the stern and steps up on it. "They have made a grave mistake... they decided to make us stop and fight!" he intones. "I alone destroyed two of Realm Navy's finest ships without you..." he tells the crew. "Now, you are with me, and none of them can stand before us!" He raises his sword and catches the sun with it.

The Storyteller . o O ( Roll Cha + Performance. )

Monkey says, "Alright! We fight!"

The Storyteller . o O ( And yes, you get a stunt die. )

Monkey raises his fist and cheers.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 8 dice on Cha + Per and got 4 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Thanks to the admiral's inspirational speech, the Unconquered Sun's crew gets an extra die on all rolls this battle. )

Admiral Kaizoku says, "Monkey, man the spare Implosion Bow."

Monkey says, "Aye aye."

Admiral Kaizoku signals a half-circle formation for the fleet, with the Sun on the inside of it, furthest in. He continues to stand on the stern of the ship, his anima flare marking where he is to the enemy fleet.

The Solar Wind Fleet obeys the Admiral's command, forming up as quickly as possible.

The Storyteller . o O ( How is it arranged, and where do you stick the prizes? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Like a pincer formation, the triremes on the prongs, two biremes filling out each pincer, to the right and left of the Sun, the Sun in the middle and the support and prize ships behind the Sun, close by, and covered by it. )

The Storyteller . o O ( And the Kamsii ships? )

Monkey . o O ( Some of them came with us to Marin Redoubt? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Englobing the prize ships. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The warriors have been on the biremes, so yes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( They've all been sticking with the fleet, knowing a good thing when they see it. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Another clever trick comes to mind regarding the masts, when the time comes for a fast maneuver. )

Monkey . o O ( And the squids? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( They'll be directed to the tasty rowers on the enemy triremes. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( At the most surprising moment. )

In response to the Admiral's maneuver, the Realm fleet also changes formation. From a trigram of ships, the light scout ships sweep out to the port and starboard until they chase alongside the sweeps of the biremes like flocks of gulls. The triremes, meanwhile, split into their wolfpacks, forming up into three sharp Vs, each one aimed at a third of the Solar Wind Fleet.

The Storyteller . o O ( It takes about ten minutes to form up the fleet, and another five for Barada's fleet to finish responding. You have thirty minutes till contact. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( 1 squid each for each ship on the outer two wolfpacks. What's the demon wasp doing? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Just hovering, as far as you can tell. )

Admiral Kaizoku says, "When the ships come into range, fire at will, triremes are your primary target... ignore the flagship for the moment."

The Storyteller . o O ( Remind me how the weapons are distributed across the fleet? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Lightning Ballista and Implosion Bow on the Sun, LB on the Corona, IB on the Stormhammer, Venture and Nimbus. )

Monkey . o O ( One Light Implosion Bow on Stormhammer, which is out of this combat. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The last two uncrewed. )

Monkey . o O ( How about mundane weapons? )

Monkey . o O ( Does Sun has mundane ballista? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Ballistae have Long range, IIRC, so yes, them too. I don't think the Sun does, no... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Flame projectors on the biremes, sailcutter and ballistae on the Nimbus, none on the Sun. )

Monkey rolled 5 dice on Limit Break and got 1 success.

Monkey . o O ( alright, I'm ready. )

Admiral Kaizoku sends some free sailors onto the shipped triremes to ready his next plan as he watches the oncoming fleet.

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, we'll skip ahead to Long Range, when you can open up on the enemy and vice versa. What are your initial poses? )

Admiral Kaizoku raises his hands high and commands the Octopids under his command to feed on the oarsmen of the outer flanking wolfpacks, then brings down his sword at the middle one, calling out "FIRE!"

Monkey swings the Light Implosion Bow to target the nearest enemy ship. He looks up from the artifact and gives the enemy fleet a salute. "Good luck, mateys, you're gonna need it." With that, he pulls the trigger.

The Storyteller . o O ( Octopids ain't there yet, mate! It's been 30 minutes since you finished the summoning -- 45 minutes to go. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops. Well, he appears to be waving for effect then. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( So Saji should open up on one too. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Is that like "fire for effect? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Roll your attacks... )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 8 dice on Saji LB attack and got 3 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Per+Archery+? )

Monkey . o O ( Do I get crew bonus, etc? )

Monkey . o O ( 2motes. 15B. Hull. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Not in this case, since it's not a crewed weapon. )

Monkey . o O ( do I get the extra die from Kaizoku's speech or does fellow PCs don't count? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Hm. Were you inspired? )

Monkey rolled 7 dice on Light Implosion Bow Kaboom! and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Me? Nah. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops, I forgot that for Saji )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 1 dice on 1 more and got 1 think The success rolls for the shooting.

The Storyteller . o O ( The success rolls for the shooting. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Saji got 4 on his, Monkey 4 on his. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, those are hits... meanwhile, the enemy fleet and yon sorceress... )

Monkey . o O ( I said I wasn't impressed. Hence the roll (i'd roll more if I were). )

You rolled 6 dice on something and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on something and got 1 botch.

You rolled 6 dice on something and got 2 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on something and got 3 successes.

Monkey . o O ( I also asked how far away, in yards, are the ships to our left and right. This might be important if Unconquered Sun got sunk. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Nah, Barada will want to board, not sink at a distance, after all the humble pie he's been handed. )

Monkey . o O ( It's not beyond implausibility that Barada's standing order were "Ignore the other ships. All ships are to target and destroy the Anathema." )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The Admiral is planning for it. )

Across the waves fly the chain-dragging bolts of the Realm sailcutters from two of the wolfpacks. (The middle wolfpack seems to be having weapon troubles.) From Barada's flagship, hear the characteristic sound of a light implosion blow, and see the bolt tear a chunk out of the Corona's hull. The sailcutter bolts sweep the decks of three of the triremes, inflicting severe casualties on the Rahkamo warriors on those ships.

The Storyteller . o O ( And meanwhile -- what two ships were you aiming at? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The outermost right one. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( In the middle formation. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Both the implosion bow and the lightning ballista? Remember, the LB can sink a ship with one hit. )

Monkey . o O ( Monkey targets the nearest ship. Whatever that is. )

The Storyteller . o O ( That'd be Barada's flagship. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Which the Admiral said not to shoot )

Monkey . o O ( The nearest ship is Barada's? The second nearest then. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Not that you could hurt it in the first place... 30L soak! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Of course, you could try to clear its decks with the implosion bow -- that's what they're for, after all... )

Monkey . o O ( I'm surprised that Barada is that close. I expected him to hang back to view the over-all situation and give order. )

Monkey . o O ( No, no. Next nearest then. I did say hull. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Heh. He wants Kaizoku's *balls.* )

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, that'd be one of the triremes. )

Monkey . o O ( Ah, he's that kind of sailor. I see. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Aiee! Kaizoku/Barada fanfic! )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The horror... the horror... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( There's only one kind of slash needed here, and that's with a daiklave! )

Barada looks deep into Kaizoku's eyes and murmurs, "I never realized... that I would be blinded by the Sun..."

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I have to go wash my brain out now... )

The Storyteller quickly rewrites Barada's motivations.

The Storyteller . o O ( Right, right! Back to the naval battle! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Monkey, you had the IC set on double damage, right? )

Monkey . o O ( Of course. I mean, back during their youth, the two were best friends and roommates in boarding school..... )

Monkey . o O ( IC? IB? Yes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yeah, that. )

Monkey . o O ( Will stop from writing slash outline. )

Monkey's shot tears away the oars on one side of a trireme to Barada's starboard. It falls behind the rest as the crew struggles to regain control. On the port side, Saji's lightning bolt cores out the ram from the lead trireme of the center wolfpack, bringing it to an effective halt and the brink of sinking.

The Storyteller . o O ( Next round of poses, please. )

Monkey says, "Brace for impact!"

Monkey . o O ( Where's the return fire? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( They shot first. )

The Storyteller . o O ( already described it, above the slashfic bit. )

Monkey . o O ( Sorry. Anyway, new round. )

The Storyteller . o O ( And impact won't happen for a bit... you've got one more range band to go before they can ram, and stuff -- about fifteen minutes realtime. )

Monkey . o O ( Still long range? )

Admiral Kaizoku stands resolutely and unafraid as the bolts of energy from his ship tear into the lead elements of the wolfpack... he narrows his eyes, trying to spot Barada on the command ship. He gestures at the next targets, the ones immediately flanking Barada's ship, bringing his sword down to point at each one. "Fire!" he booms over the sound of battle.

The Storyteller . o O ( Yes. Again, the whir of sailcutters and the crack of an implosion bow. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 8 dice on Saji fire and got 3 successes.

Monkey brings his implosion bow to bear on Barada's flagship. Sure, Admiral Kaizoku says not to shoot at it, but that ship's implosion bow is dangerous. He targets the enemy's implosion bow and hopes he can at least cripple it.

Monkey rolled 7 dice on Implosion vs. Implosion and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Same. 2m. 15B. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Gotta be at short range to attack weapon mounts. But that's good enough for an attack on the crew. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Who are much less resiliant, and in short supply... )

Monkey . o O ( Good enough. If nobody mans the bow, that's fine. )

Monkey . o O ( Unfortunately, if it's a dynast, he'll probably survive it. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( They probably don't have another gunner though. )

Saji hits another trireme, bringing it to a shuddering halt with water pouring in the side over the broken bodies of its rowers. Monkey's implosion bow clears a section of Barada's flagship's (henceforth the Stalwart Chanter) foredeck, killing a few sailors and sending a few more over the side, to be churned up in her paddlewheels. Even at this distance, though, you can see that the jade-clad gunner is unfazed.

Monkey . o O ( Implosion bow is ridiculously easy to use. All you need is to be able to manipulate essence. Heck, Barada could step in if he has to. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( What? Do such common work?! )

Monkey . o O ( No, no. This is the flagship from the First Age. Even the lowliest work is an honor. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( During the First Age yes, but the current owners have no love of tradition. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Pose again? )

Monkey . o O ( Seriously, did he dodge/parry, or did he just take it? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Just took it. Hard to tell at this range, but it looks like he's wearing heavy armor. )

Monkey . o O ( If he just depends on soak, then unless he ignores bashing or has a hardness of 19, then I should do ping. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Roll it. )

Monkey . o O ( Anyway.... Next pose? short/long range? )

Monkey rolled 3 dice on Ping ping ping and got no hits.

The Storyteller . o O ( Next pose, last one at long range. )

Admiral Kaizoku is grimly satisfied with the work Saji is doing, and uses his blade to direct his fire opposite the Chanter, at the triremes there Monkey has passed up.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 8 dice on something and got 5 successes.

Another figure in green jade steps up onto the Chanter's foredeck, long black hair flowing in the wind and a great green powerbow in her hands. She raises the powerbow and, swift as thought, looses three arrows at the Admiral. Curling silk trails each arrow as it cuts through sea air.

From his station, Monkey gives the jade-clad gunner a salute, adknowledging his/her prowess. Knowing that a gunnery duel is likely futile, he switches target to one of the triremes. The implosion bow hums as power builds up inside it.

Monkey lets the essence go and a corruscating ball of energy leaps forward to the cannon to strike the trireme.

Admiral Kaizoku prepares to dodge.

Monkey rolled 7 dice on Implosion bow and got 5 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Same. 2 motes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( BTW, I'm assuming that the other ships have been using their ballistae as well at this range, which is probably going to trim the Short range band battle to about five triremes, a couple of biremes, and the flagship versus you guys. )

Monkey turns around. "Master At Arms! It might be a good idea to have bows and arrows ready!"

Under the fire from the Solar Wind Fleet, the Realm ships suffer terribly, but their return fire is nearly as awful. Four more triremes fall behind, two sink outright, and a seventh fouls up a pair of biremes as veers to one side, oars torn away by Monkey's implosion bow.

The Storyteller . o O ( Meanwhile, arrows! )

You rolled 8 dice on Arrow 1 and got 5 successes.

You rolled 7 dice on Arrow 2 and got 2 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Arrow 3 and got 2 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Those be at the Admiral, yar. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Full Dodge )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 11 dice on Dodge 1 and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 10 dice on Dodge 2 and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 9 dice on Dodge 3 and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( One long turn is what, 10 minutes? And are you going to use a charm to parry that? )

The Dragon-Blooded's arrows cleanly miss the captain, trailing their gossamer threads. Two fly off into the ocean, while the third punches halfway through the stump of the Sun's mainmast.

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, didn't read that clearly. Shame on me. )

Two of the Dragon-Blooded's arrows cleanly miss the Admiral and plunge into the ocean. The first catches him in the hip, piercing armor and flesh.

Monkey . o O ( I guess Kaizoku's a tough guy. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( What's your soak? Damage is 9L. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( 10L )

Monkey . o O ( DB does ping to Kaizoku. )

You rolled 5 dice on DB ping and got 2 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( that'd be 2 Lethal on the Admiral, plus he's been Soul-Marked. )

Monkey . o O ( David? )

Monkey . o O ( Q for David: how many men with bows on Sun? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Using Essence Gathering Temper )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( 15 )

The return fire from the Realm fleet punches holes in the Corona, Nimbus, and Zenith, crippling but not yet sinking them. Their crews focus on damage control, pulling slightly back if possible.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I'm not sure how EGT works. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Roll 9 dice. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 9 dice on something and got 5 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( So 15 essence. )

The Storyteller . o O ( each success gets you 3 motes, but you can only count up to (Stamina) successes. )

Monkey says, "Master At Arms, when that ship gets in range," Monkey points at Chanter, "shoot it. Keep a steady stream of arrows at it until you are out of arrows, we're about to be boarded, or the Admiral tells you otherwise. Okay?"

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( 9 motes then. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Aye. Next round of poses. We're now at Short range. On the opposing side we have the Chanter, five triremes, most of the biremes -- still at Long range, actually -- and the scout ships. The Rahkamo are keeping the scout ships at bay, so you don't need to worry about them. On the SWF side, it's the Sun and the two triremes on her, the Dawn, Twilight, and Night. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Did I miss anyone? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Are the biremes in flame projector range? )

The Storyteller . o O ( No, that'd be ramming range. )

Monkey . o O ( Jesse, I don't know if you caught this, so I'll do a repeat. )

Monkey . o O ( Incoming power up. 23 motes. Added with motes used to power the Implosion Bow, that's 29 motes. Personal all gone. Peripheral 11 motes. Anima banner is bright. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Ah, no, I hadn't caught that. Thx. )

The Storyteller . o O ( So both Solars are quite, quite glowy. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Put up your poses while I visit the head. )

Admiral Kaizoku bursts with energy as he takes the arrow hit on his hip, containing his angyer and focusing it. "Keep firing!" he calls out. "Stand by to repel boarders!"

Monkey takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment. He gathers essence from the air around him and uses it to supplement his own. Within the space of ten heartbeats, his anima sparks out from his caste mark into a full bonfire of sunlight all around him.

Monkey . o O ( Graceful Crane Stance. Durability of Oak Meditation. Spirit Strengthen The Skin. Strength Increasing Exercise. Flow Like Blood. And yes, those are all committed for the duration of the scene. Oh, and costs 2WP on top of the motes. )

Once again, the enemy fleet launches a hail of missiles at the solar fleet. The piping of the keleustes takes up a shrill and frenzied rhythm as the triremes prepare to ram! At the helm of the Chanter, both Solars can see the blackly armored form of V'neef Barada, and standing next to him is a hugely muscled Immaculate monk, naked to the waist and leaning against a white jade tetsubo. The green-clad archer looses a single arrow at the Admiral, wood-aspected essence trailing it like a comet's tail.

The Storyteller . o O ( roll your attacks as necessary. )

You rolled 11 dice on green-clad arrow and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 8 dice on Saji Strike and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 11 dice on Full Admiral Dodge and got 6 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( 7 successes to beat... Okay, damage is 12L, so ping. )

You rolled 5 dice on ping damage and got 5 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Ouchie. Also, the captain loses two motes... and rolls 12 dice for Essence-Gathering. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( If it's even, doesn't that mean no damage? )

Monkey . o O ( You're unleashing Essence 5 enemies on us? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Well, one of them. )

The Storyteller . o O ( What do you mean even = no damage? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh! I misread! )

The Storyteller . o O ( I thought Saji's roll was your dodge roll. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Adm had six vs. the six of the bow. )

Monkey . o O ( Jesse, what attacks are being launched from Chanter to Sun and vice versa? Trying to figure out a stunt here. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Attacks from Chanter to Sun: arrows from the marines, one arrow from the DB, and the implosion bow, which knocks out a chunk from the rear platform connecting the center and port hulls. )

The Dragon-Blooded archer's arrow grazes Kaizoku's armor in its flight, and the resultant wobble sends it into the deck behind him.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 12 dice on Essence Gathering and got 3 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, no rolls on the EG if the arrow missed, as it did... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops. )

Admiral Kaizoku narrows his eyes and fixes them on Barada, calling out "You know your men don't stand a chance against me! Let us settle this commander to commander!"

Barada bellows back across the waves, "I've long waited for you to challenge me like a real warrior, demon! Prepare to die with your ship!" The Chanter surges forward at ramming speed!

His whole body suffused with essence, Monkey turns to face Kaizoku and shouts, "Capt, I mean, Admiral! I'll be going for a bit now. You might want to come over." Without pause, Monkey sommersaults back to the prow of the Unconquered Sun, squints his eyes a bit to focus on the incoming arrows, and leaps a prodigious distance, landing on one of the incoming arrows. As the arrow starts to fall from the weight of his body, Monkey pushes and jump to next one. And the next one. With each jump, his anima glows a little bit brighter and begins to acquire shape, until when he arrives on Chanter, the White Gorilla lands on knuckles and feet.

The Storyteller . o O ( Monkey, what's -- oh, there it is. )

Monkey . o O ( Sorry, preemptive strike. )

Monkey . o O ( Monkey Leap to assist each jump. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Aye, that be a three-die stunt for sure. )

Admiral Kaizoku calls out "NOW!" and gestures to the sailors by the masts of the shipped triremes... they raise them up and catch the wind, pulling away from the ram of the Chanter at the last possible moment.

Monkey . o O ( Booya. )

The Storyteller . o O ( roll Wits + Sail + 2 dice (for crew quality) + 2 dice (for a rather clever stunt) - 4 dice (for maneuverability). )

Monkey . o O ( Cool. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on sail stunt! and got 2 successes.

Monkey . o O ( And don't forget to recover motes/wp from that. )

You rolled 11 dice on Barada Sail and got 9 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Typical.... )

The Storyteller . o O ( Isn't it, though? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Give me a minute to do this pose. )

Monkey . o O ( Yup. Unimportant straight roll, minimal dice pool, he gets tens. Important, stunted, with good pool, 2 successes. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( This makes up for the 5 of 4 on Awareness. )

Monkey . o O ( Redirecting connection. Shouldn't affect anything. )

TonyC has reconnected.

Paddlewheels churning like hurricanes, the Chanter bears down on the Unconquered Sun, a shark to its whale. Despite Kaizoku's desperation maneuver, the First Age warship catches the tender on the port bow, and wood crunches like pine needles before the indestructible metal. At the last minute, the crew of the Sun jumps ship -- the braver launch themselves onto the Chanter itself, blades clenched between their teeth and blood in their eyes. From the stern, Saji takes steady aim and fires the lightning ballista at point-blank range -- and the bolt incinerates the green-clad archer and the implosion bow next to her. Unnoticed by all, the wind picks up...

Monkey . o O ( Rainstorm! With Lightning and Thunder! )

Monkey . o O ( Cue boss fight music. )

Admiral Kaizoku holds his blade up and points at Barada's party, leading the less bold sailors and the 3 fangs of marines onto the ship, caste mark blazing with power.

Monkey . o O ( Hah. I could've taken out the archer myself. )

The Storyteller . o O ( You're gonna have to stunt that or make an Athletics roll, your call. )

Monkey . o O ( Who? )

Monkey . o O ( Oh, Kaizoku. )

The Storyteller . o O ( I'd be pretty surprised -- she was a 5 Essence master of Wood Dragon and halfway down the Earth Dragon path. )

Monkey . o O ( But she's not Monkey. :p )

The Storyteller . o O ( there is that. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I'll stunt! )

Admiral Kaizoku calls out "This is his greatest and last mistake! Every advantage is ours now! Forward to victory!" he calls out, caste mark glowing as the power of solar majesty radiates from him. He runs up a splintered deck plank, nearly straight up it and leaps off, coat trailing behind him as he curls and lands on the ancient deck fo the Chanter.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Activating Majestic Radiant Presence. )

Monkey . o O ( Seriously, I think I can disarm her bow. Throw it into the sea, and she's considerably reduced in power. If I don't have to worry about the other DBs, I'm reasonably sure I can dance around her until she runs out of motes. Also, if she's not fast, the charm Distractingly Lewd Gesture could be fun to use. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Dude, two words: Soul. Mastery. )

The Storyteller . o O ( 'course, she'd have to hit you first... )

The Storyteller . o O ( So, to set the scene! )

Monkey . o O ( Seven Shadow Evasion. ;) )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yeah, that. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I think I'm going to learn much more than I'd like about Soul Marking, since I was hit by it. )

The Chanter is a far smaller warship than the Unconquered Sun, and so carries a complement of only 15 marines. Of course, they're elite marines, but even they blanch before the awesome radiance of the Zenith caste.

Monkey . o O ( Try Emerald Countermagic on it first. Besides, the person who Soul-Marked you is dead. What harm can there be? )

Monkey . o O ( Note to self: work with Jesse re: ghost, nemissary, or deathknight option. )

Monkey . o O ( just kidding )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Well, maybe the Mask has some zombie whale spying and swallowed up the remains... )

Not to be outdone, Monkey uses his Dawn Caste anima ability.

Monkey . o O ( Nah, that's more like the demon-worshipping Lintha. Of course, the akuma options in the wiki are pretty intriguing. Have you seen them? )

Of far greater concern are the two Dragon-Blooded who stride forward. Elders of their aspects -- Earth and Water -- they are elemental might constrained and channeled by the force of centuries of experience. Kahlun you have faced before, and as he steps forward the power of earth surges through him and his skin becomes as stone. Barada you have embarrased for the last time, and he flexes his arms as he moves towards Kaizoku in a wrestler's stance. Then the golden light of Dawn washes over them...

You rolled 3 dice on Marine valor and got 2 successes.

The marines blanch at the fearsome aspect of the White Ape but steady their weapons and prepare to face death.

Monkey . o O ( But what about Kaizoku's Majestic Radiant Presence? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Do Exalts roll vs. the Dawn Anima effect? They're not really mortals... )

Monkey . o O ( No, Exalts don't. )

Monkey . o O ( One Anathema is bad enough. But there's two of them. And they're both scary glowy. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, good. It'd be rather anti-climactic if these two fearsome Dynasts cowered like incontinent puppies. )

The Storyteller . o O ( So... Initiative! )

On 1d10, you rolled 6.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 1d10+14 and got 24.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( It was Kahlun who inspired me to create the Transcendant Sword combo, in hopes of doing damage to him. Wonder if it'll work. )

Monkey rolled 1d10+8 and got 11.

On 1d10+21, you rolled 30.

The Storyteller . o O ( Uhm. Wow. )

Monkey . o O ( That's Barada? Uh, wow. )

Round One! Order: Kahlun, Kaizoku, Barada, Monkey! Fight!

The Storyteller . o O ( But first, where are ya'll on the ship? This is what I'm assuming: )

Monkey . o O ( Deck. Probably in the middle of their marines. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I think that's Kahlun, since he's got a big weapon. Barada's bare-handed. )

Barada and Kahlun are on the aft deck, heading down to the main deck. Monkey is on the main deck, just forward of the mast, while the Realm marines are just aft of it. Kaizoku and his marines are crowded onto the foredeck, while Kaizoku and the SWF marines are on the foredeck and clinging to the bow of the Chanter.

Monkey . o O ( Are these all? I was expecting a full circle of 5. The Wood died, so that's 4 left. Where's the other two? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Does that look right? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Kaizoku twice? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Well, there's the sorceress, who's pretty much vanished from everyone's radar, and there's the Fire Aspect, yet to be seen. Oops. Well, he and his guys are on the foredeck, right? )

Monkey . o O ( My position is about right. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Pretty much right to me. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay. Proceeding. )

Kahlun walks forward, swaying with the ship, idly swinging his tetsubo at his side. "I'm going to crush you like a bug, Monkey," he says, and steps through the line of Realm marines. As an aside, he says, "Leave him to me." Fast as lightning, he readies the tetsubo and swings it at Monkey's ribs.

The Storyteller . o O ( Basic attack, one held action for defense. )

You rolled 9 dice on Kahlun attack and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Persistent Dodge. )

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Dodge and got 13 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( describe? )

Rolling his eyes up, Monkey takes a step to the side. The tetsubo smashes into the deck, denting even the first age construction. "That's what you said last time too, and I see you still haven't gotten any better."

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku, your turn. )

Monkey . o O ( Uh, exactly how much damage potential are we talking about with that tetsubo of his? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Too much! )

The Storyteller . o O ( 24L base )

Admiral Kaizoku narrows his eyes at Barada. "Tell me something... are you happy? Content with the way the Realm is going? And with fighting pirates here while the dead rampage across the seas?" he asks, lunging forward with a trio of strokes at Barada's legs and waist.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( three actions. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Saving anything for defense? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Dipping Swallow Defense should handle that. )

The Storyteller . o O ( True. )

The Storyteller . o O ( roll it. He's parrying. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 13 dice on Left leg slash and got 10 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 11 dice on Center slash and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 12 dice on Right leg slash and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Well, got the order mixed up... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( and isnt' that typical. )

The Storyteller . o O ( No, actually, he's going to dodge -- his attack is only rate 1... )

Monkey . o O ( Ew. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Right, three dodges using Flickering Candle Meditation. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( But if he hits, that's it for the Admiral. I have no defense against grapple, as we saw previously. )

You rolled 7 dice on dodge 1 and got 4 successes.

You rolled 7 dice on dodge 1 and got 5 successes.

You rolled 7 dice on dodge 1 and got 1 success.

The Storyteller . o O ( Left leg hits with 6 successes, right leg with 5. )

Barada dodges one of Kaizoku's blows, but the other two land squarely on his legs.

The Storyteller . o O ( Soak is 12L )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Bingo damage. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on something and got no hits.

The Storyteller . o O ( Bingo damage? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Or ping damage. The minimum, like bingo fuel. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on something and got no hits.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Ack, I had a brain freeze. )

Monkey . o O ( How far away is Barada from Monkey? )

Monkey . o O ( Ah heck, give me the length and width of the ship and I'll estimate things myself. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Should have been 4 on the second one. Oh, well. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Uh, as I read it, you should be rolling 5L damage on that first attack, 4L on the second. (Daiklave damage 11L + 6 and 5 remaining successes... )

Monkey . o O ( Damage isn't affected by wound penalty, David. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yes, you're right. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Ship is 84 feet by 33 feet. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( And should I reroll the damage? )

Monkey . o O ( I suggest just rolling the difference. )

The Storyteller . o O ( yes. )

The Storyteller . o O ( to monkey's suggestion. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 5 dice on something and got 2 hits.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 4 dice on something and got 3 hits.

The Storyteller . o O ( Well, that's acceptable. )

Bleeding badly from wounds on both legs, Barada lunges forward, crushfists reaching for Kaizoku's sword arm and his left leg.

Admiral Kaizoku's gleaming blade skitters off Barada's belt as it cuts into his legs, slashing at tendons... he brings his blade around and flicks off the blood as he summons up the power of the Sun to bat away his outstretched hands.

The Storyteller . o O ( Sorry for the delay -- looking up grappling rules. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I wish I had found that anti-grapple hearthstone before this fight... )

You rolled 13 dice on clinch attempt and got 10 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( And the defense? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( DSD )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 15 dice on DSD and got 7 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Boned. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Whoops. Forgot wound penalties. Want me to re-roll or just knock off a success? )

Monkey . o O ( Reroll. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Reroll, yes. )

You rolled 12 dice on clinch attempt and got 4 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Lucky... )

The Storyteller . o O ( Describe? )

Admiral Kaizoku levers his long blade between Barada's arms and twists, moving them off so they pass harmlessly alongside him, before stepping back out of the bleeding man's reach. "We can end this now, you know... leave with your honor intact."

Barada snarls, "Honor? There is no honor in bargaining with demons... as you should know."

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Oooh, that one hit! )

While the Exalts battle, their mortal cohorts stay out of range of the jade and orichalcum weapons. They're loyal, but they're not stupid -- or suicidal.

Monkey . o O ( Indeed. So basically our marines and their marines are duking it out, although I suspect they're actually only putting a show while watching us. )

Admiral Kaizoku's eyes flicker with a moment's surprise. "The demons you fear exist only in your dated dogma!" he counters.

Unfortunately, this means that, for the most part, they're restricted to trading barbed insults and a few thrown knives. The knives are blown astray by the wind, which is now nearing gale force.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Slackers. )

The Storyteller . o O ( make Per + Awareness rolls )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 4 dice on Zip Awareness and got 5 successes.

Monkey rolled 3 dice on Per + Awa and got 1 success.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Oh, My GOD! )

Monkey . o O ( Hmmm, again? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Clearly, the captain needs to focus on the non-combat essentials of being a Solar and leave the fighting to Monkey. )

Monkey . o O ( Wait, wait, this might be an important perception roll. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( It's hard to miss a hurricane... )

The wind is cold and biting, and carries a faint, unfamiliar stench. The smell nags at the back of Monkey and Kaizoku's minds, and both Kahlun and Barada hesitate and sniff the air for a moment.

Monkey . o O ( Godzilla! )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Monkey vs. Godzilla's non-canon, so he wouldn't remember the smell. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Init. )

On 1d10, you rolled 2.

On 1d10+10, you rolled 15.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 1d10+14 and got 16.

Monkey . o O ( I've been skipped! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oops. My bad! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Don't know why, I thought you'd already gone. What do you do. )

Monkey says, "Now, let's see if I remember this correctly. If I do this, and then this, and this...."

Monkey steps forward and puts his right hand on the tetsubo, then the left hand on Kahlun's right hand, and then his right foot on Kahlun's left hand, and then his left foot on Kahlun's chest... and he pushes and pulls at the tetsubo.

Monkey . o O ( Disarm attempt, channeling valor. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Two-die stunt for the very careful description. "Just hold still a minute, okay? I want to make sure I'm doing this right..." )

Monkey rolled 17 dice on Disarm and got 13 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Parry defense. )

You rolled 8 dice on parry and got 5 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( By the way, bare-handed, he gets a bunch of extra to-hit dice. Just so you know. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Describe your successful disarm attempt. )

Monkey . o O ( It's alright. It's the humiliation that counts. :) )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Knock it into the sea! )

Monkey strains as he pulls the tetsubo off. Something slips and Monkey does a quick roll and stand as he lands on the deck. He looks up at the tetsubo on his hands and then at Kahlun. "See. Completely hasn't improved at all. Look, I'm going over there and see about this Barada fellow. He might be a challenge."

Monkey . o O ( Do I end up with the tetsubo in my hands or is it on the deck? )

Kahlun snarls with rage. "I don't need that to smash you!"

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, Monkey, roll init. )

Monkey does a quick hop skip towards Barada.

Monkey rolled 1d10+8 and got 18.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Wow, this is almost a first... Monkey wins init! )

Monkey turns around and does _something_rude_ towards Kahlun's direction.

Monkey . o O ( Distractingly Lewd Gesture. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, I gotta re-roll Kahlun's init... no tetsubo. )

Monkey . o O ( Okay, he has no tetsubo, and he substract 5 from his init. If it's 0 or smaller, he doesn't get to act. )

On 1d10+19, you rolled 28.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops, guess not! )

Monkey . o O ( Charm use. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Lemme doublecheck those numbers... )

Monkey . o O ( It's the only explanation. )

Monkey . o O ( In fact, let's do Distractingly Lewd Gesture at Barada too. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yup, that's right. )

Monkey turns and makes a rude gesture involving his ears, nose, three fingers, and his pants pocket? At any rate, Barada is incensed.

Turn Two! Order: Kahlun, Monkey, Kaizoku, Barada. Fight!

Monkey . o O ( The deal is they don't get to split dice. They have to either use reflexives (not a problem for DBs) or use Extra action charms. )

Kahlun slides forward along the deck and throws a vicious punch at Monkey's chin.

Monkey . o O ( Do I have the tetsubo or is it on the deck somewhere? )

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Persistent dodge and got 5 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Sorry. You have it in your hands. )

You rolled 15 dice on punch! and got 8 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Abort to parry )

The Storyteller . o O ( Roger. )

Monkey rolled 11 dice on Melee+Dex+Defense 1? and got 10 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Uh... do you have the stats handy? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( What about your dodge ANd I can get the states. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Oh, and it's a giant un-attuned jade tetsubo... Hrm. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Oh? I thought it was an artifact. Normal tetsubo is +3 spd, -1 acc +12B damage -3 defense rate 1 )

Monkey . o O ( With a combined dodge+parry successes of 15, I think I made it. )

Monkey . o O ( David, it's an artifact, but it's attuned to Kahlun, not to Monkey. )

Monkey . o O ( Therefore as far as Monkey's use, it's a plain heavy tetsubo. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Ah grand goremul then? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Hey, a Tesubo does more than a grand goremaul! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yes, but it's not a plain heavy tetsubo -- it's much heavier than that. What's Monkey's current strength? )

Monkey . o O ( Six Strength. Which is why I'm not worried. )

The Storyteller . o O ( But tetsubo damage is bashing, not lethal. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( That's true. )

Monkey hears Kahlun's charging from behind him and turns. Seeing him throwing a punch, he bends backward slightly and brings the jade tetsubo upward, deflecting the blow. "Sheesh. Look, give it up. I'm clearly way outside your league."

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay. But next time you parry with the tetsubo, you're at -4 dice for wielding it unattuned. Sound fair? )

Monkey . o O ( Sounds fair. Note that even if I reduce the successes by 4, the parry would still succeed. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Yes, I noticed. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Too bad I can't disarm Barada. Can I make a lore roll to ID the scent, BTW? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Sure, Wits + Lore, dif 3 )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on Wits+Lore and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( It must not be important! )

Monkey rolled 4 dice on Wits + Lore and got 3 successes.

Monkey . o O ( It must be. I rolled dice and succeeded too, so it must be important. :) )

The Storyteller . o O ( It's a charnel scent, like the Underworld storm you sat out back in Walker's Realm. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku, your turn. )

Monkey . o O ( Hmmm, have you been reading some of the Actual Play involving Leviathan, the marine equivalent of Juggernaut? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Can't say... )

Admiral Kaizoku adopts a fencing pose, free arm at his hip, and sheilding his wound. He flicks a glance to Monkey's duel and remarks "Are you happy with the demands of Immaculate Monks and their guidance of the Realm, Barada?" as he lunged forward on his right leg, letting loose with a flurry of blows at his shoulders.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 4 dice on actions and got 1 success.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( 4 actions, I mean! )

The Storyteller . o O ( dammit, firefox keeps looking for a disk in drive a: when I try to save stuff to my hard drive. WTF? )

Monkey . o O ( Man, I really wish there's enough time to get Poo-Flinging Strike. Flying tetsubo o'Doom! )

Monkey . o O ( Hmmm, go to Tools->Options->Download and see where your download folder is? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Desktop, though I have it set to ask me where to put each file. )

The Storyteller . o O ( So, Kaizoku -- your attacks. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Any stunting? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Sorry -- yes. One die stunt. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 13 dice on Right upper strike and got 7 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 12 dice on Left upper strike and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 11 dice on Left Lower strike and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 10 dice on Right Lower strike and got 7 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Without looking at your Firefox, I can't help any further. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Well, I'll muddle through. Meanwhile, back on the Chanter... )

You rolled 8 dice on Blade-Deflecting Palm and got 3 successes.

You rolled 8 dice on Blade-Deflecting Palm and got 2 successes.

You rolled 8 dice on Blade-Deflecting Palm and got 5 successes.

You rolled 8 dice on Blade-Deflecting Palm and got 6 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Is that a normal-type parry I should figure damage with? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Sucks to be him. And he can't abort to dodge thanks to Lewd Gesture... )

The Storyteller . o O ( yes. Soak is 12L, damage is 15L, 13L, 12L, and 12L. )

The Storyteller . o O ( So pretty much just ping across the board. )

Monkey . o O ( Still, that's 4x3=12 dice ping )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on strike 1 and got 2 hits.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on strike 2 and got 1 hit.

The Storyteller . o O ( So, roll it... )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on strike 3 and got 3 hits.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on strike 4 and got 2 hits.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Oh-oh. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( There go his arms, at least! )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( I really don't want to kill him... )

Barada meets every blow of Kaizoku's blade with a fist, and each blow bites into his armor. Blood spatters across the deck.

The Storyteller . o O ( Shoulda thought of that earlier... )

Admiral Kaizoku's precise cuts slice past the armor and into the flesh of his rival, though he takes no pleasure from the attack.

Monkey . o O ( Well, if someone has a healing charm, it might be possible to save Barada. of course, the wood aspect just got disintegrated.... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Or, in a worst-case scenario, he gets salvaged by a Deathlord! BTW, is he still up? )

The Dynast falls backward, bleeding like a slashed wineskin. "Never... never fail... Always... I will always haunt you, Kaizoku..." He staggers a few steps back, teeters over the railing, and plummets into the ocean.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Mask needs a new admiral. )

Monkey says, "Ah. Well.""

The Storyteller . o O ( And, uh, that's the turn... Well, Barada's men are severely demoralized, understandably. Roll init? )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 1d10+14 and got 16.

Monkey turns to Kahlun. "Sorry about him. Look, if you want to recover his body, I won't hinder you."

Monkey rolled 1d10 and got 5.

Monkey rolled 1d10+11 and got 21.

On 1d10+19, you rolled 26.

Monkey . o O ( Sorry. the rolled didn't like me adding a description after the roll command. )

The Storyteller . o O ( I've noticed that. )

Round Three! Order: Kahlun, Monkey, Kaizoku. Fight!

Kahlun lunges forward, throwing a series of avalanche-fast blows at Monkey's head and torso.

Admiral Kaizoku gives his enemy a salute with his blade as the wine-dark sea swallows him.

The Storyteller . o O ( four attacks. )

You rolled 11 dice on Punch 1 and got 7 successes.

You rolled 10 dice on Punch 2 and got 3 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Okay. Persistent Defense. )

You rolled 9 dice on Punch 3 and got 4 successes.

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Dodge and got 5 successes.

You rolled 8 dice on Punch 4 and got 5 successes.

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Dodge and got 7 successes.

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Dodge and got 7 successes.

Monkey rolled 13 dice on Dodge and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Abort to parry. )

The Storyteller . o O ( One gets through! Unless you abort to parry... )

Monkey rolled 7 dice on Parry1 and got 3 successes.

Monkey rolled 6 dice on Parry2 and got 7 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Describe )

Monkey moves back and back, ducking and weaving, occassionally using the tetsubo to ward off a blow that got too close for comfort. "Give it up, Kahlun. You are not a match to me, and my patience is running out."

Kahlun says, "Prove it, Monkey -- you've yet to hurt me..."

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku's turn. )

The tetsubo clatters on the floor as Monkey lets it go. His left knee raised and bent, his hands in a relaxed fist in front of him, he looks like Master Jaff begging for food.

Monkey . o O ( Note that the sorceress and her demon are still up there somewhere. )

Admiral Kaizoku turns back from the sea to face Kahlun. "*I* will hurt you unless you end this now!" he says in a very firm voice. "He was an honorable and skilled man... you are a lump of dirt." He brings up his sword and makes a trio of sweeping cuts, one at his head, one at his solar plexus and one at his ankles, in that order.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Three attacks, presuming he doesn't give up. )

Kahlun shrugs. "If I fall, others will rise to defeat you. Evil will never triumph so longs as the Dragons are vigilant."

The Storyteller . o O ( roll it. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Stunt? )

The Storyteller . o O ( 2 dice. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 15 dice on throat cut and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 14 dice on chest cut and got 5 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 13 dice on ankle cut and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Looks like I used up all my luck on Barada )

The Storyteller . o O ( He doesn't defend. Ping damage on all of them. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( May have to use the big thing... )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on throat and got no hits.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on chest and got 2 hits.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 3 dice on ankle and got 1 hit.

Admiral Kaizoku

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops )

The Storyteller . o O ( Roll init, then. )

On 1d10+19, you rolled 25.

Admiral Kaizoku's center blow is true, the torso not able to dodge as well as extremities... he cuts open a slash as his gleaming blade passes over the hard-packed flesh of the monk, and tears at one of his ankles as well.

Monkey rolled 1d10+8 and got 13.

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 1d10+14 and got 15.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Jeeze, that's 2 2s and a 1! )

Monkey . o O ( Okay, do you want to handle this or do you want me to? I got my 3-die stunt of the week, so I'm happy already. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Monkey needs to finish things he starts to learn responsibility! :) )

Kahlun focuses on Monkey and attacks with a single, precise blow aimed at a point on Monkey's neck.

Monkey . o O ( Well, I was trying for Barada! It's not my fault you took him out so fast! )

Monkey . o O ( Seven Shadow Evasion. )

You rolled 14 dice on Stillness of Stone and got 6 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Perfect dodge, yes? )

Monkey . o O ( Perfect Dodge. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, describe. )

The White Gorilla shimmers into being as Kahlun is poised to strike a nerve center on Monkey's neck. Monkey simply smiles and blinks. Kahlun blinks in return, and although he was sure he aimed at the right spot, Monkey was looking left at Kahlun's hand, which was hitting the empty space barely an inch next to Monkey's neck.

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( It's time for the thing... this'll take a second. )

Admiral Kaizoku holds out his daiklave to his side... winds curl around his arm as his stormy sea anima flares to majestic life and cling to the solar steel of the blade, which glows and grows, longer and longer... eight feet, then twelve! "SO BE IT!" he calls out, leaping into the air and gripping his charged weapon with both hands, swinging it down at Kahlun's crown, lips tight, motes of power flying behind him from his caste mark.

Monkey . o O ( To be honest, I don't think I can hurt Kahlun directly. My plan was to throw him into the sea and leave him to drown. He doesn't happen to be good at swimming, is he? )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( CAN earth types swim? )

Monkey . o O ( nothing stopping them. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Well, Athletics 5... but he'd have to ditch his earth form. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( ANd that's the Transcendant Sword combo. Stunt bonus? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Hm. Kaizoku's combo has some phallic imagery going on there. 2 die stunt bonus. )

Monkey . o O ( Oh, so it's Kaizoku x Kahlun now that Barada's dead. I see. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Did you see One Piece the week before last? )

The Storyteller . o O ( Monkey's just lucky that Kahlun doesn't have Safety Among Enemies. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 30 dice on Transcendant Sword point and got 13 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Pshaw. Seven Shadow Evasion again. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 30 dice on Transcendant Sword slash and got 14 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( It was a fight between a great swordsman and a super epic Exalted one, the latter of whom cut a ship in half. )

The Storyteller . o O ( No defense, so what's the damage? 15L soak. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 22 dice on something and got 11 hits.

Monkey . o O ( That's the damage. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 24 dice on something and got 7 hits.

The Storyteller . o O ( You split him crown to crotch. Describe. )

Admiral Kaizoku's sword passes through the rock-hard monk like sunlight through the sky... to no effect. He stands from where he lands, turns and narrows his eyes as the Dynast falls over to the right... and the left, his body cut in twain right down the center, the power of the Sun cauterizing the wounds.

Monkey drops his stance and squints at the halves. "I'm all grateful, Captain, since I just made up that stance, but I'm feeling sympathetic pain here. I mean, couldn't you just lop his head off instead of cutting him in half all the way, uh, down there?"

Admiral Kaizoku whips his sword around to his side. "You know to get out of the way of a superior force Monkey..." is his reply as he turns to face the marines, and scans the sky for the wasp demon. "Who is in command now?" he barks at them in his own commanding voice.

A sudden gust rocks the Chanter in quickly-sinking hulk of the Unconquered Sun, drowning out the shouted reply of the Realm marines. The charnel smell is unmistakable now, and hard drops of rain begin to fall from the black clouds that boil out of the west swift as thunder. A brief calm follows the gust, enough space for the Realm marines to lay their swords at Kaizoku's feet.

Monkey jumps to the highest place on Chanter and beats his chest, yelling nonsense. He then looks down and yells at some of the marines, "Hey, find me a flag or something. Got to show the flag!"

Monkey says, "And who farted? Eeeeyuw."

Admiral Kaizoku calls out "Evacuate the Sun, Monkey, and transfer as many supplies as possible!" He turns to the marines and says "Wise choice... signal your fleet to fall back from mine... now."

Admiral Kaizoku adds "Crew first, then Lightning Ballista"

One of the former Raitons jumps down to the sinking Sun and grabs the Solar flag from where it lay on the deck. It's quickly transferred to Monkey. Meanwhile, Kaizoku surveys the battle, and sees that his orders are all but unnecessary -- his fleet has captured or sunk the remaining triremes, and the biremes are struggling northward in the quickly rising seas.

The Storyteller . o O ( Make Wits + Sail rolls, difficulty one )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on Wits+Sail and got 2 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( And Wits + Occult to realize what's really happening, difficulty 4 )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on Wits+Occult and got 8 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Wow! Important! )

From his perch, Monkey shouts, "Aye aye, Captain" as he ties the flag on. He then lets himself fall, lands into a roll, and supervises the transfer of crew and stuffs from Unconquered Sun. "Move as much cargo from the Sun to the shipped triremes, you lackwits. That's what you'll eat and drink until we reach port."

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay. One: It looks like you're about to get hit with hurricane-force winds. Two: Some storm from the Underworld is reaching through to Creation, and it must be one hell of a storm there to have this kind of effect. Three: It's headed east along your line of travel, though probably with a slightly southbound bent. )

Monkey . o O ( Chanter is small. It's probably easier to move men and goods from the tender to the triremes she was carrying, and then sail those triremes. )

Monkey . o O ( Mask is making a move. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( :bonks head. "Of course!" )

The Storyteller . o O ( And four, you've got about 15 minutes to move things before the seas are too high to do anything but ride them out. )

Admiral Kaizoku orders the triremes inside the Sun unshipped and put under sail, and has Saji signal the rest of the ships to turn and run before the storm, best possible speed.

The Storyteller . o O ( Kaizoku, make a Wits + Sail roll, difficulty 5. This is for the bonus your fleet gets to its survival rolls. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Does the Admiral know of the secret of working one of these Solar ships? )

The Storyteller . o O ( It's not a solar ship. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Spending a WP to channel valor! )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 10 dice on something and got 5 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( That's a heavy warship. This one, you just stick any exalt in the control center and it goes -- that's how Barada was commanding it. And he does if you make a successful Wits + Lore roll, and you get an extra 2 dice on that one. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 9 dice on Figuring stuff and got 3 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Hope he didn't use up the drive power. )

Monkey . o O ( It eats soul for power. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Attuned to the ship, you find that it's got an hour of drive power left. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Rolling stuff. First -- rapid repairs done during the course of the battle. )

You rolled 6 dice on Corona repairs and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Nimbus repairs and got 1 success.

You rolled 6 dice on Dawn repairs and got 5 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Consider using multiple Calling The Wind's Kiss and burn your essence to ensure escape. Also, count on Barada becoming at least a hungry ghost. With luck, he'll be stuck wandering this area of seas instead of being able to sense and pursue you. )

You rolled 6 dice on Twilight repairs and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku surveys the status of the ships in his fleet, seeing if the fresh ships need to rescue any vessles

The Nimbus has gone to the bottom, but most of her crew transferred to the trireme that sent her there, awash in the blood of its former crew.

Monkey . o O ( Violent death. Check. Strong resentment. Check. Not properly buried. Check. Probable lack of future appeasement ceremonies. Check. Not required but very prophetic Underworld activity. Check. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( And the rest? Seaworthy enough? )

The rest of the damaged ships are holding together with prayers, pitch, and canvas, and turning to ride before the wind. It looks like you'll have to abandon most of the captured ships due to lack of full crews, needed to ride out the storm. The Rahkamo ships are scattered across the sea -- they'll have to fend for themselves, at least for now. The sorceress is nowhere to be seen. The cargo ships, nevery having entered combat, are already prepared for the storm, with sail drawn up and sailors ready.

Monkey . o O ( Ah, crap. The fleet has too many ships for Wind's Kiss to cover them all. )

Monkey stands on the prow of the ship, arms folded. Looking straight ahead, he points forward and shouts, "Set sail for Marin Bay!"

Admiral Kaizoku makes sure any first age weapons are stripped from the Realm Fleet in the mostly-orderly process.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Um... That's in the teeth of the storm, no? )

The Storyteller . o O ( No, the storm's headed west to east. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Ah, I read "direction of travel" wrong. )

Monkey looks back toward Captain, uh, Admiral Kaizoku. "How did I look? Captainy?"

Admiral Kaizoku booms out and signals "All ships follow the course of the Sun!" as he takes the control seat of his new flagship and powers it up, once all the ships are worthy enough to run from the storm.

Admiral Kaizoku says, "Quite, Monkey."

The Storyteller . o O ( You've got fifteen minutes, Admiral. Make a wits + sail roll, +2 for the quality of your crew. It's difficulty 4 to get everything off the Unconquered Sun, difficulty 7 to get anything good off the Realm ships in so short a time. )

Monkey . o O ( Spend wp for autosuccess. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Yes, doing so. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 7 dice on something and got 4 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Lucky... )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Ack, I forgot the crew mod! )

Monkey . o O ( A more important thing is to figure out how to resupply the Chanter's drive. )

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 2 dice on Crew bonus and got 1 botch.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Whoops )

Moving with amazing speed, the marines and sailors of the Unconquered Sun transfer as much stores and materials as will fit in the hold from the Sun to the Chanter. Last to come up are the First Age Weapons, quickly secured and lashed to the deck with wrist-thick lines.

The Storyteller . o O ( We'll just ignore that one... Also, the drive recharges automatically. 6 hours of use per day. )

Monkey says, "Off to Marin Bay."

The Storyteller . o O ( Admiral, roll Wits + Sail + 2 to survive the hurricane. Difficulty is 3. )

The Storyteller . o O ( Actually, make that +4, thanks to the drive. )

Admiral Kaizoku says, "Best possible speed! Red lady and Umbra support the damaged ships!"

Admiral Kaizoku rolled 11 dice on Sail and got 7 successes.

You rolled 9 dice on captured trireme survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 9 dice on Corona survival and got 4 successes.

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Are they still inspired from the speech? )

You rolled 7 dice on Flare survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 7 dice on Umbra survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Dawn survival and got 5 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Zenith survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Twilight survival and got 6 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Night survival and got 2 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Stormhammer survival and got 4 successes.

Monkey . o O ( Yay, Stormhammer )

You rolled 6 dice on Fortuitious Venture survival and got 7 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on Majestic Voyager survival and got 7 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 5 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 2 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 7 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 4 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 2 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 3 successes.

You rolled 6 dice on prize fleet survival and got 2 successes.

The Storyteller . o O ( Whew. Lots of captains. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( And lucky ones, mostly! )

Monkey . o O ( testing? )

The storm is short but furious. Time vanishes under the brunt of its winds, and within moments of the first edge hitting the fleet, visibility is measured in feet. For what seems like hours, the Chanter is alone in mountains of water. Hail and rain pound the ship, but Kaizoku's sure hand guide the First Age warship safely till the storm passes. When calm returns to the sea, swift and unnatural as the storm's rising, the Solar Wind Fleet is scattered from horizon to horizon, and several ships are missing. The true cost of the storm is not discovered until the fleet regroups the following morning, guided through the night by drums and heliograph signals. Lost with no survivors are about half the Rahkamo ships and two of the prize fleet -- luckily, neither was the one carrying the jade. Survivors have been picked up from the Night, and from another of the prize ships.

Admiral Kaizoku climbs the mast of the Chanter as men are lowered over the bow to paint on the new symbol. "All of you! Princes of the Earth! You men and women of the Solar Navy have faced the might of the Realm and of Nature itself and triumphed! NONE can stand before us!"

The Storyteller . o O ( Desc done. You're a day from Marin Bay. Pick up there next session? )

Monkey . o O ( Sure. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( GOT to get a megaphone charm. And yes! )

The Storyteller . o O ( Okay, that leaves... XP! )

Monkey . o O ( David. There's an unattuned jade tetsubo that's probably a grand goremaul. )

The Storyteller . o O ( 3 for showing up, 5 for resolving a major mission, and an extra 5 for end of story. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Monkey could attune to it! )

Monkey . o O ( Consider selling it. )

Monkey . o O ( Wheeee! Extra XP for me? )

The Storyteller . o O ( for the stunt? of course. )

Monkey . o O ( Let me check the timeline..... )

TonyC [to jetman]: Monkey's going MA route. Unless _you_ want to take on Mask and I handle Juggernaut?

The Storyteller . o O ( We'll resolve anything else over e-mail, since I need to get to bed. )

Monkey . o O ( G'night. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( The Chanter is the new Unconqureed Sun, BTW. )

The Storyteller . o O ( I figured. Good night, all. )

Admiral Kaizoku . o O ( Nite! And thanks as always! )

• On to Session 28