Shorlixa/WPSessionFour
And here be Session Four for this crew of pirates.
Session Four
On the surface of the ocean, it is a chaotic mess. Orillian works frantically to repair the ship. Red is doing his best to help what crew he can. And Ryoujal has just come to the surface.
You paged Megumi with 'She continues swimming down in the gloomy depths, going so far underwater that even her armour-sharpened senses finally fail. She can only see as far as her anima is glowing, and it's glowing brilliantly.'
You paged Lady Syn with 'As she waits by the ship, hoping that she is hidden well enough, she starts to hear sounds coming from the decks of the ship. Mainly lots of angry growls from the Lunar. He seems well able to speak, for all that he's underwater. "Bring the meat!" Comes the snarl and there is movement on the ship.'
From afar, Lady Syn gulps and has a bad idea that the meat may be a drowned sailor or two.
From afar, Megumi continues following the thread down, looking cautiously about for potential danger.
Ryoujal doesn't have too far to swim to get to the Hurricane. It looks like it's not going to sink, but is in pretty bad shape.
You paged Lady Syn with 'And she's probably right. In the waters, a scream carries so far. For some reason, they managed to keep the meat alive. But it's not alive for long as the screams cut out.'
You paged Megumi with 'Megumi swims even deeper as her anima slowly dims. She still has the shining beacon on her forehead when she hears screams drift from below her.'
Ryoujal gets there and climbs up on board, shaking himself off a bit, "Well that was a bad idea... Storm and Syn are still going down after the ship." Looks about at everything happening, "Ah, where can I help?"
Big Red despite having no carpentry know how helps out the best he can here and there
From afar, Lady Syn considers that maybe she's had better ideas as the through of her ending up as food crosses her mind. If the ship wasn't magic she'd try cutting the rudder but now her options are either wait for an opening or retreat. Damn. Never make it easy.
From afar, Megumi looks down and moves toward the screaming, trying to keep the thread in sight while still determining what's going on.
Orillian , between shouting instructions to the crew, is hunched over a long plank and scribbling something that looks vaguely like a ship on it in charcoal, frowning, wiping it off, and then starting again.
Ryoujal jumps off and swims about to pick up the crewmen struggling in the water.
Big Red gives Ryoujal a hand by pulling the ones he brings to the ship back on deck
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'As Syn continues to wait and hears the sound of their grisly feast, Megumi finally approaches. She's not too noticeable with just the brilliant mark on her forehead, but she might have attracted attention.'
Orillian grumbles and heads over to tend to the wounded that the other two are dragging aboard.
Working together, Ryoujal and Red manage to pull struggling people into the not-yet-sinking Hurricane. They pull in quite a lot of people. Sometimes, Ryoujal in his haste brings in a corpse, but Red sorts them out so they don't waste space. Leaving Orillian the actual heavy job of healing the wounded.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Megumi): Lady Syn looks over at the captain to see if she has any ideas.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Lady Syn): Megumi looks for a place to settle down where she won't be readily noticed by those on ship, and shrugs at Syn.
Orillian sighs and performs triage as best he can. There's just far too many for him to heal with essence, especially so soon after the battle, so he's forced to stick to mortal methods, and it's all he can do to keep up with the triage. And the Hurricane still isn't fit to sail, with the captain and navigator lost.
Ryoujal sighs as he drags up the last survivor floating in the water, coming up to look about at all the wounded, tearing up some rags for makeshift bandages to help Red in his duties.
Orillian wipes off his brow for the dozenth time as he attends to yet another wounded crewmember, no longer able to keep straight which are from his crew and which were from the merchant ship.
Big Red makes a point to look over the merchant when tending them to see if the Guild members
Orillian, Red and Ryoujal work hard to tend to the wounded. Some still die. It's expected. But thanks to their efforts, many more live. Whether it pleases Red or not, the merchants don't happen to be Guild merchants. Just poor unfortunates who got caught up in something they were not meant to face.
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'Megumi hides very very quietly and out of sight. Lady Syn is not so able to do so and a silvery creature darts into her sight. "Intruder." He snarls and lashes out with a tentacle. Syn is very much caught on her blind side as the tentacle wraps around her body, burning away mundane materials to hiss against her armour. His very flesh is corrosive. He drags Lady Syn onto the deck on the ship, with Megumi too stunned to react while he doesn't even notice her.'
Big Red wipes his hands of blood and starts to roll himself a cigarette. "I'm starting to think I'm bad luck for caravans and ships" he takes a long drag from the fresh cigarette and blows smoke clear into the air.
Ryoujal says, "Well it could have been worse. There could have been giant tentacle monsters..."
Orillian just glares at Ryoujal and shakes his head.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Megumi): Lady Syn is about to point up as she gets yanked onto the deck. With a twirl she tries to cut the tentacle off and swim for the surface.
Big Red says, "So know what? Your captain is missing and we still haven't dealt with those pirates"
Orillian holds up his hand to shush the newcomer as he gets an idea.
You paged Megumi with 'Any action? You pretty much get a surprise attack thanks to the excellent stealth roll. I'll allow it.'
Ryoujal says, "Well the capitan is working on the pirates bit. They have plenty of air in their armor."
Orillian works furiously on some designs so he can head after the Captain and their navigator and bring them both back to the ship. It's not going to be easy, but he thinks he can wrangle it. The question is, will he be able to make it in time.
Big Red stands to the side out of Orillians way. Waiting to see if he needs help
Ryoujal stands back as Orillian goes off on an artistic overdrive, moving other wounded so they don't get injured in the creative process.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Lady Syn): Megumi bounces up on a piece of railing and dives forward, drawing her sabre as she does. She swings it in a wide arc at the tentacles of the evil captain, trying to get her shipmate loose and give them both some breathing space. So to speak. Or at the very least, make some sushi. The moment she touches down, she rocks her heels and bounces back off the deck up into the water.
Orillian starts rushing around the deck, shattering bulkheads and planks with his fiery gloves and flaring his anima with complete reckless abandon regarding witnesses. They'll probably all attribute it to injured delirium anyway, hopefully. He then starts tossing together two ships out of the one, essentially a giant life raft and a small, bulby, sealed-up vessel.
Orillian needs to rescue the captain and navigator! And keep these people safe. And... so many things he needs to help with.
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'Lady Syn spins, Megumi cuts, it's not much, but they do get the tentacle to let go. "Intruders!" Comes the snarl. "Do you think to challenge me in my element?" He seems to grow more dangerous, his silvery flesh shifting to become silvery liquid flesh.'
As the crew and other Solars look on in awe, Orillian works like a man possessed, ripping the Hurricane apart to form two ships. The giant life raft will keep everyone from drowning. And he constructs a little submersible to dive underwater and hunt their dearly missed Captain and navigator. It's got space to fit three people comfortably. The oxygen can last for maybe six hours with three people.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Lady Syn): Megumi snorts. "Like I had much choice," she mutters. Since her blade is down low following the previous swing, she flicks it around and upward toward the captain's head, then immediately snaps it back down on the return swing.
Big Red nods his approval "Not bad young man. But know I know you’re not natural. Mind giving an explanation"
Ryoujal claps at the new ship. "That's the most impressive looking... what ever it is I've ever seen."
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'The Lunar simply growls and shifts his flesh out of the way. It's not even worth using his tentacles to block.'
Orillian ponders the question for a moment, nods, and says, "Aye, I mind. Now into the pod, Mr. Red, we've crew to recover." The pod to which he's referring was mostly once the bulbous bow he'd installed to increase the Hurricane's efficiency at speed, now filled out completely into a cigar-ish shape, with two simple propellers sticking out through holes generously caulked and re-caulked with tar to prevent excessive leakage. The only way to see out of the ship is two small triple-paned windows in the front, scavenged from the captain's stateroom. For his part, Orillian leaps in and takes the front seat, with a joystick-like control for the front-mounted rudder.
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Megumi): Lady Syn glares. "Actually, I was just hoping to spy on you in your element. You're the one all eager to be violent." She looks over at the captain. "We can leave now." Then making like she's about to jump towards the surface feints and dives towards the Lunar.
Big Red starts to argue but stops. Orillian is right. First the crew then the questions. He files into the contraption "Later then"
Ryoujal says, "Alright... what do I have to do to crew this thing?"
Orillian smirks. "Ahh, ye turn the cranks, and by turning the cranks ye be turning the planks," he explains, "And that pushes our little vessel forward."
Ryoujal hops in, only to get stuck in the hatch, "That might be a problem..." letting out a long breath, he sucks as much of himself in as possible and shimmies his way into the sub.
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'Lady Syn strikes as hard as she can and is surprised to note how her blade seems to blunt against his fluid flesh. It's not all just for an impressive appearance. The Lunar almost seems bored, but the silvery liquid flesh grins. "My turn now?" Tentacles lash out against both Solars, each in turn. Even a touch will be painful.'
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Megumi): Lady Syn gulps and is definitely retreating after this. She jabs her blad into the planks and shoots one up to intercept one tentacle while bringing her blade around toe deflect the other.
Ryoujal grabs the cranks and starts turning them as per Orillian's instructions.
Orillian pulls the hatch closed. "Alrighty men, heave to! All ahead flank speed!" He ponders for a moment. "That means crank really hard!"
From afar, to (Shorlixa, Lady Syn): Megumi starts to duck low to avoid the incoming attack, and then seems to disappear for a moment. Suddenly she's arcing up above the tentacle and toward the surface.
Ryoujal cranks really hard.
Big Red does so as well
Orillian guides the pod down and exclaims "Dive, dive, dive!"
You paged (Lady Syn, Megumi) with 'Megumi darts out of the way of each tentacle, flashing around out of the way of the grasping things. Syn is not as lucky. She blocks the first attack, but the second one gets her good, slapping hard against her body.'
The three Solars make to dive down deep, chugging gently in the water. As they watch, they notice the faint thread still surviving in the waters. Syn's last message. So they chug down after the little thread. After a long while, it's beginning to get rather dark. It occurs to them that light might be a problem at such depths. Yet somehow, they still manage to see the faint little thread. Eventually, they go down low enough and see Lady Syn and Megumi engaging the Lunar in aquatic battle. The Lunar is winning.
Lady Syn and Megumi are busy with the Lunar monster at the moment, but given the angle of how the three other Solars are coming in, they're coming up from behind. So the two Solars get to see the little submersible moving along towards them.
Lady Syn takes the hit and angles its momentum to shoot her surfaceward. As she begins to slow she starts swimming frantically in the hopes of finding backup. Heck, even the realm's navy would be a blessing at this point.
Orillian ponders for a few moments. Getting out and fighting would probably be bad, so... "RAMMING SPEED!" he orders, and aims to just miss the Lunar and let Megumi and Syn grab on. Hopefully.
Big Red follows Orillians commands and puts his back into it. Going double time on the crank
Megumi eyes the lunar. "We must do this again some time." She reaches one hand out and catches at the side of the sub as it flies by.
The submersible practically zooms past the Lunar's tentacled face and goes to pick up a few passengers. Lady Syn just manages to grab on while Megumi has time to speak with the Lunar before grabbing hold. Then they zoom away. The Lunar makes no move to follow, even after the initial surprise. "Run Solars! You better run! I'll even give you an hour's headstart!" He calls after the fleeing sub. "Then I'll hunt you! Me and my ship will hunt you down and we'll consume you!" Then he swims back to his ship. The Solars in the sub hear his voice just fine as they run away with Ryoujal cranking the gears hard. They shoot to the surface of the water until they realise there is no current pursuit. Then at a more reasonable pace, they surface back to the field of debris, and one big lifeboat.
Lady Syn says, "Land now."
Orillian surfaces among the debris field and waits for the captain to realise what happened to her boat.
Ryoujal keeps cranking, sweating up a storm, "Is it supposed to be this hot in here?"
Megumi regards the lifeboat and submarine that were the Hurricane. She looks down into the window-pane that used to hang over her bed. "This is revenge for the makeup, isn't it?"
Orillian pops the hatch now that they've surfaced, and the hot air can actually escape. "Well, cap'n, you see we had a wee shortage of working boats, and decided a submersible would be best for the pursuit..."
Orillian twiddles his fingers. "I can put it back together?"
Lady Syn says, "If ye don't mind, we should try for land so as to disable their aquatic advantage. After that, I'd like these acid burns removed. They do nothing for my looks."
Big Red says, "Not to be a pain. But how do you plan on escaping now. We have a life raft and us."
Ryoujal says, "We take cranking in shifts?"
Megumi pulls out her flamepiece and begins toying with it patiently, checking the powder and things. Blowing a bit on the damper parts. "I want to be moving before he shows up. He gave us an hour. That gives you about, oh, 40 minutes."
Orillian says, "Well cap'n, I was thinking we could tow it..."
Megumi nods. "That's fine, Orillian. Assuming it can make that kind of speed, anyway."
Megumi stands atop the sub, legs braced to either side, flamepiece over her shoulder, as they make best speed for her little island.
Orillian looks back to his two bedraggled rowers who are probably shooting killing glances at him. "Right then, hoisting sail, I think we be a bit of a barge for now though..." He guides the submersible alongside the remains of the Hurricane and climbs out. "The crew can handle that... one of ye will have to stay in the submersible to act as rudder, though, since I kinda stole it... eheh... and you girl, belowdecks with me and we'll see to those burns.
Lady Syn says, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Ryoujal looks at the hatch and wonders how he'll get back out.
Lady Syn heads belowdecks.
Big Red says, "I'll stay with the pod. The rest of you just getting this thing moving."
Orillian heads down with Syn to tend to her burns.
Orillian inquires, "So, the beastie eat ye?"
Ryoujal rests for a while until he feels up to rowing again.
Lady Syn says, "Slapped me around good. Ate someone else though. We need to kill it a lot."
Megumi hops aboard the raft-that-could-be-Hurricane and starts tending to the crew's morale. How does she do this? She finds the chest they keep the ship's colors in and pulls the flag out, then attaches it to the highest available mounting surface. As she does this, she begins quietly singing, walking amongst the crew. "The bell has been raised...from its wat'ry grave...Do you hear the sepulchral tone? We're a call to all, pay heed to the squall, and turn your sail toward home! Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colors high! Heave, ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die..."
Orillian looks over her wounds. "Hmm. Mhmm. Aye, there be a lot of dyin' it needs to do. Well then, it'll patch ye up for now, but I burnt myself right out again makin' the submarine. The real healin' will have to come later."
The crew are weary and tired. The few surviving merchants are shivering in fear. When Megumi walks among them, singing her quiet song, she manages to lift some spirits. But there is still a heaviness in the air. The heaviness lifts slightly when someone has the bright idea of passing around the rum. Nothing like a good drink.
Ryoujal and Red rest for a while before they begin cranking the gears again. By working together, they're able to get the small submersible to slowly tug the much bigger life boat with all its passengers in the right direction. Ryoujal knows which way to go and heads towards the Storm Isle.
Lady Syn says, "Great. I don't know if I can take another blow from him and we're going to have a fight."
Orillian shakes his head. "Aye, have patience," he says, then goes to take a short nap so he only needs an hour of recharging.
The journey is a much slower one than they're used to. At least the winds are favourable ones so they make a decent pace. Red and Ryoujal continue to crank at the gears, steering the lifeboat in the right direction. Orillian patches Syn up quickly while Megumi continues to walk among her crew. She lost several, but thankfully still has most of her crew thanks to Orillian's skill. She does have a few refugees in terms of survivors from the merchant ship, though they seem too terrified to do much aside from huddle together. They're grateful for rescue, but never want to set sail on the ocean again. After three days pass, each Solar gets an intimate insight of how close the chasing Lunar is, save for Red, who has yet to reveal himself. It occurs at different times for each Solar, but each of them are suddenly seized with a strange vision, as if looking through another person's eyes. Eventually, they realise that what they see is the lifeboat, steadily sailing on the horizon, just within sight. And by the flowing tentacles at the edges of their vision, they realise it is the Lunar looking at the ship, and they see through his eyes. The Lunar is definitely hunting them, and already too close for comfort.
Lady Syn closes her eye. "Let us make land ye bastard then we'll see how you like the fight in our element."
Megumi looks out over the seas in the direction they seem to be viewed from, looking for some sign of their pursuer. She leans over to Syn casually. "See anything?"
Lady Syn says, "Nothing pleasant."
Megumi glances the other way, toward Storm Isle. She has a feeling they're not going to make it.
Lady Syn says, "Sorry I trailed him. Was hoping I'd be able to sneak aboard his ship or find where they harbor and get a rout in that way."
Megumi says, "Understandable."
Orillian comes abovedeck. "Oy, I think I need more rum in my diet, I'm seein' things..."
Ryoujal says, "I just would feel better when my feet are on the ground."
Lady Syn says, "We'll need a plan."
Big Red taking a break climbs over to the barge. "So Orillian, care to answer my question yet?"
Megumi nods. "We need to keep them off the raft as much as possible. Certainly away from the merchants - they're in no shape for this."
Orillian ponders. "Well, the submersible be worthless in combat, really. Adding torpedoes would've taken too long."
Lady Syn says, "Yeah. I get that. We need an edge though. He's taken us on even footing before and can run to recover afterwards. Eventually, someone will screw up and die. And we're not as replaceable as most crewmen."
Megumi says, "How much firedust have we left?"
Orillian raises an eyebrow. "Hmm. We could be fillin the sub with it... some idiot'd have to pilot the thing into him, though."
Ryoujal says, "We can't anchor his boat in place, can we?"
Ryoujal pokes his head up when they mention the firedust thing only to say, "No, no, no, no. Can't make me, I'm tough, but I don't think I'm that tough."
Megumi shrugs. "I was thinking more of tossing it at them somehow and then detonating it with an arrow."
Big Red says, "I agree with the captain. It would be safer for all involved"
Lady Syn says, "So Or, can ye make a sling shot?"
Orillian ponders. Rigging, leftover masts... yeah.
Orillian says, "Aye, I can make ye a sling alright."
Orillian has an evil glint in his eye.
Lady Syn says, "Then we have a bomb. After that, we need a way to rip apart his defences. captain?"
Megumi says, "He's got a *LOT* of tentacles. Far more than he needs, really. Perhaps we could relieve him of some of the burden."
Ryoujal says, "What we need are a lot of throwing knives or axes to be thrown at him all at the same time to widdle those down some."
Lady Syn says, "I meant coordination. Maybe arm everyone who can fight at range with something and fire away."
The Solars continue to converse, discussing how they may defeat the Lunar that currently hunts them. They know he moves closer with every passing moment, and soon, there will be a reckoning.
