Shorlixa/WPSessionNine
And here be Session Nine for this crew of pirates.
Session Nine
The Solars are on a wonderfully peaceful and beautiful island, enjoying the treasures the island has to offer. Granted, Syn is busy slaughtering Lintha, but that is occurring in a distant part of the island, far from everyone else. Megumi is speaking with Orillian on his plans to make a new ship while Red is busy setting up a home.
You paged Lady Syn with 'Syn has ravaged through the island, slaughtering the Lintha, and finding the hidden lairs and destroying their source. Until she finally stands before the body of the last creature while the Lintha around her collapse, writhing in pain before crumbling to dust. It seems that what the first creature said was true. Their deaths have destroyed the Lintha. Her mission is complete.'
Orillian is busy working on the ship with Terris and his assistants and don't really bother with Megumi. On her part, she's still not quite sure what's going on. But a lot of her crew suddenly seem rather eager to stay on the island.
You paged Big Red with 'As Red walks around gathering supplies, he spots a familiar face or two that gives him a start. It's a member of Megumi's crew, but he had been certain he had pulled his dead body from the terrible battle so long ago. Perhaps he is mistaken, but it still nags at him.'
From afar, Lady Syn looks at her bloody sword and the piles of dust. She wonders if she should feel more content then wonders what to do with herself now. She walks aimlessly for several moments trying to figure what to do now.
Megumi is ushered outside to leave Orillian to his business, while Gyar approaches her with a slightly troubled and puzzled look on his face.
Big Red stops gathering for a moment and looks intently on a few of the crew men. He shakes his head and goes to find the captain to tell her about the good news.
Big Red rushes up to the captain. "Miss. It seems this island has some remarkable healing powers. Some of the men I could of swore suffered mortal wounds are here. And they look as fine as the day I meet them."
Gyar is looking mighty troubled himself. "It's true Cap'n. I saw a few myself. Spoke with them. I could swear it was them...but they died didn't they?"
Megumi hmphs with annoyance as she is escorted out of Orillian's sanctum, shaking her fist in his generally ignorant direction. She turns to the pair and shakes her head. "Most likely they're no more alive than those tools Orillian is using back in there..."
You paged Lady Syn with 'As she wanders, a figure approaches from a distance. It takes a while, but she finally recognises the person. It's the old man from so long ago, who had saved her life before.'
Big Red says, "Nonsense. I have a marksmen's eye and I seen them for myself. I am telling you they are health"
From afar, Lady Syn blinks in shock. "What are you doing here?"
Megumi says, "And *I* am telling YOU that this entire island is little more than a hallucination of what your mind WANTS you to see."
You paged Lady Syn with 'The old man smiles serenely. "I was here at the beginning of your journey. And now I am here for the end of your journey. Your enemy lies vanquished, destroyed by your own hand. Do you not feel you have accomplished something great?"'
Big Red looks at the captain with a dead serious look, then erupts into a full out belly laugh "Your pretty funny Miss."
Gyar simply looks troubled. "Mighty good hallucination. We're all seeing it. And they sure look real and feel real. They sound real."
Lady Syn pages: "Sort of. I don't know. It feels like I have nothing else now." Tilts her head a bit. "What do I do now?"
You paged Lady Syn with 'Rest." He answers simply. "You have journeyed far and wide in your quest. And how you have completed it. At the end of the journey comes rest. What do you think of this island, now that the Lintha have been eradicated?"'
From afar, Lady Syn looks around the island. "It seems pleasant enough."
Megumi rolls her eyes at Red. "It's too perfect. There's enough material here to build a First Age FLEET. There is no way in Malfeas this island could exist and not be known. It's in the middle of the Wyld, though it certainly cannot always have been so. We would have heard stories of it; the Realm or some other force would have repulsed the Wyld better here, or at least taken whatever of value was to be found. Yet I *HAVE* heard stories of an island of illusion in the Wyld, very like this."
Big Red tries to calm his laughter and chokes out "So. Whats your story have to do with us?"
You paged Lady Syn with 'Would you rest here? It is a good place to begin a different sort of journey. One that involves no physical travel, but a mental journey."'
"Admittedly Cap'n, we always hear about treasures rediscovered in the Wyld. This island could be one of them. We don't even know how far in the Wyld we are." Gyar points out.
From afar, Lady Syn gives a light laugh. "Me on a mental journey? Come on, old man. We both know physical deeds are my forte."
Megumi says, "You mean besides the fact that we're stuck here on an island that's giving us everything you could possibly desire...for no apparent reason? I'm inclined to believe that there IS a reason, and it is sinister in nature. If we stay too long, we may truly find ourselves trapped. And then there's the "resurrected" crew. Trust me. I know about the cycle of life. If the dead are walking, it isn't because they have been resurrected, for such is genuinely impossible. It's because they are UNdead, or because they are an illusion."
You paged Lady Syn with 'And the reason why we should train your mind. Everyone would submit to your physical prowess, but brute force alone can only accomplish so much. If you are trained both physically and mentally, there will be nothing you cannot accomplish."'
Big Red blinks once at the captain and losses it and his laughter is louder then before.
Megumi says, "What's so funny about looking a gift horse in the mouth?"
Big Red says, "I think your the one making up stories now."
From afar, Lady Syn ponders it for a moment. "Oh-kay. What do you suggest?"
Megumi throws up her hands in the air. "FINE! Do as you like. I'm going to go try to find Syn." She turns and starts marching, eh, elsewhere. In the general direction of away from Red, in the hopes of that being toward Syn.
You paged Lady Syn with 'Let's begin by finding a more tranquil place. This is behind you now." So saying, he leads Syn away from the place of death and destruction, to a place with a small waterfall and flowering plants. "This looks more suitable. Meditation." And he invites her to take a seat.'
Big Red shrugs at the captain as he controls his laughter and starts eyeballing some of the parts on the ship.
Gyar looks from Red to Megumi, then trots after Megumi. Avery shows up then behind Red, looking rather puzzled. "What happened?"
From afar, Lady Syn takes a seat and looks a bit at a loss as to what next. Obviously contemplation isn't high on her usual actions.
You paged Lady Syn with 'Relax. Just close your eyes. Tune out everything but the sound of my voice. Take deep and measured breaths." The old man's voice is soothing and inviting.'
Big Red shrugs "The captain seems not to notice a good thing when she sees it.
Gyar goes after Megumi before she wanders off too far. "Do you think it's really that dangerous Cap'n? Shall I recall the crew?" He queries. "Though I am uncertain how many would be willing to leave."
Lady Syn pages: "Just don't stare at my chest okay?" Closes her eye and starts taking full calming breaths.
Avery is looking curious. "She doesn't? Maybe it's the wanderlust in her. She doesn't seem the type to just settle down."
Megumi cracks her knuckles. "At this point, I doubt many would come. But call whomever you can. And yes, I *DO* believe it is dangerous."
Big Red says, "I guess your right about that. I too had wishes to see as much of creation as I could. But deep down everyone wants a home. Some place they can hang there hat at night and call it a day."
Were Megumi still in earshot, she would argue that she already HAS a home...and this is not it.
You paged Lady Syn with 'The old man laughs softly, and continues to speak in measured tones. Syn is starting to feel sleepy, but shakes off the drowsiness. He's talking something about finding your inner peace when Syn gets hit by a wave of pain right in her skull. And she seems to be hearing Orillian's voice whispering faintly. "Don't sleep. Run."'
From afar, Lady Syn opens her eye and flips backwards pulling her sword to the ready. "The hell?"
Gyar nods and follows her orders. Megumi goes a-wandering and seems to be getting lost as opposed to finding Syn.
You paged Lady Syn with 'The old man looks at Syn in surprise. "What's wrong?" He queries gently.'
From afar, Lady Syn shakes her head then checks for injuries to herself. "weird."
You paged Lady Syn with 'While she has no physical injuries, she can feel a strange pressure inside her head. It's not precisely a headache, but she's not sure what it is either. Might be a good time to consult a healer. The old man is trying to coax her back down though. "Maybe you're not used to meditation yet. But come, sit down, try and focus your mind more clearly."'
With all her wanderings, Megumi somehow gets the feeling that the island is trying to make her become lost. Because she's now a little unsure as to where exactly she is, aside from the fact that she's in the forest somehere.
From afar, Lady Syn takes a few steps back. "I'll get back to you. I might have been injured in those fights. I want Ori to check on me."
As Avery and Red speak, they might not notice it immediately, but Orillian's gleaming factory isn't exactly around anymore. Of course, they're a bit too busy and facing the wrong direction to notice it. The others don't really notice it either. "Still planning to make your home here then?"
Megumi is growing annoyed. "Fine..." She draws forth her bow and ethereal arrows, and begins setting the forest around her on fire, in a circle growing outward from her position.
And now that Megumi's actually doing something about it, she notices how she isn't managing to set the forest on fire either. She's just making a lot of light and noise, which draws Syn's attention. Meanwhile, the old man is trying to get Syn to sit back down, to no avail.
Lady Syn heads towards the light and noise since that usually equates Ori having a normal day.
Big Red says, "Why not. This place has almost everything I need."
Lady Syn heads towards the light and noise since that usually equates Ori having a normal day. (repost for Meg)
As Red is speaking, he also begins to notice the lights and noise coming from the forest. That doesn't sound much like the peaceful tranquil place he likes.
Despite the old man's pleas, Syn gets up and heads towards the noisy place, only to find Megumi at the center of the commotion for a change.
Megumi looks...irritable. Which is probably a first.
Lady Syn says, "Hey, captain. What are you doing? Did I miss some Lintha?"
Megumi says, "Lintha?"
Big Red looks a little annoyed by the lights in the distance and works his way that way.
Now that Megumi is pausing in firing her bow, she'll realise that the forest isn't on fire at all. She hasn't really done much.
Lady Syn says, "Yeah. I was hunting them but I thought I'd killed all of them off. Then the old man who helped me showed up and suggested I try meditation. I gave it a shot and suddenly heard Ori and got a headache. Next thing I know there is lights and noise. I figured he was doing his usual of making a scene."
Megumi is vaguely pleased that the..."summons"...worked as she had more or less hoped. At least SOMETHING is for a change. "The only Lintha here, Syn, are the ones you bring with you."
Megumi glances at the "burning bush" phenomenon. It isn't remotely surprising by now; she only wishes someone ELSE could perceive it as she does.
Lady Syn says, "Okay. I don't want to think about that given how much it disturbs me. Why were you firing off a million arrows?"
Megumi shrugs. "Because I could, and it was less frustrating than the alternatives."
Lady Syn says, "Totally lost. Where is Ori? I need a medical check up at the least."
Red comes on the scene to see Megumi has stopped making so much noise and is chatting with Syn.
Megumi shrugs. "Last time I saw him, he was obsessing over the design specifications and materials to build a fleet's worth of first-age-equivalent ships. I don't believe he's interested in visitors at the moment, though."
Lady Syn says, "I bet if I told him he gets to examine my body, he'd at least give it pause."
Megumi says, "He apparently has plenty of others to examine while he works, now. Including one that looks exactly like me, if I were wearing a veil. ...Except that one tatoo.. And I think there was one that looked like you, though I wasn't paying especially close attention at that point."
Lady Syn says, "tattoo?"
Megumi shrugs. "Yes, other than that, she looked to be a perfect replica. It was kind of creepy."
As time goes on, the Solars begin to feel a slight tremour under their feet. It also appears to be growing stronger and is spreading through the entire island.
Lady Syn says, "That can't be good."
You paged Lady Syn with 'She gets hit by another sharp pain and practically hears Orillian screaming at her to "Get away!"'
Megumi says, "And now we arrive at the fey horror portion of our shipwrecking experience..."
Lady Syn stagers backwards a few steps. "Ow. Think I'm going to listen to the voice in my head. To the ship."
Megumi nods. "TO THE SHIP!" She begins making her way...umm...toward where she thinks the ship is? Eheh.
Big Red starts to yell about someone setting fire to the jungle and stops midsentace to grab a tree
Megumi says, "Oh, it's not REALLY on fire, you big weeny.."
Megumi passes him and keeps on staggering shipward. Fortunately, the tossing decks of a ship prepares one nicely for groundquakes. Kind of.
Lady Syn runs towards the shore figuring finding the ship will be easier that way. "Do you see fire, Red? No. Lets leave."
The tremours are growing worse every second and the earth is visibly shaking under their feet. As they flee the forest, they see how most of the crew are fleeing to the ship as well. The entire island quaking does that to you.
Thankfully, Gyar had already started with the 'getting crew back to ship' so it really helps that the island is quaking to give further motivation. The rumbling is getting very bad, and the Solars get the feeling an explosion is in order somewhere.
Megumi likes explosions! ...When they're not on her ship. She keeps running through the trees - has she mentioned lately how much she *HATES* this island? - grabbing onto the odd vine for support as needed.
Big Red moves toward the ship with due haste. "This shaking reminds me of southern volcanos"
Megumi says, "Told you it was too good to be true."
The Solars flee to the ship, while the rumblings continue behind them. It seems that the island is screaming for some reason. They don't stop to ponder why and scramble aboard the Squall. It's going to be a little awkward leaving because of how Syn nearly grounded the ship trying to land though.
Megumi mutters about the peculiar beaching job and puts her back into it! ...It here having the meaning of, "getting the Squall the hell off this island."
Lady Syn helps try to de-beach the ship.
Big Red gives a hand in trying to move the ship
Ryoujal comes running in last and puts his back into it. Good thing he has all those muscles, and thus helps the ship to leave the land and get onto what passes for ocean here. They are in the Wyld after all.
Then comes a helpful rumble that seems to shove the ship away from the shore and enables them to begin sailing away.
You paged Lady Syn with 'She hears the faintest whisper from Orillian again, along the lines of "Ha. Take that." Only when she turns around, she doesn't see Orillian. She's not even sure what she heard.'
Lady Syn says, "Ori?"
The Squall sails on merrily into the blue mist and leaves the island behind. Now they're back to not knowing where they are.
And the whole crew seems to be rather shaken at what has just occured, while various members shake their head, as if trying to clear the wool from their head. Red and Syn both feel a little lighter as well, with their attraction to the island reduced.
You paged Lady Syn with 'She still feels the annoying pressure in her head though.'
Megumi feels much relieved to be away from there...until Syn mentions Orillian, and Megumi sees no signs of him. She looks back at the island. "Oh." Looks around the ship. "Ohhh." Yeah, this isn't good.
A quick headcount reveals that everyone made it back to the ship. Except for Orillian.
Lady Syn says, "Did he save us all?"
Megumi briefly mourns his loss. Perhaps he found some other way...Orillian *IS* a tough guy to kill...but she fears he is lost. She then turns to the helm and cartography, and attempts to get some idea of where they are in relation to...well...ANYTHING would be nice. Or at least to generally return to the guesstimated heading they'd been on in the first place.
Ryoujal looks out at the area where the island was and does his best to stop crying.
Lady Syn reaches out towards the island and tries to steal Ori from it.
Megumi turns to...uh...craftboy. "You were, to my knowledge, the last of us to see Orillian. What happened to him, to the best of your knowledge?" She continues poring over mostly useless maps while listening to his answer.
Big Red looks over board with a disturbed look. Then turns the captain. "Miss. I am sorry. I wasn't myself out there. And I would like to apologize for my lack of control."
Megumi sighs. "That's ok, Red. Nobody else was in control, either."
Ryoujal says, "Wha-what happened?"
Terris is looking somewhat shocked. "Um, Orillian told me to excuse myself and get busy on the ship while he settled some business. When I came back out, the whole factory-cathedral had vanished." He finally manages to answer.
Megumi nods. So he was no more knowledgable than the rest. Blast it. "Couldn't have prevented it." She shrugs, leaning against the mapboard. "And now we've NO idea where we are. The perfect place to start." She look at Syn. "Can you make anything out of this?"
As they sail through the mist, they find that it's starting to change colour from the weird blue into a sparkly crystal. Now that Orillian isn't around, Ryoujal is kept running to prevent any serious warping to the ship. But the Squall is certainly suffering. Syn is the only one who gets a slight warning as the ship suddenly tilts forward and plunges straight down.
The sudden plunge catches almost everyone by surprise. Megumi just manages to grab a rope before she's treated to flying in the air. Red and Ryoujal manages to get their bearings and not get blown off the ship. Syn is keeping perfect balance but is struggling to keep the Squall under control. All around them, the various crew members are somewhat successful in not falling off the ship, although any loose items on the ship is certainly flying up by now. The Squall lands with a loud crash, splashing crystal water all around them. Megumi lands on the ground with a thump and slight bruises while crew everywhere are groaning as they land. Then comes the rain of miscellaneous items that flew off the ship now returning to the ship that the crew attempts to avoid. Not all successfully as evidenced by various yells of pain.
Ryoujal covers his head, but otherwise does not do anything to dodge the stuff, letting it bounce off him, looking to the others, "Is anybody really hurt?"
Lady Syn continues to keep a grip on the wheel and uses it to try to regain control and dodge the debris as she flips around balancing on the helm.
Megumi flies through the air with the greatest of ease....EEP! She holds on tightly to the rope for as long as she can, looking down into the abyss below - arguably the worst possibility a sailor might experience - before the big plunge completes itself. The final impact jars her free of the rigging. "Ow." She stares up as several poles and pieces of debris come falling toward her. "Ulp." They land to either side of her, encircling her in a vaguely disconcerting way. "....Huh." She slowly rises to her wobbly feet and tries to make out her new surroundings.
Big Red takes a death grip on the mast to keep from flying away and the other hand holding down his hat
As they look around to become acquainted with their new surroundings, they're greeted by an odd sight. They're in a small lake of crystal water, which then flows off in six different directions, and twists and turns in various ways as far as the eyes can see. Where the crystal water does not flow, there is only an odd sort of darkness, made of various shades of colour, swirling murkily.
Megumi says, "....You mean we're going to have to pick which river to sail down?" She turns her face heavenward (or at least, up and back toward Creation). "Somebody up there hates my GUTS, don't they?"
Ryoujal look at the rivers to see if there's anything remarkably unique about the rivers. Lady Syn says, "Wouldn't be a quest if it was easy."
Big Red stares at the water "I wonder what that water taste like?"
Megumi says, "Chicken."
While they're not sure what passes for sunlight here, it's apparent the crystal water is the only thing that's really visible. As they watch, something jumps from the murkiness over the crystal stream. They catch a glimpse of scales and claws before whatever it is vanishes back into the murkiness.
Megumi eyes the murk. "Stay aboard ship, lads. As to the path...let's go that way." She points at the river on the far right, more or less at random.
Ryoujal gets his bracers on once again, "Get ready for anything men!"
Megumi dons her armour. Mostly on the off chance that she or somebody else accidentally takes a swim. Which is far from implausible, here.
Lady Syn focuses for a moment on the memory of the island where the ship resides then steers the ship towards the right path.
The crew, understandably, try not to stick close to the edges of the Squall. Most of the outer-edges of the Squall has been warped in various ways anyway.
Following her instincts, Syn picks the second path and the crew begins to row. There's not that much wind and the current is rather gentle so they'll have to rely more on their strength.
Seeing nothing better to do, Megumi starts trotting back and forth between her men, her boot-steps keeping time to the sea shanty she begins singing for them. One of the perks of working on this ship: you get music! From the captain herself, no less.
As they sail gently down the stream, there's a rumbling behind them. Something rises from the crystal lake, and the waters begin to stain a murky colour. The murkiness spreads down the stream, slowly at first, but then it gathers speed. There will be no going back. And they should be going faster. Before they have time to think about that though, something flits over the Squall and snatches at the crew.
Syn pushes the ship forward, but has to rely on the crew to sail the boat faster. Incidentally, with Orillian gone, they have to consider what to do with the demons on the ship. The blood apes are obedient for now, but with their summoner missing, they might decide to run amok. Thankfully, the blood apes are also helping to crank the ship forward faster, so they're just keeping ahead of the murkiness. Back on deck, the Solars spot snatching claws and have to decide how to react to stop crew members from being taken.
Megumi stretches forth her hand, and a bow appears within it gracefully. Pulling the fingers of her other hand across it, an arrow seems to materialize from equally thin air. Beginning to glow with the glory of the Sun, the arrow releases itself from the bindings of its bow and takes flight toward the grasping...thing.
Big Red takes draw on the thing jumping the ship. His essence flow down his arm and forms sands at the tip of his repeater. Pulling the trigger he yells "DESERT WIND" as a tunnel of hot sand flies forth.
Ryoujal seeing a few men coming to snatch some of his crew, he jumps up to get a hand on a crewman or two trying to pull them back down to Earth, if not will go with them where ever the thing is taking them.
Megumi shoots, Red shoots while Ryoujal tries to snatch the crew away first. There's an odd screeching as the arrow and bullet hits and the grasping claws grabs at thin air since Ryoujal has pulled the targetted crew members away. Then the thing dives back into the murkiness and they're left to catch their breath.
Behind them, the murkiness continues to flow down the crystal stream, gaining speed over time. They will have to sail much faster, because it is probably generally agreed that they would prefer not to know what happens if they murkiness catches up with them.
Big Red essence erupts around him in a bond fire as he shoots.
Megumi turns and fires a flaring arrow at the murkiness.
Lady Syn glows a bit more as she calls forth Salty Dog.
Megumi screws up her face (kind of cutely, not that you can tell under the helmet) at the complete lack of effect. Bah. "Put your backs into it, men!"
And so the Solars sail on with their crew on the crystal waters, trying very hard to keep ahead of the murkiness, and wondering what lies ahead on the crystal stream.
((ST Note: Given Ryoujal was late to the session, I have to point out that when he was on the island, he would have noticed how the people he was chatting with would have flickered and vanished just before the island began to rumble. Which I should have remembered to mention but forgot. Just a point of note.))
