She thought of salt? That's actually awesome. Or she can conjure it, either way.

I stay low. I'm going to be crawling during most of my time on the boat, as I cannot fly, and balance can be a tricky beast. I don't recall us having any rope, and I'm going to need to make some guard rails, or something to stop myself from being swept overboard. I did not escape a volcanic eruption just to die from being cast adrift on the seas.

"Hey, if you are still around, what's your name?"

You crawl out of the shell onto the raft.
You see her sitting on top of the shell resting.
"My name? It's Iridessa. But you can call me Iri. What is your name?"

Eh. What the heck. "Call me Ed." Cue the horse jokes. "Where did you get the salt from?"

I'm going to be asking her a million questions. Of course, staying on the raft itself is my highest priority right now. I'm surprised it's seaworthy, and I'm surprised it hasn't capsized. Don't know what power is looking out for me right now, but I'm grateful it's giving me a hand.

I'm keeping a hand on anything it can grab. I don't need a rogue wave sweeping me away, and it won't be long before the waters here change from coastal to shallow seas. The island likely has parts of it left below the waterline, but within a day, we can easily end up in deep sea, if we haven't already.

"I evaporated the seawater to get salt. I've been pushing the raft. but I haven't found the Island or anything else... I'm glad you are ok."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:26, Mon 14 July 2014.

Evaporated...I can use that. I point out a few things to her, since we have a lot of time right now. Like if she evaporates water under the shell, nightfall will come and when the morning arrives, we will have water...provided we have a container to put it into, like my inverted umbrella. Yes, I insist on finding a use for that thing.

The tortoise meat will last, but shallow fishing will be tricky this far out. I'll need to keep an eye open for birds. And I'll need to make something on the boat that will allow me to not get swept overboard. Since they are logs, I use my knife and start carving out places I can grip. That will likely take all my time up.

Fishing...I'll have to think on that one...if she has any ideas on that, I'm all ears.

"Hey, I'm glad your okay too. Maybe we can get through this after all. What happened to the rest of the fae?" My thoughts go back to the stone that I risked my life for, and further back to my friend fading out from being killed for the carapace I'm under.

She looks enlightened by your explanation on how to get fresh water.

She doesn't have any ideas for fishing.

"They scattered when the island started to erupt... We where blown quite a ways away."

Okay, so they won't be any help. I ask her what the limits of her abilities are, how often she can use them, what intensity, degree of mastery and control; the million questions I promised no one in particular I would ask. I need to know her limits, because right now, she represents my best chance at survival.

"I'm good with magic. I can use it pretty much as often as I want. I can play it safe with magic but it doesn't work all the time. I can do it normally, but bad things might happen. Or I can Push myself for more power, But bad things are likely to happen. There are a few spells I know well and can do reliably.I'm good with making fire in various forms.I'm decent with making protective spells.

Sometimes I can Improvise with magic and do what I need to do. But it takes a lot out of me.

...Would you like me to demonstrate?"
She seems eager.

I put on my pants (OOC: assuming I haven't been presumed to have done as much), and the clothes that haven't been destroy. No way I am crawling around on a bunch of bark covered logs. That would hurt me in locations I don't like getting hurt in; namely, anywhere. No footwear, though.

"Yeah, actually. If you haven't done so, get us as far away from the island as you can. I don't want to be in the cloud zone, and I don't want to be near its debris. Just prop your back against the shell, and blast fire in the opposite direction you want us to go in. Just be careful, because I don't know if the raft can handle that kind of speed without flipping over."

I keep being reminded of how unseaworthy this raft is. Seriously, her raftmaking skills must be impressive, or I managed to accidentally create a masterpiece of terrible boats.

ooc I presumed you put them on before coming out.

The sky is very dark. there is one section of the sky brighter than the others.
You have your spear and two pieces of iron bamboo.

She thinks for a moment. the gets a bright smile on her face.
"I'm going to make the raft better."
She does some arcane gestures and mutters to herself.
The raft shapes itself into a more sea worthy design.
"ok this next bit is going to be harder"
She mutters some more
The Area around you becomes total darkness for a few seconds and then clears up.
She commands something you can't see
"Push the raft that way"

The raft starts to move in the direction she indicated.

We didn't sink. Success! Now, for the next phase...what's pushing the boat? No clue. I'll find out in time.

Sanitation: Very important. Need to make sure the deck remains clean.
Water and Fire: Covered, as long as my fae ally doesn't somehow die. If that happens, I have three days, maybe longer if I am lucky and resourceful, then I'm dead.
Food: Limited, scurvy is a real issue if this is a prolonged trip, and unless she can summon oranges or something with citrus acid, there is nothing I can do about it. I have maybe a month, perhaps longer. Scurvy was an unpleasant way to go out. Unless wolf form grants me some resistance to that. I never calculated for the survival odds of myself if I could transform into a dog. Their anatomical limitations aren't something I'm well versed in.
Boredom: Covered, same situation as fire and water, unfortunately.

Most of my survival is due to my ally. Really, I had no plan at this point, other then get away from the volcano. I didn't think the island would actually detonate, though. Most of the time, the volcano erupts, the lava goes down a particular path, life on the island resumes afterward. Islands exploding usually precede noticeable climate change. When one island detonated on my home world in the 1800s, it created a miniature ice age.

At this point, I need to think. Perhaps I could just go towards the horizons, or maybe...

"Hey, can you track your friends down? We might be able to find them." Perhaps I just need to give myself a direction. At least until I can find an interdimensional map or navigational technique.

The invisible thing pushes the raft for about an hour. Iri uses that time to rest.

"That would be hard to do. They scattered in all directions and I'm not sure where to start looking"

Sounds like my own issue. I go back into the shell, rummage in my pack, and remove the hearthstone. Now that I have some time to myself, perhaps I can divine what it is used for, and more importantly, how it will help me.

No faerie quest for me. Crying shame.

But, I have a different quest. If this world has an edge, I intend to sail off of it. In fact...

"Hey! What the moon like? Have you ever been there?"

You examine thr stone and for a brief instant you felt like it was simultaneously inflaming your rage and tempering it.

She looks at you funny.
She flies up to you and puts her hand on your forehead. She is very warm, almost uncomfortably so.

"You're freezing. You must be getting sick. That must be the reason for the weird question.anyway. I don't know what the moon is like. I haven't been there."

She has a concerned look on her face.
"If you are that cold, maybe you should rest for a bit. How are you feeling? "

I have an idea for a simple spell I can probably pull off. hold on."

She mutters to herself.
For a brief moment you hear things whispering at the edges of your perception.
"The spell says that the current direction we're heading will have a good result for us."

Mentat said


I knew I forgot to mention some details

Thinking back to when you where building the raft.Nether of you have much in the way of skill in building things. But she seemed rather intuitive with the process. But at that time she seemed better than she is normally. Whatever she did make her draw attention to herself.Most people would have stared and watched her work on it.

"My health is fine. There is a reason I ask questions like that, even if the reason is not apparent. My next question is related, and I'll reveal how in a moment: how much rope can you conjure up for us? Or rather, what are the limits on what you can conjure?"

If I have a magus, I need to be specific. All of my resources are going to help me, even if I cannot see how.

"I'm not good at conjuration. I can try improvising a spell to make rope. But I'll need to rest before I can improvise spells again."

Drat. "Don't worry about it then. I had this idea of flying up to get a better view of what was going on, and I recalled the story of Baron von Munchhausen and his trip to the moon. Had to ask if that was a thing. Not sure why, but it felt like a good idea. But we do need to know if there is anything around us, and a vantage point is a nice thing to have."

Yes, I wanted to convert the raft into a hot air balloon and fly. No, this would not have worked, as logistical issues would have stopped me. Still, anything that bypasses my present limitations is something I'll go for.

She thinks for a bit and smiles.

"I can go up and take a look."

She starts flying up and up and up.
Until she is a speck you can barely see.
She comes down.
"I think I saw land that way."

Land that way is better then nothing. Still might take a while to reach it. "Well then, let's get there as soon as possible!"

I ready myself for landfall. Spear ready, check. Knife ready, check. Backpack secure, check. If I am lucky, then this will be a series of islands. Hopefully, the others will be more tectonically stable then the last one. And I've fought the Adamants once, now I have no fear of them.

What new adventures await me? I wonder if I'm going to be a grim servant of death, with everyone I meet just dying after getting to know me. I hope not, because that would get bothersome.

It looks more like a forested mainland as you get closer.
You make landfall on a beach.
A group of people with obvious bionics and silver tattoos appear on the edge of the forest.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Wed 16 July 2014.

Well, I have a welcoming parade. Let's get sarcastic.

I drag the raft as far on the shore as I can, then I turn to the others who have arrived. "Your savior has arrived! You are most fortunate that I have arrived at your hour of most dire need, to save you all, and to be your salvation!"

Yup. That should win them over. Charisma? Negotiation? Yeah, I have those skills, but nothing forces me to use them. Probably not the best thing for me to say, but when I get on a roll of good fortune, I tend to push it until my fortune stops being good.

"The Prophecy was right. He is the Darksteel Shepard. The Great Wheel is in dire need of you and we have been entrusted to prepare you for your trials and tribulations. We are the Iron Masters tribe."

Huh. You know, universe, I was just stating something completely random and stupid, and that was exactly what happened.

And now, my stupidity has just got me in way over my head. 'Darksteel Shepherd' is not a phrasing I like, as I know what that is in Exalted; in short, it is the signature metal of the Underworld made from ghosts. Nasty stuff. Which means I'm apparently prophesied to be some kind of walking engine of murder.

Calm down, brain, just roll with it.

"Well, that's...excellent news. When do we begin?" I need some time to pick my jaw up off the ground, mentally speaking.

Iri's jaw is hanging wide open

"We must begin you training immediately. Now where do you want to focus your training?"

ooc:It's time for down time. What do you want to train? They have low level of ablity in nearly everything you can think of.

Discussed ooc. Montage with Highlights incoming
This message was last edited by the player at 06:40, Wed 16 July 2014.