"What the hell is that thing?" Judoc has never seen anything like the tentacle that moves in the water. This must have been what he heard as he passed by in the dark before. Some large beast must lurk beneath the waves. He wonders how strong that tentacle might be. It reminds him of illustrations of sea monsters attacking ships, with a sailor in each arm.

"Wait here. I'll see if I can drive it off." Judoc floats forward, staff at the ready.

OOC: Go slowly. Keep an eye on the tentacle.

Surprised by the massive arm, Judoc hovers quickly towards it, casting as he approaches where the thing disappeared under the waves.  Though he seeks to find the arm again under the water, the short, churning waves reflect back his own light making it difficult or impossible to see anything below the surface.

Still, Judoc has little doubt that the thing will be afraid of fire...  He creates a large, self-sustaining flame then uses another spell to spread the fire thin, drawing it out like a torched oil slick across the surface of the waves...

The flames hiss intermittently as peaks of water splash up and mix with the fire, and the ceiling glows with bright orange merriment.

OOC:  Difficult to impossible to tell how successful you are, though you are positive that if the thing has eyes, then it can at least see what you are doing.  You would estimate that the upper left shore is probably about 9 yards from where the men are standing (in the bottom left), most of which would likely need to be swum.

You have 3 spells now active, all of which can be maintained for free.  I used the 2 energy to cast (1 for each spell) from your energy reserve.  Let me know which ones you want to keep active.

Nine yards. Hm. Judoc considers the situation. He does not know what the creature might be capable of, but he imagines that tentacle dragging a man down to the bottom of the pool and drowning him. How many tentacles might be lurking beneath the water?

"The fire should keep the beast at bay," he calls to the others. "Once I create a path, if it seems unwilling to go through the flame, you three can try to swim across. Be wary, though, and be ready to attack it should it not fear the flames."

Concentrating, Judoc attempts to create a lane of open water, with the cave wall on the left hand side and his fire on the right.

OOC: Okay, the plan is to leave a lane of water open for swimming, with a barrier of fire on one side to keep the tentacled thing away. Let's see how this goes.

Thinking to keep whatever it was that lurked beneath the surface to stay well away, Judoc manipulates his flames, stretching them out in a narrow wall of fire that creates a lane for the three men to swim through.

Already waist deep, Orgon dives himself forward first, swinging his arms wide over his head like a windmill as he kicks furiously with his feet.  Waiting only a moment after, Trisso charges ahead as well, his own style more like a frog, with his head popping up out of the water at every breath searching the way ahead as well as for the monster lurking underneath.  Reve seems to be the least confident of the three, taking in several breaths before he jumps forward into the churning brine.

Meanwhile, Judoc hovers above, his eyes peeled for anything moving below the surface.

He sees it almost the same time that Reve reacts.

"Shit!"  Reve shouts, pulling his head out of the water as his feet splash wildly behind him.  "It fucking touched me!  It's here!"

Here indeed.  Judoc sees the thing briefly lurking under the water, submerged completely beneath his wall of fire.  It's definitely large...  The thickest part of the thing's body looking to be about as wide and tall as a barrel chested man.  Arms slither in all directions, a discolored pale white that stands out only near the surface, and disappears all together once the thing goes just a little deeper.  After just a glance, a wave crashes over the thing, snuffing at Judoc's fire with a sizzle and smoke and the monster is suddenly out of sight, disappearing under the water.

OOC:  Sorry, not my best post.  You deserve a map, which unfortunately I can't get at the moment.  I'm definitely distracted.  All three of the men are in the water, with Orgon almost at the dry portion in the northwest portion of the map.  To you (the player at least, if Judoc doesn't know what they are), the monster looks like a massive squid, with the torso part as big as a man, and the legs/arms much longer.

You managed a brief glance at it before the thing dropped out of sight again.  Reve is splashing and swimming wildly to try and get to land.  Despite the way I worded it, you don't get the impression the thing is gone, just moved from where you had a good view of it.

Heart pounding, Judoc looks in amazement at the monster that has appeared. What kind of creature was that? The thing looks like it has about a dozen arms, and Judoc has no doubt that it could wrap half a dozen around a man to drown him.

Gritting his teeth, Judoc moves closer to the beach. It will reflect badly on him if Reve is attacked by whatever monstrosity is lurking beneath the waves, and so he concentrates on yet another spell, this one learned from Finn.

For a moment, Judoc thinks of a spell to hide their presence from the monster, though he realizes quickly that he simply does not have the time for the cast.  Better instead, Judoc thinks, to go with his tried and trusted...  a rain of fireballs as he hovers above the fight.

Acting on the thought, Judoc summons a fireball to his hands, his brain swirling with the mental gymnastics of holding four spells all going simultaneously.  But the strain is bearable, and the small, lime-sized bit of flame flickers in his hands as Reve continues to splash and struggle through the water.

Orgon and Trisso are just pulling themselves out of the water as Reve really begins to panic.

"It's got me!"  Reve calls, though his shout seems muffled by lack of breath.  And indeed, Judoc can see a pale grey arm wrapped in earnest around the sailor's midsection, which trails off into the deep at the center of the room.

Judoc hurls his small ball of flame forward, which crashes into the leathery arm with a hiss, leaving black scorch marks and steam in it's wake!

The arm shudders and stiffens with the blow, though it does not let go of Reve!  Instead, the appendage begins pulling, and Reve begins drifting towards the narrow wall of flames that was supposed to keep the beast away!

OOC:  Map below.  Fireball attack was successful at first opportunity, and looks to have done moderate injury to the beast.

Oddly enough, the beast doesn't seem to be avoiding your flames at all, and it's arm (and Reve) are drifting into it, rather than keeping away.

Let's do 2 seconds, as this fight could rapidly go either way.

Fuck! Judoc launches forward with his staff, hoping to hurt the tentacled thing enough to get it free of Reve. As long as the creature stays submerged, Judoc's fire will do little damage to it. If only Judoc could stun it!

There is one spell in his repertoire that could perhaps dazzle the creature long enough for Reve to break free. "Close your eyes, everyone! I'm going to try to blind it!"

OOC: Move toward beast. Cast Flash.

"Reve!"  Trisso shouts out, stepping back into the waist deep water and grabbing the man's hand with his own as he attempts to haul him into shore.

"You bring him in, I'll slash that damn thing!"  Orgon cheers, drawing his knife out of his belt as he charges back too into the waters.

It does not seem to solve Reve's immediate problems however, for he still continues to splash and struggle in the water near the surface.  Judoc slowly sees the form of the monster's body coming into view just under the water, the pale-white skin and milky eyes approaching Reve as it wraps yet another tendrillous arm around the man's body.

"Micare!"  Judoc shouts after giving his own men fair warning.  Even with his eyes closed, Judoc feels and sees the explosion of light, tinged red by the barrier of his eyelids.

He snaps his eyes open again, but the beast still has Reve by a tight grasp, both of them drifting towards the small wall of flame as their clothes and limbs sizzle as the heat and water mix.

~egads!  Ahia moans as her body swoons with fatigue.  ~It's a good think I have three eyelids!  I might have fallen off otherwise!

OOC:  No significant change to the map, though Orgon and Trisso are charging back in to try and help.  Again, difficult to get an immediate assessment of the spell as your vision is obscured by so much water, though the squid has not immediately let go.

The situation grows worse, and Judoc grits his teeth as all his flashy spellwork seems to be for naught. The aquatic terror seems hellbent on flame-broiling Reve.  The mage floats forward, his staff extended outward like a polearm as if to harpoon the creature.

OOC: Move into range. Use staff as a spear to strike the tentacle holding Reve.

Judoc hovers, his body reeling with dizziness and fatigue, but he cannot let Reve be taken by this monster!  With both hands, he jabs forward with his Staff, and though the blunt end of his weapon scrapes against the edge of the beast's tentacle, the staff slips against the slippery skin without seeming to harm the thing, only splashing at the choppy water with a thin plunk!

Reve shouts and hollers in distress, struggling with everything he is worth as he fights the monster holding him in a death grip.  But his efforts are not enough!  With a last gasping breath he disappears under the surface, buried now under the flames and the water.

Trisso too, seems to be pulled down, his own body lurched forward and his face splashing at the waves as he strains with all his effort to yank Reve back out!

"I've got him!"  Orgon shouts, jumping forward and diving down, knife extended to savage whatever he can see under the water.

The moment seems to stretch on for eternity... but then all at once, Trisso's form begins to stagger back, with Reve coming to the surface with a spluttering cough!

"Get away!"  Orgon yells again as he gets to the surface, sculling backwards as he kicks his legs, his eyes darting ahead too and fro in search of the giant squid.

Judoc too looks long and hard...  But as the three men slowly make their way back to the shore, the only thing that Judoc can see is an expanding black splotch in the water...  Of the squid, he can see nothing.

"I think I kicked it trying to get away."  Reve says in between gasps of air.  "Maybe it's gone?"

OOC:  And the fight ends as quickly as it started!  I wasn't entirely sure what you were going for, but the whole point is moot anyway as you attack missed regardless of what skill you were using.  Amazingly, Reve managed a break free roll with the assistance of Trisso, and the squid hasn't bothered them as they swam quickly back to shore.  Map now same as before.  Let me know if you want to keep going the same way you know, or if you want to try and find a quicker route.  You guys are all now in the top left corner.

You have 3 spells active.  Luckily, neither Trisso nor Reve suffered any fire damage due to the fact that the flames were relatively spread out (and the fact that they were both soaking wet helped).

"Thank God," Judoc says, the color returning to his face. He very nearly led these men to their deaths, at least Trisso and Reve. Judoc is sure his spellcasting made a difference in driving off the aquatic creature, but the Templar student did spend most of the fight reacting rather than being proactive.

God's body, he's tired. Judoc badly needs rest. He knows with only half an hour or so, he'd at least be in fighting shape, but they don't have that kind of time. The pirates may already have escaped. So he gives the sailors a moment to catch their breath while he focuses on the thin sheet of flame, moving his hand as if to shape it into a ball and bringing it closer. Curious. The water looks as though someone had tipped a large inkwell into the bay.

At length, he says, "Everyone ready? Then let's continue on."

OOC: Judoc will keep all three spells on and bring the flame with him. He will Shape the flame into a sphere.

Wait just long enough until the sailors are breathing normally again. Then continue north through the caves.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Sat 10 Dec 2022.

Unsure whether or not the squid is gone, Judoc opts to stay as dry as possible and wind his way around the opposite side of the cavern this time.  He concentrates for a moment to bring the large, crackling ball of magical fire back together and near him, hoping that he will still retain some use for the conjured fire.

Coughing the last of the water from his lungs, Reve is finally set to go, and the four make their way along the beach keeping the walls of the cave on their left hand side.

It takes Judoc a moment, though with the light of his eye in addition to the large ball of flame, he eventually he finds the same spot he had found earlier, where the bootprints of the pirates had massed upon the beach along with the various footprints of the slaves.

Judoc gestures with a hand for the others to follow, keeping slow in hopes that the others will not hear them.

But Judoc's hopes fade as he turns the corner towards the room he had last seen the pirates.  Somewhere far along, he can hear the hurried whispers of the goblin in Arabic.

"Hurry!  Get up the damn rope!  They may be here any moment!"

OOC:  No map this time, sorry if that's a bummer.  The four of you are probably about 20 yards from where you saw the pirates last, though there are a few narrow sections you have to pass through to get there.

Please note that you must concentrate to move the magical fire, so you cannot take it with you as you run, you must concentrate (though you can do that with a step I believe).

Just looking for general intentions, orders, tactics, and how fast you are planning on trying to get there.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Continuing to float through the air, Judoc moves toward the sailors who have absconded with Tibbets' men. Judoc wonders once more why he is helping the repulsive ship captain reclaim his slaves, but the mage knows the crew of the Watchman cannot afford to be stranded on this island.

Judoc communicates telepathically with his familiar.~Stay safe, Aiah.~ With a wave of his hand, he summons a small ball of flame. "The goblin is the most dangerous," he tells the others. "Cover his mouth and bind his hands so he cannot cast magic."

OOC: Judoc will cast Fireball on the tip of his staff. Staff in a two-handed grip. The carved ivory amulet will be out to provide some light.

The four men hurry forward, Judoc leading the way with his lighted eye.

Though he allows his larger and much more cumbersome ball of flames to vanish, Judoc replaces the fire with a much more flexible spell, a little ball of flames not much larger than a clementine that hovers near the end of his staff as Judoc too hovers along down the cave walls.

It is not long before the four are in the cave, and Judoc is watching as the last of the slaves is climbing (or perhaps more accurately being hauled) up a rope and out of the large opening in the ceiling.  The only one left still down in the cave is the goblin, his bright green tabard now splattered and stained with the sticky mud of the caves.

As the light blooms across the room, the Goblin removes his attention from the climbing slave and turns, his hands held upwards, palms extended.

[Language unknown: "Erweic meou en n Etienne!"]  The goblin shouts in his gravelly voice.  [Language unknown: "Wial haoul fo ti ort!]

"What'd he say?"  Reve asks as he draws his knife.  "Is he giving up?"

"He said your mother was a bad lay."  Orgon spits as he draws his own weapon.  "That and you're swimming back to Dekamera, because the slaves are gone."

OOC:  Judoc has his staff ready in both hands with a 1D fireball ready to be thrown.  The cave is only about 7 yards across, apologies for no hexes on the map.

Not quite in combat yet, though it seems to be quickly approaching.  The rope for the moment has been pulled out of the opening in the ceiling, which is more than large enough for a man to crawl through.

Judoc has two spells active.


This message was last edited by the GM at 13:50, Tue 13 Dec 2022.

Judoc takes in the scene, and frankly, the young mage is puzzled. Is this goblin willing to give his life here? If so, why? Or is the enemy mage so over-confident that he thinks he can take on four men at once, including another mage?

The pirate reminds Judoc so strongly of Grobbik that he almost pauses in his assault. Would he be willing to attack a friend if the two stood on opposite sides? But the other mage looks like he might be about to cast.

"Grab him!" Judoc shouts. "Don't let him cast!" He moves forward through the air and lobs his fireball at the goblin.

OOC: Throw the fireball at the goblin. Begin moving to the hole in the ceiling.

Judoc hurls his ball of flame straight at the goblin, who twists wryly out of the way as the small sphere erupts into a puff of smoke and steam on the wetted back wall of the cave.

He has no time however, to waste on getting the goblin when he has to stop these men from taking their rowers, the only way for him to get home!

Judoc floats upwards, bringing yet another ball of flame to his staff with a whispered word of power.  He watches above as the last of the slaves disappears in the opening, now only a shaft of moonlight is visible, penetrating down from up above.

Below him, Orgon charges the goblin with haste, smashing into the little green man as the pirate pulls out a knife from his belt, both of them groaning at the impact.  It seems the goblin teeters back with the blow, though the shadows below grow larger as Judoc and his light stone rise upwards towards the ceiling.

At his shoulder, Aiah grips her claws tight in nervousness.

OOC:  Three rounds that time.  You have gone up about 4 yards, so that your feet are essentially out of reach for anyone on the ground.  You have another 2 seconds before you make it to the hole in the ceiling.  You have a ready fireball which floats about the end of your staff.

Did you want Aiah to leave you?  I'm not sure if that's what you intended by your "stay safe" comment, either way is probably fine with me/Aiah, but for the moment I have her still on your shoulder.

The situation below seems well under hand, so Judoc continues drifting up through the gloom to the opening above. He would not be surprised if the other pirate were waiting at the top, so he turns his attention to the outside, prepared to lash out should he come under attack.

~If I am ambushed, fly to safety~, he sends to Aiah.

Even though the goblin looks like he will be easily subdued, Judoc knows that fighting a pirate and four freed slaves may be beyond even his own abilities. If he can lower down the rope, though, he and the crew of the Watchman can catch up to the escapees.

As Judoc floats upward, he remembers the sands of Azer and his sparing of the outlaw Thresher. The mage had then refused to act as the headsman and kill a man just because the crowd wanted him to. Yet now here Judoc is, acting as a slave-catcher. The idea discomforts him. In valuing his own needs over the freedom of these escaped men, Judoc is taking sides in a fight that he has little interest in.

But no. Judoc is loyal to himself above all others. Upward he floats.

OOC: Continue floating upwards.

[Language unknown: "Acee yinconset e ndac Hontha!"]  The goblin shouts from down below through the sounds of bootsteps racing forward through the mud and ick!

Judoc leans his body into his spell, lifting himself upwards as quickly as he can, the yawning maw in the ceiling approaching quickly.  Judoc girds himself for an ambush, gripping his staff tightly in front of him, watching and waiting for the first stroke to come.

And come it does!  Just as Judoc breaks out into the open skies of the night, he sees the faint reflection of his glowing eye shimmering off of a blade to his right!

[Language unknown: "Haseraousestnde noisof!"]  The throaty voice shouts as the blade descends, leaving Judoc with only an instant to parry the blow!

Judoc swipes his staff wildly to get it into position, miraculously knocking the blade wide on instinct alone as he climbs up through the effects of his magic!  But Judoc has only an instant to register the other man to his left, who is growing larger in his peripheral vision by the moment!

"You will not take me back!"  Judoc recognizes the slave's Arabic, though this time he has no time to react, and the body collides into his side, the man's arms wrapping around him like the hungry tentacles of the squid!

~Egads!  Aiah's mind screeches as her body flaps upwards and away, making for some quick and nearby perch.

Below, Judoc hears the metalic Clank! of steel on steel.

But unlike the squid, this man's arms are not equipped for suction, and he seems to be slipping under the burden of his own weight, unable to find a real grip on Judoc's leathers.  Flailing to find some new purchase for his hands, the slave slips down Judoc's leg, his hand finally slipping off of Judoc's boot as the slave tumbles down through the hole in the floor below!

Crash!  Judoc twinges internally as he hears the screams of both the slave and Reve in conjunction with the sound of the body crashing to the mud floor below.

But soon Orgon is screaming too, one of surprise and pain!

"It's so fucking dark!"  Trisso laments from the floor below.

OOC:  Map provided, but nothing fancy.  You were insanely lucky on that last round, making your parry which was heavily penalized for various reasons in conjunction with the slave's all out grapple missing.

The hole into the room below is about 3 hexes wide, encompassing E4, D4, and E5 (your hex, and the two to your SW).  Etienne is the man just in front of you, and appears to be equipped with a short sword.  Two of the three other slaves are on the map as well, apparently waiting for the moment.  The last of the slaves is crouching a decent distance away, and appears to have no interest in being close to the fight... or you.

You still have a ready fireball, and no longer have ridiculous penalties to your defenses (as you can see all your foes and are level with them).

As many combat seconds as you are willing to attempt please, though I'll stop things if something crazy happens.

Shit! With Judoc above, the men below have no light to see by. And from the sounds of it, things are not going well in the darkness below. The goblin must have stabbed Orgon, and the slave who fell probably landed on Reve.

Damn this night! ~Find a tree to hide in, pretty bird!~ The last thing he wants to worry about is his night-blind hawk getting skewered by a lucky strike. With surprise, Judoc realizes that Aiah's well-being is a weakness of his. If anything happened to her, he would be grievously upset, not only because she is so useful, but because he is so fond of her.

Judoc continues to rise through the air. "Give up and you live!" he shouts in Arabic. Switching to Arlaise, he shouts, "Etienne! Let us talk... before we kill... one another! Why do you... steal... these men?" The Arlaise sounds alien in his head, and he realizes that this is the first time he has spoken this language. It is as if he is translating the words in his head directly from Anglish to Arlaise.

OOC: Continue to rise in the air (if possible).

~A tree is right!  Aiah responds to Judoc's thought.  ~Far enough away from here that I won't have to deal with sneak attacks and waking in the night to blazing infernos!

Recognizing that only luck has saved him from a devastating blow, Judoc floats upwards as fast as his spell will allow.  Though he fully expects another swing of the blade and has his staff ready to block, Etienne holds the blow, apparently allowing the standoff to edge to Judoc's advantage as he gains an exclusive height advantage over his foes.

Judoc uses his position first to admonish the slaves, hoping to incur their surrender.  But if that is his intent, the effort does not produce the results he is hoping for.

"You are wrong!"  The Arabic is strained, the voice wrecked with emotion as the slave steps forward and looks up at Judoc, his fist clenched.  "Give up and we die a thousand times over, every day for the rest of our lives!  For what?  Better to fling myself from this rock and have it done with than to resign myself to the life which you seek from me!"

Judoc does not allow the time spent listening to be otherwise wasted.  "Lux!"  He mutters, keeping his voice quiet enough that he hopes the others will not take notice... or at least will not mistake him for casting some spell with nefarious intent.  And in the moment, a small light, like the flame of a candle appears in front of him, which he ushers downwards into the cave to give his men something better to see by.

Unfortunately, his efforts do not appear to be in time.

"Damn you, you filthy green skin!"  Orgon shouts.

"Drop it."  Comes the goblin's voice in Anglish this time.  "All of you drop your weapons or this one gets it."

"Easy goblin."  Trisso says, and though Judoc thinks there is more talking that continues, any conversation below is quickly drowned out by Etienne's response at his offer.

"Steal them?!"  Etienne shouts in Arlaise.  Though the language is new to Judoc, he finds that as the words flow on, he can understand them...  without really knowing how.  It is easy to understand, and it becomes easier as he thinks about it less, though he worries about the frenzied tone that Etienne has struck.

For the man's voice is instantly filled with rage, though Judoc is encouraged to see that at least his short blade droops downwards into a less threatening position.  "From who, you?  Are they yours wizard?!  And where did you get them?  I suppose you bought them, fair and square?"

Judoc thinks to get a word of defense in, though Etienne has worked himself up into a froth and does not give Judoc even a moment to think.

"Bullshit!"  Etienne shrieks, swatting his sword down to his side in emphasis.  "You stole them yourself!  From their homes!  From their families!  Do not attempt your excuses with me!  There are no excuse for Taveon's thugs!"

Bewildered, Judoc again attempts to calm the moment, but Etienne rolls on in fluid and throaty speech without even seeming to take a breath!

"And it is each other you puffed up ass!  Not one another!  Learn to speak Arlaise like a proper man!"

His head whirring trying to keep up, it takes Judoc a moment to realize that he is now being admonished on his Arlaise grammar as well!

OOC:  I got some time in the car ride to throw something together here and I figured I would take the opportunity to move the thread along.

Etienne seems open to parlay or at the least it is clear that he isn't currently attacking.  It is hard to say for sure if he can attack with you being 9 feet above him (you are outside and on relatively flat mountain stone), though he did withhold his next strike when you didn't attack him immediately back.

The standoff is tense, and it sounds as though the goblin has gotten the drop on Tibbets' men. Fucking hell. Judoc figured that three sailors could handle one goblin, wizard or no. Meanwhile, Judoc is left to deal with five men on his own. Well, not counting the one who tumbled down into the cave and the other fellow over there no doubt too frightened to move.

Where did this uneducated buffoon get off on trying to correct a man of letters like Judoc. The nerve! Next, no doubt, Etienne will be trying to educate Judoc on the finer points of potion-brewing!

"I am not... a slaver!" How much truth is there in Etienne's words? More likely, these men had been soldiers captured in battle, or prisoners sold off to pay their debts. Judoc doesn't really care where these men came from or what made them slaves. He is only concerned with getting off this rock and continuing on to Azer.

And Taveon? Who the hell is he? "I know no one... named Taveon," Judoc says, dismissively. "I... hired a boat... to take me to Azer. You pirates are... all the same! You have... kidnapped these men! Are you... going to sell them? Fill... your pockets... with gold?"

Judoc grips his staff tightly. He is exhausted, both mentally and physically. Still, he finds himself moved by the slave's words. "I not wishing you to have a life of death," he says in Arabic. Judoc is called the Merciful, but he knows, deep down, that he simply chooses his own path. there is far more selfishness than mercy in his blood. Judoc the Self-Serving is far more apt.

He continues speaking in Arabic.  "I not wanting to kill. And I not wanting to return you to a life of suffering. What can we do? I want to get home. You want to be free. Are we enemies, or can we work together?"

OOC: Judoc will use Diplomacy to continue talking with the slaves and pirates. He has no love for Tibbets, but he is also suspicious of these pirates and their motives.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Sat 17 Dec 2022.

"Do not play the fool with me Wizard!"  Etienne interrupts Judoc at a shout even before he is finished talking.  "You cannot pretend to know Earl Taveon Magnus of Dekamera, whose flag you proudly fly on your ship..."  Etienne seems primed to continue, but he splutters uncomprehendingly at Judocs next word, as the two talk over each other at increasingly higher octaves.

"Pirates?!"  Etienne rages...  And Judoc begins to wonder if he will ever be able to calm the man from his seeming constant indignity.

"Pirates?  WE ARE THE CREW OF THE SCYLLA OF THE ROYAL FLEET OF DUC REMIS D'ANSONNE!  You are the pirate and slaver, and scourge of these waters!  Or did you forget that it was you who attacked us, who tried to set our ship ablaze for no reason whatsoever!"

Etienne breathes in labored breaths and Judoc's head spins with the accusation.  Was it true?  What had Tibbets hidden from him, hidden from the men?  What was the truth?

Down below, Judoc can faintly hear the goblin still talking in Anglish, his words slow and steady.

"Put down your weapons!  We are no killers, but you are trying my patience!"

OOC:  Sorry if I'm railroading here.  While your conversation with the slave no doubt would lead to an interesting back and forth, it doesn't help me move the game along, so for the time being I'm ignoring it in favor of Etienne's brash retorts.

if you wish to settle things peaceably, roll vs. diplomacy (or another appropriate social skill).  Otherwise, if your intent is to continue combat, give me your overall strategy and I'm probably going to fast forward significantly as your safety is all but guaranteed (though the same cannot be said for the crew).  If you can think of another alternative, feel free to role play it, though be warned that just about anything you try at this point is probably going to be settled with a dice roll as I'm running out of time to draw things out.

Judoc grinds his teeth. He doesn't know either of these names. Taveon? D'Ansonne? "I have... no interest...in your politics," he says dismissively. Privately, though, he wonders which side he may be allied with here. Taveon sounds like a Megalan name, but that doesn't give Judoc much to go on.

He knows that these men are probably from Araterre, from their language and from their duke's name. Isn't Araterre part of the Empire as well? He has been told that these men are pirates, and he knows Tibbets is an asshole, so they can all go burn for all he cares. But that leaves him with the problem of how to get back to Azer.

In Anglish, he calls out to Reve and the others, "Peace! Let's not kill anyone if we can help it!"

To Etienne, Judoc switches to Aralaise. "I have... no proof... of anything... you say. I am Judoc... of Azer... a student of the Templars. I do not know... if that makes us... enemies... but I do not... wish to kill you... nor you... to kill... my crew. I have... no love... for the captain... of my vessel... but I hired him... to take me home. I was told... you and your crew... were pirates... and that you... kill... every crew... you capture. I am willing... to listen."

OOC: Use Diplomacy to try to come to some common ground here.

Although the situation is tense, it slowly becomes clear that none of the combatants wish to fight, apart from perhaps Orgon, whose pride is still smarting from a knife injury inflicted from the goblin while Orgon couldn't so much as see his hand in front of his face...

Still, it doesn't take much convincing to broach a peace.  Everyone separates, sheathes their weapons, and evaluates the damage.  Reve, it seems, is the worst for wear, having suffered cracked ribs and massive bruising when the slave fell on top of him without warning.

Orgon too, has suffered damage, though not so bad that a temporary bandage won't staunch the blood while Judoc collapses in a heap for rest.

The goblin collapses too... It appears he too had exhausted himself through various spell casting throughout the night.

While the two rest the true story begins to unfold, bit by bit.

Everything starts back and the border wars, ended over a decade ago...  Judoc hears of the former Lord Gavin Magnus, Earl of Dekamera, who had sought to profit from the conflict, sending his troops not to the front, but as raiding parties along the Wazifi coastline.  His forces would plunder, stealing all sorts of goods and enslaving whatever peoples they could round up before returning back.

But Lord Gavin's plan went awry when his son and heir Traveon was taken prisoner in one of the raids...  Though the war drew on for several years after, no deal was struck to return Traveon.  In fact, he did not return to his home until well after the war ended, on the occurrence of his father, Lord Gavin's death.

Since his return, Traveon, now Earl in his father's place had restarted the raiding parties, in spite of, and in clear violation of the terms of the peace.  While Araterre was not directly involved, the Duc Remis D'Ansonne had learned of, and taken an interest in the issue, hoping to stem the illegal raids when possible, or else rectify and return the victims.

While Judoc had thought he was preventing war between Araterre and Megalos, he now hears that Araterre, and these men (and goblins) were also trying to prevent war - a resurgence of the border wars between Megalos and Al-Wazif.

Still not entirely convinced, Judoc turns to the crew of the Watchman who can corroborate little of the story, having never been to Dekamera before and indeed having no real experience with the situation beyond their month-long stint with Tibbets.

It is the slaves though, that seal in Judoc's belief in the story.  When asked, they relate their tales of capture some months previous, taken by a small group on the borderlands of Al-Wazif, land previously owned by Megalos.  They had been farming, were captured, and smuggled back across the Makarem before being staged for shipping in the same dubious camp where Judoc had met Tibbets.

As proof to their stories, they show Judoc their arms, which are still bereft of slave tattoos or markings, a detail which somehow Judoc had missed up to this point.

When Etienne and the goblin offer to make good on their word by delivering Judoc to the eastern tracks, he readily agrees, sickened all the more with Tibbets and whatever foul business he is caught up in.  Orgon, Reve, and Trisso all defect as well, stating that the half-pay they were waiting on wasn't worth waiting with Tibbets, especially given they had no more real power to their vessel.

"Not to worry."  The goblin offers as he stands up again once everyone is healed.  "He'll get his.  These caves are used by real pirates, we've been through them once before tracking 'em.  So if he doesn't manage to make his way off quickly... he likely won't make his way off at all."

"Off to the Scylla then?"  Etienne offers in Arlaise as there is a moment in the conversation.  "And let this disaster of a misunderstanding come to an end?"

---

The sun is nearing the horizon as the Scylla finally pulls up anchor.  Judoc stands at the rails, watching the eastern sky warm with colors of light blue, red and orange.  He is just about to go down below, for he has been offered a bed of all things, or in reality, something that more resembles a hammock.  They are shared accommodations amongst the crew, though there will be enough of the men on watch for their departure that Judoc should be able to get several hours of sleep undisturbed.

"I'm glad you turned out not to be on Lord Taveon's side."

Even before Judoc turns to see the face, he knows it is the goblin, for even the voice reminds him of Grobbik.

"I nearly shit my pants when you started throwing those fireballs at the ship.  I've never used my magic in that way before...  Actually, I'm sort of shocked it worked.  I was not looking forward to you coming back down into that cave to finish the fight."

"I'm Darkiiri by the way."  The goblin thrusts out a hand.  "Well met.  And here's to hoping that next time we may be fighting on the same side."

~You can say that again!  Aiah thinks from her perch high on the mizzen mast.  ~Maybe then I'll actually be able to get a normal night's sleep!

OOC:  I made some assumptions based on your decision to revert to diplomacy that this would all be acceptable to you.  It solves all the requirements stated in your private and furthermore leaves Tibbets out to dry (and likely worse).  Feel free to write up a closing post here - or else whatever abuse you wish for me misplaying your character's actions :p.

All's well that ends well," Judoc reflects as he stands at the rails. He is still mentally and physically weary from his missed sleep the night before, the slog through the cave, and the desperate stand-off with Etienne and Darkiiri. Part of him feels that stranding Tibbets back on that island is inhumane, but if it is true that the man is caught up in a slaver ring, Judoc figures being trapped on the island is better than the man deserves. Judoc had been so quick to attack the Scylla, and his attack had been based on lies. This galls Judoc in how easily he had allowed himself to be manipulated. What if Darkiiri had not been present? What if Judoc had been able to cripple the Scylla? Telling himself that he was deceived only took him so far. Judoc knows he is a talented mage, and he grows more powerful every day. He cannot allow himself to be fooled into doing other people's dirty work, whether that person is a position of authority like Graves or a petty thug like Tibbets.

He turns as Darkiiri approaches and gives the goblin a half-hearted smile. "It's a damn good thing you were on this ship," he says in earnest. "I very nearly destroyed all the sails, going off halfcocked like that. And your Water magic is impressive! One of my classmates is also a skilled practitioner of the Water college. A fellow named Grobbik, and a damned good mage."

~You and me both, pretty bird.~ Judoc is relieved that Aiah was not in harm's way this time. He knows that, despite how useful Aiah is, his familiar is a potential weakness. He cares for her welfare, and threatening her is a good way to manipulate Judoc.

Before he turns in for the night, Judoc does a little reading by the light of his shining ivory amulet. Something was tugging at his memory, and he leafs through The Nine Spirits of Hell, wondering what it might be.

He comes to the page that lists the demons. King Bael. Duke Agares. A name catches his eye near the bottom of the list. "Son of a ..." Amon. What Agares had called Tenesworth.