Both sides are taken back as they come face to face with each other. Moving with a purpose in opposite directions it seems fate has decided to bring the stalwart companions back together.

[Private to Rael Gol: The only other door in this hallway that you have not explored is the door opposite where you found the Entropy Configuration. If you remember right, it is the door that Angrboda said is labeled "Cargo".]

Rael wave to his companions "Have you seen any troubles?" he asks then motion to the door Angrboda labeled cargo "I think this should lead us to where we need. No killing Viktor, we want to capture the mad ones or free ones if you take Angrboda words alive."

Berta breathes deeply to still her pounding heart as she lowers her raised blade.  "Troubles we've seen," she admits, "but thankfully they passed us by ... though the Mistress was not so lucky."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Sun 06 Dec 2015.

I know Rael, I am upset too that we didn't get to fight the evil spirits...perhaps we should chase after them?...pats Rael on the back and snickers a little...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:48, Mon 07 Dec 2015.

Cirok was just as relieved to see their companions on the other side of the door, rather than some greenish apparition ready to prey upon them.  As the tension temporarily eased he glanced at Berta and winked.  "See?  This was the way to come."

"And what of you?" he asked of Rael, Viktor and Angrboda, thinking they might have had a more treacherous time of it.  "Did you spot any of these greenish ghosts?  Or have trouble with the rest of the crew?"

"No, I haven't seen any ghosts, except for the ones the computer thing showed me." Angrboda says, "We need to find our way down below decks and to a specific room."

We really have not seen anything...we need to hurry my wine is running low...where is the rest of the Mistress crew that came on board?walks around and takes a small drink of wine and offers to whomever...

Rael sighs and explain "We've been walking in circles... " he turn to Angrboda speaking softly "We are heading to where we were told the mad crew members are."

Turning to Berta and the others "You are welcomed to join us if the task with the apparatus if over."

"No, the apparatus still needs to be removed, but Mikki and a few guards are on that task now."  Cirok seemed a little sheepish about it.  "He really knows much more about it than I, and it's tied into the ship much more integrally than either of us had expected."

"He did suggest that to kill the ship we either need to find the brain, or the heart - the power plant is what he meant by that.  And he said there was a strong source of power in the bow, where the big skull is." Cirok looked specifically at Angrboda, since the Melnibonean appeared to be the one leading the trio on their hunt.

"Is that where you are trying to go?"

"We did our best," Berta echoes the sailor, "though in truth Cirok did all the work.  Mikkl reckoned it ah, better" she manages to keep a straight face, "that we find you that we might assist you to kill the ship.  Though it'd be a kindness, moreover, I think it might be a necessesity if they are to remove the device."

"Oh, and Mikkl did mention that normal weapons had proved useless against the ghosts, back on the Mistress - though that ray of Kathrak's sufficed, and he believed that perhaps one of the gifts we took might prove similarly potent."

"If the path here presents difficulties, should we not try our luck above decks ?  Head to the bow and see if we cannot find our way down."

From down the hall you hear a somewhat familiar voice echo out the door. "Did someone say something of a computer? Better yet Why not try and get some friggen lights on? This damned blue emergency lighting sucks, crew must see in a different spectrum which is playing havoc with the color of these wires. Friggen red looks like black!"

Mikkl pokes his head out of the room that the Entropy Configuration was discovered in. "By the looks of things, you had to force your way into this room. Good chance the power to the doors is in the same place. I can cut this free eventually without power and fix it over on the Mistress so it is not like it is only in my interest." He gives a somewhat awkward smile and ducks back into the room.

"The computer," Angrboda says, still stumbling over the odd word, Is over in the room behind the middle door on the main deck." she says, happy to know at least someone believes her.  Turning to Berta she explains, "We have already checked the upper deck, it seems we need to get through this door here to get to the below decks." she says, pointing to the doorway.

Can I smash something or kill something soon? walks around bummed out that nothing is attacking them...

"Figures," Berta remarks sourly. "We can't turn the power back on to the doors until we get to this power plant ... at which point we won't need to."

The warrior woman nods resignedly at Angrboda's words.  "That door there it is then."  Sheathing her sword she smiles at Viktor.  "You can help me try and force the door," she suggests.  "If it won't budge, then Rael and Cirok can fiddle with the panel."

Smiles and carefully sets down his crossbow and unleashes his mighty axe and smiles again like a kid in a candy store...takes the pointed end of his axe and tries to pry open the door...

"Hmm.. a plant of power... must be on the upper deck, most plants need sun light and wind..." Rael adds, he was not sure why the doors needed power or where one grow this special type of plant but so be it.

"Lets go finish below deck first, we have some mad ones to meet and than maybe Viktor could subdue some of them to quench his blood lust."

Happy enough to be agreed on a plan that should put them where they want to be, Cirok stepped clear of the door breach team and kept a close eye out for any more green goat ghosts or other would-be threats.

Rael points at one of the doors "I say we go explore this door..." [Private to GM: (door 1)]

Do we need to pry the door open? looks at the door Rael is pointing too...

"Let's see ..."

Turning back into the main chamber Rael points to one of the doors on the top tier. So far every door exiting the bridge has opened at your approach. It is obvious that Rael is making a reference to the Plant of power needing to be above decks. With the spires and towers of the aft-castle, it is likely that any plant would have the best chance of being found in an exposed place.

Berta and Viktor begin to pry and "hack" at the door. After a few minuets of concentrated effort, The two are able to get Viktor's axe blade wedged into the door allowing for them to pry it apart. It is nearly as difficult as getting a mule to move, but their efforts eventually pay off. The door opens to a set of stairs heading down into the dark. You can smell the moisture, just moisture, there is no hint of mold or mildew to the scent.

On the other hand the castaways, known as meeps, had clearly indicated that the mad ones were somewhere down this corridor. The only remaining door is an "unpowered" door opposite the room that Mikkl is working in.

Rael begins to move back into the bridge. Silently the castaways watch in disinterest at the ballet being performed by the group. From down the hall you can hear the voice of Mikkl "The power plant would most likely be in the heart of the ship, Much like on the Mistress, if you want my opinion of what needs to be done first. Not that this is any harder in this crappy light or anything."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:52, Sun 13 Dec 2015.

Berta is panting hard by the time the pair manage to get the door open, and is unimpressed with the sight ... and smell ... of what lies beyond.

"He's the expert," she shrugs apologetically to Rael.  "If he thinks this power plant lies below decks, then we must trust his instincts."

Mikkl's gripes brings a grin to her lips.  "That's what you were doing wrong," she teases Cirok.  "You should have complained more !"

"After you," she tells Vikor, looking down the dark stairway.

Ladies first my lovely Berta...winks at Berta and chuckles a little and then straps his axe back on and gets his crossbow...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:53, Mon 14 Dec 2015.

"Clearly," Cirok shot back at Berta, as he rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion and cracked a smile of his own.  "He never included that with his instructions, of course."

The sailor made ready to follow with the rest, after their vanguard of Berta and Viktor led the way.

"Lady ?  Never been accused of that before," the warrior woman shrugs as she begins the descent, sword sheathed for the moment as she uses her gauntleted hands to feel her way downwards.  "And you be careful with that," she admonishes Viktor eyeing the crossbow at her back warily.

I will be as careful with this as I am my axe...laughs and makes sure he doesn't have his crossbow pointed at Berta...

Angrboda throws her arms up in exasperation, "Finally!" she exclaims as she makes her way down the stairs, mumbling about ungrateful ships and how a little more assistance would have gone a long way.  She steps hurriedly but carefully down the stairs, watching for any sort of trap.

Berta, with Viktor protectively behind, confidently march down the stairs full of the adrenaline that comes with besting inanimate objects. Shortly followed by an exasperated Angrboda, Cirok, and at the far tail end Rael Gol. The wide and sweeping stairs are barely visible in the pale blue light. All to familiar ivory bone like protrusions sweep the length of the stairwell like some sort of macabre grand staircase's handrail. Halfway down the staircase an eerie greenish glow laminates the bottom of the staircase. From the north wall you see the semi-tranparent form of a goatman step into the room.

The combination of the green and blue light make the rooms expanse easier to see. The walls are made of something else entirely. Where the walls and forms of the upper portion of the ship were made of some sort of hard black substance, this lower area appears to be made of a far more "fleshy" substance. The room's walls are lined with patterns and tubes that give you an uncomfortable look at what the inside of any beast must look like. The textures of the wall remind you of muscle while many of the tubes and ropes remind you of ligaments and blood vessels. The doors themselves have taken on a far more fleshy tone as well. Where the outside appeared to be made of a thin and resilient bone, these doors are made much more akin to stiff flaps of skin that appear to overlap the portal.

The right side of the stairwell, going down, quickly opens up with only the bone handrail as protection from the 15' (4.5m) drop. A door can be seen set into the wall beneath the stairway, a door heading "north" towards the bow of the ship, and a door to the "south" leading to the stern of the ship. The goatman stands in the center of the room staring at the group intently. You can almost feel the hunger in it's gaze as it eyes you up.

[Private to Cirok: You notice that same sickly green glow from behind Rael.
19:42, Today: Secret Roll: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Cirok, rolled 1 using 1d100.  Search tn 70. - Critical]
[Private to Rael Gol: You notice a similar green glow from behind you.
19:41, Today: Secret Roll: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Rael Gol, rolled 16 using 1d100.  Search tn 42. - pass]

Upon catching sight of one of the goat spirits with her own eyes Angrboda thinks back on all her reading to see if she knows what will hurt these things.

OOC:  18:36, Today: Angrboda rolled 75 using 1d100.  million spheres goat things.
sorry guys.

Should I try to shoot or get out my axe? steps in front of everyone so that the goat man puts his eyes on him....starts to laugh loudly to see what it does...

The spiral staircase naturally led everyone to glance down at their destination, especially when the low blue light mingled with the brighter green glow of a goat spectre at the bottom.  Having seen one of the creatures before with Berta, Cirok recognized the chills it evoked, and yet something still nagged at him, an itch between the shoulder blades that was just out of reach.

Despite being a seasoned adult who had traveled between planes of the universe, the sailor couldn't help himself from giving in to the feeling something was watching him from behind.  Turning with apprehension scrawled across his face like a little child, he was almost relieved to see his instincts were right.  Only the fact that another green spectre was behind Rael prevented him from feeling proud of himself.

"Watch out!" he cried to the physician, although he was loud enough all would hear.  "There's another behind you!"

Angrboda curses as she finds out that the group is surrounded.  In desperate hope that the lords of chaos will help her she throws a spell at the one on front of them as she begins moving rapidly toward the door to the right, hopping over the banister as she gets to the bottom or the stairs.

OOC:  Casting Agony, if that doesn't work I do not know what will.  :(

Rael catch a glimpse of something green behind him and turn around wildly when he hears Cirok warning.

He could feel the tickle of sweat running down his back, he was itching on several places and his booth was chaffing him plus he needed badly to take a piss. None of it would help if that specter would get him.

"Angrboda... your dagger is magical... maybe it could hurt the things..." he croaks his throat feeling dry all of a sudden. He still had a mad thought that perhaps these things would want to talk and not fight but even he found this notion dubious at best.

[Private to GM: OOC:
Not sure if the talisman would protect him from spirits or not Rael take full defense ready to dodge any attack]

"The ghost Cirok and I saw earlier made no attempt to attack us," Berta cautions, "perhaps if we ... oh by the Lord of the Seven Darks !" she breaks off as Angrboda launches a spell, drawing her own blade though she fears it will prove useless and hurrying after the Melnibonean.

In a quick motion without thinking moves over so Angrboda can run by and fires his crossbow off towards the goatman in front of him before Angrboda makes her way past him...

Sensing the trap for what it was Angrboda falls into the familiar tactic of immobilizing the foe. Thanks to this, Viktor slides to the side to give a better view for Angrboda as her words of power are spoken. Releasing the potent magics Angrboda targets the semi-transparent goatman with no results. [Private to Angrboda: You feel the power drain from you, the release of the magic, but something is dissipating your power before it can fully form.] Landing just to the right of the stairwell, Angrboda is up and ready for whatever happens.

Cirok's cry of alarm causes the second goatman to focus on him. It raises it's hand with it's fingers wide spread and a sickly green light forms as it outstretches it towards Cirok. Sliding past Rael, is if he were not even there, it stops just short of touching Cirok as a green stream of energy leaps from Cirok's chest. [Private to Cirok: Something cold, almost slimy, grips your heart as you can feel your life beginning to be pulled out of you.] At that moment a blade comes screaming out from nowhere. The pale blue light, combined with the speed of the attack, make the swipe appear to be a slice of the full moon descending. With a howl of pain the connection between the goatman and Cirok is broken as one of the pirates that escorted Mikkl steps from the room to join in the fight.

Berta races down the stairs into the reluctant confrontation as a bolt flies over her head and through the body of the goatman with no effect. It fixes it's eyes on Angrboda the same way a starving man sees a feast for the first time. Sliding forward without moving it's legs it lurches after Angrboda with it's hand outstretched. To fast for the methodical ghost, Angrboda is able to keep out of it's reach, however in doing so she is forced to somewhat back herself into the area under the stairs.


Time for combat everyone. For the new players place your actions into your posts, heroically or simply listing, with your rolls at the bottom of the post (or your action and rolls via PM if you prefer). I tried to make an easy example in my Example of Combat post.

Sees that Angrboda is in possible danger sets his crossbow down and pulls out his mighty axe and rushes towards the goatman with the blade in front of him like a medieval bulldozer...

Angrboda watches as her magic fails to take hold of the creature in front of her, never before has she met a foe that magic could not take care of.  For the first time in her life she feels unsure of what to do.  Seeing the green light that Ciroc was assaulted with spurs her into action however and she continues to move towards the northern door, dagger out, hoping that it leads to salvation for the group.

The "pirate" wasn't truly a pirate.   Just a young woman who happened to be very far from the place she knew as home.

Since leaving that land, through no real choice of her own, she had entered into Maria's service on the Mistress mostly of a lack of other options.   Maria had proven a fair person to work for and, at least, the ship offered some small odds that she might return from where she had come.   She prayed for that nightly...but also wasn't holding her breath, at this point.   And did her best to make peace with her new life.  Her second new life, actually.

She didn't know what sort of beings they faced, here...phantoms, ghosts, some sort of ethereal demon?   Nor did she understand why her heirloom blade was effective, where other things were not. There was silver in its alloy...and she recollected her father saying something about the smith having a fascination with the weapons of the Vadhagh people.   Beyond that, she might only guess.  And didn't care, right now, as long as it worked.

It chilled her to look at these ghastly appartions; but she pressed her small advantage, anyway, and attacked the thing again...

Esyld rolled 71 using 1d100.  attack - rapier.
Esyld rolled 100 using 1d100.  parry - rapier.
Not off to a great start, here!  Yes, I know, that dice roller serves Chaos...
[Private to GM: That's at 113% - normal success for the attack.  I switched the cutlass to a rapier, so you may want to fix the numbers.  If I didn't just break the thing on the wall!  ]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:14, Mon 21 Dec 2015.

A gasp of relief burst from Cirok's lips as Esyld's timely slash broke the concentration of the goatman.  He'd never experienced a feeling like the one the attack had caused and it left him chilled to the core, as though the spectre had been sucking out his very soul.  With wide eyes the sailor drew his cutlass and moved to assist his crewmate in the assault.

Cirok had no idea whether his blade would prove any deterrent to the greenish goatman, but he knew for certain he wasn't going down without a fight!



OOC:

11:15, Today: Cirok rolled 33 using 1d100.  Attack - cutlass.
11:15, Today: Cirok rolled 8 using 1d6+2.  Damage - cutlass.
11:17, Today: Cirok rolled 55 using 1d100.  Dodge.


 

Knowing full well that getting trapped in the corner is no good in any situation Angrboda dashes for the northern door. Easily dodging the clumsy attack she makes it to the northern portal as Viktor and Berta both make it to the apparition who seems to be ignoring them in favor of the lanky Melnibonean. Viktor, finally getting to a wider area, takes a savage swipe with his Lymorian Axe only to have it pass through the greenish specter. All the while the specter keeps it beady eyes focused on Angrboda as it slides forward menacingly with it's hand outstretched..

At the top of the stairs the second ghost has started to pull back. The attention once focused on Cirok now completely on the newcomer with the shining blade. Sensing the hesitation is all that is needed for the pirate to launch her own attack. Thrusting her rapier forward she is able to once again register pain on to the semi-transparent goatman. Snarling and showing it's bravery the apparition turns and begins to melt through the wall as Cirok lunges forward wanting some sort of retribution for the infringement of his soul. Cirok's blade passes through the specter sparking off of the wall in frustration.

Angrboda, feeling something she has never felt before, tries desperately to open the door and get away from this creature, or at least find some sort of defense against it.

Cirok's frustrated growl echoed the sparking clang of his blade, but he spent no time mourning the fact that one of the spectres had been chased away.  "Thank you, Esyld," he said briefly, clapping his crewmate on the shoulder briefly to convey his gratitude. Then he cast his gaze over the railing to the base of the stairwell, where Angrboda, Viktor and Berta confronted the second attacker.

"I think we need your blade down there," he urged Esyld, making way to follow her down the steps.  "Let's go!"

Waits to see if Berta has better luck with her blade...sets down his mighty axe after mumbling a few curse words to Donblas and grabs the silver disk and waits for an opening to punch the goatman with the disk clutched in his fingers...

Rael slink to the shadows, he was not much of a warrior when it came to normal opponents what chance did he had on spirits one.

He racked his brain trying to find any idea that would give them some edge against the spirits.

"Aye, Cirok," she answered him, gratified that, nervous as she was against these unearthly things, she had managed to be so effective.

Cirok...another name that, to her ears, was unique and foreign.  Everyone had one here, in this world that was not hers.  It amazed her that at least she spoke the same language as they, oddly accented, or no.  A language barrier would have made her situation next to impossible.

As he suggested she, without hesitation, made her way down the stair well; quickly, but not so quickly that she was likely to trip, and end up skewered upon her own blade.   As soon as she reached the bottom, she threatened the phantom with all the righteous conviction she could muster:

"By the Lords of Law, leave her in peace!"   She advanced, and, if the thing did not retreat, then she sought for the best opening, and attacked it.

That Angrboda might be (afraid ?) gives Berta momentary pause ... but when Viktor's axe proves as ineffectual as the Melnibonean's sorcery, and though the cursed heart of the Bitch-Queen pounds in her chest, she sets asides her own fears, driving forwards, oblivious to the timely arrival of Esylid on the stairs behind her as she swings her mundane blade in an arc that would all but certainly have found its mark upon any mortal foe.

"Ho ! Old goat !  Feast on my flesh if you dare !" the warrior-woman dares the ghost-creature.

[Private to GM: somehow, I think not ...  ;>

13:41, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 20 using 1d6+17.  Initiative.
13:42, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 28 using 1d100.  Engage (Dodge). vs 104.
13:42, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 42 using 1d100.  Longsword  vs 105.
13:43, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 54 using 1d100.  Dodge. vs 104.
13:43, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 60 using 1d100.  Dodge. vs 74.
13:43, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 37 using 1d100.  Dodge. vs 44.]

Ignoring the shouting and posturing behind it, the goatman keeps advancing on Angrboda. The glow from it's outstretched hand seems to intensify as it drawn nearer to its quarry. Angrboda finds herself pressed against the fleshy valve that is this inner door. Swiping savagely with her dagger in an effort to keep it at bay seems to be no deterrent to this unearthly thing as it continues to advance. It draws nearer as Angroboda's dagger flashes wide allowing for the outstretched hand to get close enough. The pale green light leaps from the goatman's hand and latches onto Angrboda's chest. [Private to Angrboda: Something cold, almost slimy, grips your heart as you can feel your essence beginning to be pulled out of you.]

Berta and Viktor rush forward as the green glow begins to pulse between the hand and Angrboda's chest. A second quicker than the ever amorous Viktor, Berta thrusts forward into the back of the specter. Quickly realizing that the blade met no resistance, Berta turns the trust aside in an effort to not skewer Angrboda in the process. Instead, the blade point buries itself into the wall just to the side. You can almost feel the room shudder a bit as the valve behind Angrobda flickers open. With the valve no longer supporting Angrboda she tumbles backwards into the room behind. A lout splash is hear through the portal. The goatman issues forth a howl of anger as the green pulsing glow is severed from it's quarry.

The room beyond the portal is a HUGE chamber running the length of the ship. The pale blue light of the ship reflects off of the now turbulent water casting ripples of blue on blue everywhere. Boxes and crates are stacked everywhere giving the impression that you are in the main cargo hold of the ship. The room is filled with water of roughly 3' to 4' deep (1m), given by the depth at which Angboda has landed. Large stony fingers are seen jutting through the port hull. The portal itself is big enough for 2 of you to easily fit through at the same time.

The goatman continues to rabidly advance at it's thwarted prize. Viktor places the palm sized disc in his hand and attempts to use it like a pair of brass knuckles with little effect.[Private to Viktor: Your hand comes away numb and tingly.] Cirok and Esyld make it to the bottom of the stairs as it begins to drift through the portal. A quick flick of Esyld's wrist catches the apparition in the shoulder with her rapier as it just barely passes out of reach. Rael cautiously moves down the stairs eyes wary for the second to return.


[Private to Angrboda: 19:08, Today: Secret Roll: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Angrboda, rolled 100 using 1d100.  attack tn 128. - fumble, It is as if the dagger itself is attempting to NOT hit this thing.

The attack did nothing to you that you can tell as it was quickly interrupted]

Map updated. The blue fuzzy was and attempt to mimic the "blue reflecting light" and the fact that the hold is so big you simply cannot see that far with the level of light that it is.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:55, Wed 30 Dec 2015.

"Get it away!" Angrboda screams, now in full fledged panic mode she scrambles up and turns, running as fast as she can through the water, trying to get away from the creature.

Despite himself Rael could not feel a little bit of satisfaction at Angrboda reaction, it was nice to see the more human side of the hell maiden.

Pleasure aside, they had a crisis to handle and Rael had no illusions that once fat with Angrboda power the spirits would turn on the less savory treats. So they needed to kill or drive these thing away.

The things seem to interact with the ship walls or at least they did not pass through them, maybe if there was something made from the same material it would damage the things or at least push them away. Rael sought such an item be it even an improvised door frame.

Esyld didn't know Angrboda's nature well enough to find anything to enjoy in her predicament.  She just feared the consequences if they didn't get the phantasmic entity off of her.  And soon.

Had she the luxury, she might have spared more attention to the "valve," and the fact it was nothing like any door she'd ever seen.   But, her attention was staunchly elsewhere.

"I can harm it!  Let me through first!" she implored of Berta and Viktor, whom she knew were professional warriors, and likely did not take her seriously.   She did not wait for them to answer, but did her best to move through first, before they began to block the portal by going themselves.

Once she had Sir Goathead in her sight, and in striking distance, she attempted to give him another taste of the sword...

[Private to GM: Esyld rolled 6 using 1d6.  initiative = 21

Attempting to move through the portal, before others block me.

Esyld rolled 69 using 1d100.  113%  attack - rapier.

Esyld rolled 78 using 1d100. 113%   parry - rapier.]

Looks at his hand and throws the silver disk towards the goats head as he moves out of the way...since his axe is worthless right now...figures let the new person do what she can...

Cirok pushed forward behind the others, realizing he had little to offer in terms of defence against the goat spectres but not willing to just hang back.  If nothing else he might be able to distract the enemy or help any of his companions that might become wounded during the encounter.

"The Chaos lords must love her !" Berta marvels at Angrboda's luck as the portal springs open at her back, even as she curses her own blade's uselessness against the ghost.

Ineffective it might be, but the warrior woman will not let the Melnibonean face her fate alone ...

... Berta pauses at Esyld's cry, swiftly turning and, recognising the woman as one who accompanied Mikkl, letting her past with a curt nod, though she follows swiftly enough on her heels, plunging into the water behind her.

The goatman continues it relentless advance on the scrambling Angrboda. Instincts take over as Angrboda moves to put something between it and herself. Undaunted by the physical objects the specter slides through the object as if it were not there hand outstretched. Shouldering through you Mikkl's escort does her best to keep up with both the Melnibonean and specter in the deep water. The slow motion chase through the water tosses blue light everywhere in a near hypnotic trance. Mikkl's bodyguard is able to nick the green apparition in the back drawing it's attention for a brief second from it's fleeing prey.

The specter turns to the mosquito that keeps stinging it with malevolence in it's eye. It turns and drifts back through one of the stands of crates. As the goatman passes halfway through one of the crates there a huge flash and smell of fresh lightning. The goatman writhes for a second, though you can not tell if it is in agony or ecstasy. As the flash dies down you can see that the goat man has taken on a brighter green glow. An strange combination of laughter and a bleating goat issues from the now invigorated being.

In frustration Vitor tosses the palm sized silver disk at the far more visible goatman. A cry of frustration is punctuated by the slight whistling noise that the disk creates as it goes streaking into the darkness by the goatman. While the disk itself did not seem to make contact, you can see the goatman tense up as the disk flies by.

She startled briefly at the lightning like flash, that occurred as the goat-visaged phantom passed through one of the crates.   And did not fail to note that the being seemed somehow the better for that experience, afterward.   Drew power from it, in some manner?

It was all beyond her capacity to understand -- yet she felt certain it was somehow significant.   Briefly, she thought about stopping and attempting to hack open of the crates.  Then as quickly discarded the idea.  Electricity, if electricity it was, would be deadly to her and the others, in this water.   Hopefully, one of the others might have better understanding of this...

For herself, she continued to press forward, being careful in the water, and do what she could to take the enemy's attention from Angrboda...

[Private to GM: Initiative = 17

Moving forward in pursuit

Esyld rolled 36 using 1d100. 113%  attack - rapier.

Esyld rolled 6 using 1d4+4.  rapier damage.

Esyld rolled 48 using 1d100.  103%  dodge.]

Rael heads up I threw the silver disk and goatman seems afraid...Cirok what does the disk do? starts running towards the disk and goatman after setting his axe close to his crossbow pulls out his slaver sword and throwing knife to see if they do anything...

"I am on it..." Rael shouts as he dash to where Viktor disk flew by looking franticly for the thing in the dark.

"I have no idea what it does," Cirok called out to Viktor, his brows drawn together in annoyance at the question, at the waist-deep water tugging at his every step, and at the goatman's imperviousness to almost all their attacks.  "You chose the damn thing, not me!"

The lightning had also scared the sailor.  Whatever had been in that crate had strengthened the creature it seemed.  At least it was easier to see now, he thought.  Which started a couple of crazy ideas coursing through his head, none of which he was inclined to act upon just yet.  But he began moving toward some of the crates not within the immediate vicinity of the spectre, just in case he was on to something of use.

As he moved he kept an eye on the creature.  He wondered if, in addition to being more visible now, it exhibited any more corporeal traits.


OOC:

Not sure what skill is appropriate for evaluating the ghostman's new form, so have included a base roll only.  Grey Lords, please factor this roll against the appropriate skill + modifier.

21:54, Today: Cirok rolled 29 using 1d100.  Assess goatman "solidity" after lightning.

Berta pauses as Esyld's blade hurts the ghost.  Naught but a scratch, perhaps, but at least a hope that a more telling blow might prevail.  Though that hope is all but dashed as the creature somehow uses whatever is inside the crate to strengthen itself.

And dashed yet more as Viktor throws the silver disk at the creature.  Berta turns, a curse on her lips for the Pan Tangian's stupidity ...

... then stops as the sharp odour of the lightning reaches her nose.

Electricity ... electricity ... the sailor's weapons, the gifts from the ship.

"Remember the sphere," the warrior woman calls out, "that held the Tenatir ... could we  ... earth this creature too ?!!  Would dousing it in water accomplish that ?"  And if so, what would it do to those already standing in it ?

ANgrboda, not pausing in her flight, "I don't have spells like that memorized and even if I did they would take hours to complete and I don't think this fucking goat would be likely to just stand still as I cast those." she explains as she moves further back hoping that Esyld can kill the thing before it gets to her again.

Is Angrboda's desperation somehow attracting the ghosts ?  Perhaps ... but there is no time now for mere idle speculation.

The warrior woman looks around the chamber, her gaze fixing upon the crates.  "Metal," she addresses Rael and Cirok, pointing at the remains of the one that the goat-creature used to restore its essence, "and if they're filled with lightning, we should keep away from them, particularly any with metal armour.  But those others, all but floating - they're bone or somesuch.  Might provide insulation ?"  More hope than good reasoning.

"If we could break one, perhaps we could use the shards as weapons ?"

"Viktor !  Smash one of those crates.  NOT the metal one !"

After hearing his name and smash stops running towards the goat and sets down his knife and sword and swoops up his axe again and makes a flying jump swing to smash one of the floating crates....

At Viktor's shout to dash after the potentially lost silver disk Rael sloshes off into the darkness. The pirate who escorted Mikkl moves forward once again towards the more visible goatman. A snarl crosses its features as it eyes up the rapier flashing towards it. A silent noise or disturbance causes the goatmans head to flicker towards the bow of the ship, in Angrboda's direction. It half leaps, half floats, into the air up towards the upper decks angling towards the stern on the ship. The pirate's rapier flashes again and catches the goatman as it sails upwards into the cavernous hold fading into the distance.
[Private to Rael Gol: You stumble across the disk. While somewhat aerodynamic, it is metal and did not go far. What is strange is that you find it floating a few cm above the water. The floating disk may have kept your attention if it were not for the almost feral looking "muppet" in ragged clothes crouching on a small stand of boxes. It pulls out a small ball attached to a string which it whips over it's head in a circular motion. You think you hear a slight buzzing noise, like that of a horde of bees in the distance, as the ball begins to whirl around it's head.]

Viktor, undaunted by the ferocity of the floating boxes, winds up and uses his axe to carve into one. The wet, floating box takes a solid hit and bobbles a bit in the water. It is evident that the material that makes up these boxes is similar to the hull of the ship, but not nearly as resilient. While it does not slice open, it does show the large slash caused by Viktor's Lymorian axe.


19:24, Today: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Viktor, rolled 14 using 4d6.  Busting Crates.

This message was last edited by the GM at 14:17, Fri 08 Jan 2016.

Esyld watched, in some surprise, but also silent thanks, as their phantom-menace had its attention drawn to something up near the ship's prow, giving Angrboda the respite she needed.

Her own attention then went to the others -- she had overheard what they had said, understood parts of it, but not all of it.  She had no clue what a ten o' tear was, or whatever it was Berta spoke about, or being able to 'earth' their enemy.

She did understand the idea about using the crate material as shielding, or weapon.  But...

"Is - is that wise-?" she asked of no one in particular, anyone in general.  "The electricity..."    They were all waist to chest deep in water, and figured the thought was obvious.  Though, hopefully they understood something about the contents which she did not.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Fri 08 Jan 2016.

Berta breathes a sigh of relief as the ghost departs.  "I think I prefer it now when they do that," she smiles thinly at Cirok.

"Wise ?  Probably not," the warrior-woman shrugs her broad shoulders. "There's men of learning back where I hail from who could bore you to death with their knowledge, but even with what little I know about such matters, and that more the appropriate words than the science behind them, the suggestion was more desperate than I like."

"The creature did not prove immune to your blade," she congratulates Esyld, though she eyes the rapier in some puzzlement.  "I wonder what quality it has that is so inimical to the ghosts ?"

She regards the mark left on the crate by Viktor's axe.  "At least you marked it this time," Berta mutters.  "And given enough time we could probably carve ourselves some ... clubs, for want of a better word, though it is but a guess whether they'd be at all effective."

"But I don't know how we'd go about draining away electricity as we did with the Tenatir's prison.  At least he had the decency to stay still."

Angrboda takes a few seconds to regain her composure, gasping for air.  She then uses a bit of the water to flatten her hair and begins inspecting the chests around her, hoping to find one which holds a weapon that will be useful against the ghosts.  "Has anyone opened the box that the ghost seemed to get power from?  Perhaps we can discern a weakness through figuring out what gives it power."

"I...don't know," she said to Berta, regarding the sword, and curious herself.

"I had understood there was some silver in its alloy.  And, silver is sometimes reputed as bane to hellish things.  The smith had interest in the weapons of the old races, of my home, if I understood my father right. That's as much as I can tell you."   To Angrboda's comments, she added-

"Perhaps we should move the box out of the water, first?"

Any luck finding the disk Rael?Admires the mark his axe left and straps his axe back on...walks towards the chest that goathead got his powers from and attempts to push it on dry land...

"Silver, then ?  As good an explanation as any.  I've a few silver coins in my pocket, but that's all ... can't see them hurting it, though they might serve to make a ghost think twice before coming too close - a ward not a weapon."

Berta looks dubious as to the effectiveness of such an approach.

"Careful," she councils Viktor, even less certain as to whether the Pan Tangian will heed her.  "If the metal crates aided the ghost, they may prove harmful to mortal flesh ..."

Rael keep his eyes fixed on the thing, he slowly reach to the disk while trying to call Viktor "Viktor.... Viktor..." but his voice fail him.
[Private to GM: This must one of the mad crew members or unaffected crew if you believe Angrboda. Rael think about smiling but he is not sure how the thing would interpret it "I... I am a friend... we came to <gulp> help." he says ready to dive into the water if the mad thing toss the weapon in his direction.

OOC:
Sorry for the long absence, had a severe case of the flu.]

"Agreed," Cirok replied grimly to Berta, standing with hands on hips, waist deep in water.  He stared for a moment longer to where the goat spectre had disappeared and then turned his attention back to their immediate surroundings.

Esyld's comments about silver seemed to make sense, especially given the way their greenish enemy had shied away from Viktor's wayward throw of the disc.  "If only I'd come from money, all my weapons would be silver.  And gold!" He rolled his eyes, but his lighter tone and open grin belied an honest humour.  "Alas, I've yet to make captain and find such coin.  If they come back, I'm not much use other than bait."

While waiting for Rael to locate the Pan Tangian's artifact, Cirok stamped his feet to try and keep the blood flowing to his legs.  The water left him chilled.  "I hope we can reach the far end soon and climb back to the drier decks," he grumbled to no one in particular.

[Private to Rael Gol: The feral "muppet" seems to ignore your attempts to calm it down. As a matter of fact it acts as if it barely acknowledges your existence while whirling the device over it's head. For a few seconds the item is lassoed over it's head then slowly winds down. The feral "muppet" hops on to nearby box and takes off towards the bow of the ship leaving you in the dancing blue lights of the hold.]

The abrupt end of the encounter allows you to take in your surroundings and to realize how cold you are getting. Standing nearly chest deep in water is slowly draining the warmth from your limbs. While not an immediate issue, it may cause a problem over prolonged exposure. Now that things are calming down you can see that the blueish emergency lighting does not apply here in the giant cavernous hold. The blue lights dancing through the area was a combination of the ghosts illumination and the light spilling from the stairway room. After a short bit the blue dancing lights reflecting from your waves fails to illuminate much of anything.

The crates around you are made of a few different substances. Few are made of metal while the majority are made of the same chitin like substance that the ship is made out of. [Private to Angrboda: Just before your composure comes back you fall into a memory of an old childhood song you used to hum to yourself has popped into your head. For a brief second you remember that your "nanny" used to have you hum this occasionally.]
[Private to Cirok: It is not that you are not getting cold, you can feel it on your face, but you are feeling far less cold than you should on the submerged parts. You almost begin to freak out when you notice that your armor is acting as a "wet-suit" keeping much of the water away from your skin.]

"Well, I suppose we should continue on the quest, although I wonder what's in these crates."Angrboda says with a twinkle in her eye, as she sets about trying to carefully open one.

[Private to GM: What kind of song?  Do I remember the lyrics?]

"Doesn't it interest you why you are still alive?" Rael ask as he slosh back to the others holding the disk in his shivering hand.

"I just saw one of the mad muppets... although I think I begin to agree with Angrboda theory... the thing saved us. It had this rope thing it swung and made the goat things flee... maybe we should try following him instead of looting?" he asks pointing at the direction crew member left.

Rael you found the disk...nice job buddy...Angrboda should take a look at it...so a whip weilding muppet saved us...I think we should follow him..gives up on pushing the crate and goes near Rael and pats him on the back...

"Aye," Esyld agreed, "I'm for following the moppett, or whatever you say they're called.  My feeling is likewise that they mean us no harm, and may be friendly. For whatever that's worth."  She strained to see in the decreased light, and shivered some against the chill.

"I'd settle for just going somewhere that isn't wet and dark, though," seconding Cirok's grumble.

Composure regained you take note of your waterlogged selves. Angrboda attempts to open one of the crates with little success. While you can find a seam, it appears as if magic itself was "gluing" these crates together. Jabbing daggers, edges, and other items into the seams to little to grant purchase or leverage to pop these crates. The rest of the group moves about, cautiously, to find clear passage through the maze of boxes and debris. After exploring the area more it is evident that you will only be able to safely navigate the next 20' (6m) or so without some sort of additional light.

Not that I want to call a marching order, but I need to know who the feral Muppets set on first in their quest for food. *evil laugh* Mwahahaha

Angrboda gives up on the box and begins to move forward humming to herself, "Maybe the survivors will know how to open the boxes." she thinks as she keeps humming.

OOC:  I will take the lead.

Berta is reluctant to give up on the crates ... but after all Angrboda's efforts to open them prove ineffectual, she too is forced to admit defeat.  Besides, to stay here in the chill water much longer will mean their deaths, with or without the appeareance of any more of the ghosts.

"I'd suggest using your blade," she nods to Esyld, "but you may well have saved our lives, and scarce deserve so poor reward."

With a smile the warrior-woman explains her thoughts, fighting to keep her teeth from chattering as she follows after Angrboda, motioning Esyld to stay close.  "If the silver might hurt the ghosts," she begins, "then perhaps too it might disrupt the seals on those metal crates which restored the creature ... or perhaps you'd find those strange energies coursing through you !  After our recent experience with a lightning elemental," Berta recalls the battle to escape the palace of her former employer, "that would probably not be a pleasant experience."

"And in the name of Kakatal !  Has somebody got a brand they might light ?!!  I can't see a damned thing down here !"

OOC: right behind Angrboda :>

She moved along with Berta, while the red-haired warrior woman offered explanation.

Esyld tried to discern if she was in jest... like everyone else here, to her ears, Berta had an unfamiliar accent, sometimes used slang, she didn't always understand.  She didn't know what a lightning elemental was, amongst other things.

But as she listened, she decided Berta was being honest with her; asking rather than trying to order, which was appreciated.  She glanced toward the crates, bit her lip faintly.

"I understand why it might be very important to get one open.  I don't know... my blade is a rapier; unusual quality or no, it's hard to imagine it working. And, possible consequences, as you say.  If we might find a way to communicate with the moppetts...hopefully, they could answer much." 

Per Berta's request, she did set about seeing if the pair of torches she had in her pack were yet dry enough to light.

Assuming it's possible, I will get out a torch, and light it.

"Ah yes, light would be good.  I should be able to do something about that." says Angrboda as she goes into an incantation.

OOC:  Casting Flames of Kakatal ahead of the party and high up so as to light up as much of the room as possible.

[Private to GM:
Sorry to hide this. you will need to change your response.


 As the flames manifested, she gasped in surprise, almost dropping the torch.

She thought she had heard something about Angrboda having some skill with magic. But, she hadn't seen anything like this, in her life.

She had heard enough, though, about the dangers of sorcery...

"Is - is that safe?" She asked Berta, in hushed tone.]

*GM* New content to come
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:32, Thu 14 Jan 2016.

Esyld brings out the two fairly dry torches. In addition your tinderbox was lucky enough to have remained dry enough to get a spark. Within a few seconds the party has a single sputtering torch.

Full of the usual Melnibonean contempt for such mundane things Angrboda begins to call upon the fires of Kakatal. Wiping the water off of her face she releases her built up energies and points to the ceiling....[Private to Angrboda: You feel the release of the energy, and just like facing the goat, you feel it dissipate as soon as it leaves you.]

and nothing happens.

[Private to Angrboda: The urge to hum stops, instead you get this feeling wash over you like your instructor/nanny was extremely disappointed.

Sorry, edited out]
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:00, Thu 14 Jan 2016.

OOC: HEY!  I never said anything about smirking!

As her efforts at the smallest spell fail so does Angrboda's mood, 'We need to get off this hideous rock soon or I am going to die." she says (rather dramatically).  Then turns to head towards the back as fast as she can.

Cirok welcomed Angrboda to the rear of the group with a grim smile, his mouth a thin, compressed line.  "The entropy affects us already," he murmured quietly, not wishing to alarm the entire group.  As the bunch of them moved forward through the flooded hold, he kept pace as best he could with his shorter stature.  Perhaps surprisingly, he seemed to move very well in the water.

If only I could offer some better contribution than that, he thought with regret.

OOC:  Sorry Cirok I meant the back of the ship....or further into the bowels.  Gotta kill the poor thing.  lol

Berta purses her lips at the failure of Angrboda's spell. "Blades don't work ... magic doesn't work ... I do not like this place," she mutters.

The sooner they can kill the ship and be gone from this place, the better.  Assuming the ghost-things do not slay Mikkl and the remaining sailors that are working to disconnect the device.

As Angroboda moves off, the warrior-woman hurries after her, thankful at least for the small comfort of the torch that Elysd has kindled.

"Angrboda, it is not that I don't appreciate you taking the role of live bait marching forward when we know the goat things are interested in you and you have no way to affect them but wouldn't it be ahm wiser for you to march toward the center of the group?" Rael asks innocently, despite the horrors of this place he was quite enjoying himself and if he had to be honest with himself, the hell maiden woes and weakness revealed had a great part of it.

walks around and gathers up his weapons and straps everything back on except his short sword for now and reaches out his hand for the disk back from Rael and gets in line of the marching order next to Rael...laughs a little and gets out his winesack for a quick drink...laughs some more and offers the winesack to anyone who might want it..

Angrboda whirls and appears to be about to yell, then she takes a deep breath and releases it, 'The goat spirit went that way." she says pointing behind them, "I am merely heading the opposite direction as fast as possible." she says smiling, "It's not my fault you guys are so slow." she then turns and begins heading further into the ship, giggling to herself.

She didn't understand what Angrboda had attempted, but it seemed perhaps an incantation.  She thought she'd overheard the woman might be a spell-worker.  Magic was the province of Chaos...and, the worst of it could have terrible repercussions.   This much she understood.  So, while it might have aided them, she was just as glad it hadn't worked.   A feeling that Angrboda plainly did not share...

In these straits, the offered wine was tempting.  But, she knew it would do nothing for her readiness to face danger, and so declined.

One thing did occur to her:  "What about the disc that Rael recovered?  Wasn't Angrboda going to have a look at it?" 

But, judging from her pace, and the madcap giggling, Esyld guessed that was rather far from her mind, right now.  Keeping a firm hold on the guttering torch, she followed in the same direction.

A few moments later you are able to get the second torch sputtering to life. The sad excuse for a flame seems to be dulled by whatever force you are beginning to feel in your own guts. You have been able to simply ignore it for the short term, but there is no mistaking it, the world itself seems to be leeching your very ambition and energy. The evidence is around you. Waves in the water simply peter out after a short bit, the air hardly moves at your disturbance. Corpses hardly seem decomposed though it is evident that the crash has happened some time ago.

Not only is this world dying, it is taking everything along with it.

Heading towards the bow is slow going. The average depth is easily to your chest and many times towering stacks of boxes impede your progress. It is cold and tiring and the constant moaning of the dying ship echos through the cargo bay. Strangely Cirok seems to be the least effected by the environment as more than once tripwires and booby traps have been triggered. The first time Cirok is able to pull Esyld out of the way as a tall stack of boxes topples over on the mid of the group.  A few waterlogged sputtering words is all the damage suffered from that catastrophe. The second trap triggered is thanks to the hobnailed boots of Viktor. In an effort to get a few more drops out of his wineskin his attention deviated and he staggered from the group. There was a tiny TINK like the snapping of a violin string.

As the tale would be told by those later in a bar no one is sure if by design, or by being drunk, Viktor was able to submerge himself in time as a box around his head height exploded in a huge blinding thunderclap. Thankfully Viktor's preoccupation with the wineskin had allowed enough distance between himself and the group.

After what seems like hours of slogging through the cold water you finally spy a portal, much like the entrance to the hold, just at the edge of your torches light. The door appears shut and you see no evidence of the being described by Rael.
The nearer you get to the front of the ship, the more intense the wail. Many times you are forced to simply rely on hand gestures as your own voices get drown out.

"Oh for the love of Chaos, pipe down already.  How are we supposed to get anything done with you wailing like that?" Angrboda yells at the ship, "Although I suppose you are in a lot of pain." she says thoughtfully as she approaches the door to see if she can open it.

"By the chill touch of White-Handed Mirath, open it swiftly, lest we all perish !" Berta entreats Angroboda loudly, striving to be heard above the cacophony, her teeth chattering all the while.  "Were it not for this cursed heart placed within me I swear the cold would have finished me off long before now !"

After being just narrowly missed by the toppling boxes, she gave Cirok earnest thanks for his speedy intervention.

"Consider it even for help against the goat-head," she had told him in a hushed, sincere tone.

The explosion that Viktor had triggered caused her to jump.  As much as was possible while half-submerged, anyrate.   "Sweet Ilah!" she exclaimed. "We meet magical creatures -- supposedly evolved beings -- and they must lay crude traps like these?"   

It started her thinking. She hoped this wasn't the handiwork of the moppetts.  They could be in for a far less friendly reception than they hoped.  Though, perhaps, it was crude threats and attacks the little creatures had to defend themselves from...

Once they neared the ship, she found the unearthly keening unnerving. Chilled and shivering like Berta, she again tried to interpret what Angrboda had said.

And made the triangle of Law, reflexively, in response to the unholy idea that this ship might actually be some living thing.

Either half drunk or just wiped out from almost having his head explode...ok maybe more then half drunk...starts laughing and then quietly starts humming a song from his home land....as he walks a little ways back from the group...reaches in his pocket and finds his reserve winesack and laughs some more...

"Think nothing of it," he replies in an equally quiet tone, his mouth curled in a lopsided smile. "Just glad I could help."

Like the others Cirok found the shrill keening grated on his nerves, but at least the chill waters did not seem to be the same problem for him as the others.  He wasn't exactly comfortable, but his teeth barely chattered and he still hand full feeling in his fingertips.  But that small compensation did nothing to quell his desire to be on with things so they could escape this dying realm.

"Go to it, Angrboda," he encouraged the Melnibonean, though his voice could barely be heard over the ambient complaints of the ship.  "Get us to the heart, or brain, or whatever it is we need to destroy."

After barely hearing something about destroying the brain of the ship...feels for his pocket to see if the disk is there...I want to take this magical law disk and stick it up da arse of this ship's brain...or is it stick it up the brain of this ship's arse...says loud and crudely and laughs some more....Donblas there is no law here, take us away from this dreaded place!yells in a loud voice....

Whatever joy Rael felt for Angrboda discomfort quickly evaporated in the cold dark water. The traps in the water did not aid his mood either. By the time they reach the door he is silent and shivering from the cold, his lips and cheeks are bluish in coloration.

"Let me see the door..." he stutter hand shaking hard as he examine the door trying to decipher a way to open it.

The group approaches the door with a hint of apprehension. The door symbolizes the potential to ending this nightmare however nothing so far has been easy. This proves to be just as uneasy. Angrboda approaches the valve-like portal looking for some sort of latching mechanism. At the first glance it is evident that someone has tampered with the door itself. At the location where the eye sensor was on the doors above deck all you can see is an empty socket. It looks almost as if someone had gouged out the eye sensor on purpose with extremely crude tools.

The door itself resembles the same door the opened into the cargo hold, fleshy and elastic in the same fashion as a stretched muscle. The walls here have changed back into the black chitin like material found as part of the main hold of the ship. At almost a predictable interval the howl of the dying ship echos through your skull. Thanks to the timely howl you are able to tell one thing, this door is holding back much of the dying screech. Just beyond the portal is the source of the giant ships howl, the very vocal center of the ship.

Someone has gone to great lengths to keeping people out.

[Private to Angrboda: It is getting nearly intolerable, Now some stupid popping of a weasel song is playing over and over in your head. It is not a song you are familiar with, but those lyrics: "All around the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel..." Between the howling of the ship and these oddities...]

Berta clenches her teeth, as much to still the curses that sit on her tongue as to stop them chattering.

"Get your axe," she tells Viktor, voice loud so she can be heard over the dying screams of the ship.  "See if you can force it between door and frame, and perhaps between us we can get this thrice-damned thing open !  At least the exercise might warm us ..."

Shivering violently Rael motion Viktor to stop "Oooorrrr.... we ca..ca... can ... kno ... knock on the doooor,,," if these were the civilized sane muppets as Angrboda claims maybe they would answer better to civil manners.

Angrboda shakes her head and yells, "Stop with the music already!  Just shut up!" as she knocks on the door and then calls into the hole in the door, [Language unknown: "Not, vorerader un somevebut?  Ca ha tr p he es utset wemait mi hasle ncewilany?"]

OOC:  Second statement is in the language that she learned from the computer thingy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:33, Sat 23 Jan 2016.

"What about that disk?  Is it possible it may be some sort of key?" she inquired, through chattering teeth, just in case it hadn't been thought of yet. Rael was probably right, though; better to try courtesy, first.

Mildly intoxicated or no, she concurred with Viktor's assessment that Law was largely absent from this insane place.  She much wanted to conclude this business, and return to the relative security of the Mistress.

Listening to the odd tongue in which Angrboda spoke, she got a better, closer, look at her, beneath true light.  And decided that she wasn't human.

Vadhagh?  Could it be?  She looked something like she had heard them described.  But, the attitude, the mannerism...swearing by Chaos...that wasn't like any Vadhagh she'd ever heard of.

Cirok just fidgeted in the water, wincing and clamping his hands over his ears every time the ship howled.  For all the fantastic, world spanning capability of the 'Mistress and this dying ship, there were times when the sailor wished for a simple wooden vessel, canvas stretched against the winds, and the salty spray of waves cascading over the bow.  You wouldn't hear these wailing cries from a galleon of the Purple Isles.

Angrboda's words meant nothing to him, but he waited expectantly in the hopes she could coax the door to open.

Knocky knocky muppets let us in...laughs a little and waits to see if he needs to get the disk out or his mighty axe...slightly drunk to where he is finding this a little amusing and doesnt care how cold he is...

"Spawn of the Whisperer !" Berta's curse as she backs away to give Viktor's room is tinged with a note of fear, but she gathers herself, holding up her hand to stop the Pan Tangian from advancing further.   "Something in the water," she explains.  "Feels like one of those damned and thrice cursed tripwires ..."

Her trepidation gives way to thoughfulness.  "That last one you fell foul of ... would've taken your head off if you hadn't falle ... dived beneath the waters."

The warrior-woman takes a deep breath, knowing she's about to suggest something that is both dangerous and foolish.

"We might be able to manoever ... these boxes closer to the door," she gestures towards but does not touch the stack of crates at her back, "then trigger the trap from a distance with a length of rope."

"It could suffice to blow the door, or at least loosen it sufficiently that we might get it open," she shrugs.

Ok so we push these crates and boxes towards the door and try not to set them off....points to where the door is and slowly steps back behind them...

"Or we could just wait to see if someone answers the door." Angrboda says, knocking again, [Language unknown: "Notughent, t acfomo elous it eenet peniilou ratee thass uronfiss ni penilo si enom of ven.  Ek atlaic ave k ich p icaerseau p evos ckmi ati pe et pa mamesi."]

Viktor and Berta begin shuffling the tripwire boxes around as Angrboda waves them both off. Speaking once again in the strange tonal language Angrboda attempts to communicate with those on the other side.

And it appears to work as the valve door spreads apart with a wet slurping slide. The darkness on the other side of the door holds sway except for the large globe in the distance of the room. Inside the room is a complicated network of threads, piping, and other vein like constructs attached to the huge swirling multicolored sphere. The moaning of the ship hits you like a blast as the door making your ears and insides ache in extreme discomfort.

The moaning of the ship dies down a bit as you are able to take in the room. Tiny dancing bolts of lighting, like little spiders, move up and down the various cable like constructs that line the room. You can simply sense the power in this room, or more so you do not feel the draining effect of this world in it's presence. In the dancing lights of the room you swear you see movement darting between crates and other items that have been obviously set up in a crude attempt at barricades and obstacles about the room.

That is when an apple sized metallic object arcs through the air from behind the obstacles and lands at the entrance to the door. There is a tiny white light flashing from one side of the ball. At first glance it appears to be made of a similar silvery metal as the disk held by Viktor.

Seems to be the same material as the law disk...grabs the disk and holds it towards the floating ball...

Berta's surprise as the door actually opens at Angrboda's words is short-lived as the silvery disk flies towards them.  Fighting the urge to duck under the water, but ready to do so should anyone else choose that path, the warrior-woman looks around at her companions. "We can but hope that is meant for the ghost creatures and won't prove harmful to flesh and blood," the words spill from her lips.

Angrboda moves over to inspect the device?  globe?  that Viktor picked up, "Um, Viktor, that might being a bad thing to pick up.  I do not know much about artifacts of Law though so it might be alright." she says gesturing to the other piece of silver he is holding.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:38, Thu 28 Jan 2016.

Rael is startled when the device is thrown, he catch the general size and shape of the thing and the first thing he thinks about how this is an elemental glob like the one they unleashed what now seems ages ago.

While the others turn to inspect the thing, he turn to the other direction with a drawn knife and wobbly knees, trying to find whomever toss the thing.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:21, Fri 29 Jan 2016.

I am sure you are right Boda but it is so shiny...After grabbing the new shiny globe and having the law disk in his other hand...decides to clank them together to see if they spark or if anything happens...

Artifacts of Law?  She'd heard rumor of fantastic, mechanical animals, made by scientific arts.  Lawful arts - that crafted things of wonder and beauty. Not the like of what surrounded her now, and bellowed like some beast of the abyss!

She looked on apprehensively, very apprehensively, as Viktor smacked sphere and disk together...

"Is that - " *Clank!* "-maybe not such a good idea?" moving back a bit, as she asked.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Thu 28 Jan 2016.

Angrboda sighs, knowing that taking them from the massive man in front of her is going to be problematic at best.  She turns and heads toward the area behind Viktor, hoping if there is some sort of reaction that the rocks in his head will block at least part of it for her.

As Esyld backed away from Viktor she nearly ran into Cirok, who was already mimicking her caution.  "Sorry," he mumbled as he got out of her way and continued to shuffle away from the drunk and quite possibly reckless barbarian.

As the two pieces clank together the sphere splits in the middle and pops into a slight oval shape. The center "groove" is filled by a thin mesh that reminds you of chains linked together. For a brief second it is quiet.

Then the oval flashes a brilliant white light like the dawning of a new sun. If that were not bad enough the now offensive object begins to screech like a chorus of tortured rabbits growing louder and louder.

The light frames out the form of Viktor as it spills into the cargo hold illuminating the vast cavern, nearly allowing for visibility to the door you first came through. Spots dance before your eyes as the shadows of your companions begin to be overwhelmed.

[Private to Viktor: You are simply stunned, ground Zero, Nuclear blast, you are also going to be mildly deaf for a while.]
[Private to Berta; Angrboda; Cirok; Esyld; Rael Gol: Agility roles all around to dive into the water to avoid the worst of it. You are still going to be momentarily blinded, much like when your mother turned the lights on in the morning to wake you up]

OOC: 01:11, Today: Angrboda rolled 89 using 1d100.  Agility tn 105.

Angrboda's ducking behind Viktor has Berta moving a split second before the flash of blinding lights and terrible noise starts up, the chill of the waters as she dives beneath them a blessed relief in the face of that assault on her eyes and ears.

[Private to GM:  21:47, Today: Secret Roll: Berta rolled 68 using 1d100.  Agility vs 85.]

WHAT? did someone say something?falls to one knee and grabs his ears and starts laughing as he kneels there...all of a sudden feeling quite sober...wondering what happened...

Rael was far enough and looking the other way, he did glance when he heard the commotion quickly tossing his head to the other side. Eyes watering from the bright flash of light he wobble to his feet and rubbing his eyes he calls "Are everyone alright..."

looks around in a dazed and confused state and sees Rael talking but it sounds extremely distant and muffled....rather stunned by what happened just kneels there and doesnt say a word...

One instant she had been uttering a brief laugh at her backward collision with Cirok, and the next throwing her free arm across her eyes, and ducking beneath the frigid waters, in desperate retreat from the awful light and sound...

Esyld rolled 75 using 1d100  agility @ 75% ... OMG, just barely!!

Still excusing himself in an embarrassed tone, cheeks flushing red after bumping into Esyld and nearly tripping her up, Cirok was completely unprepared for the sudden eruption of deafening noise and searing light.  As the intensity surged he saw others diving beneath the chill waters for escape, but rather than instinctively follow suit he dumbly turned to search out the cause of the chaos.  And in doing so left himself completely exposed to the full brunt of Viktor's imprudence.


OOC:

10:35, Today: Cirok rolled 79 using 1d100.  Agility test (TN 60).  Fail!

[Private to GM: Please let me know what the effects are and I'll incorporate into future posts.]

Only the preternatural reflexes of her race save Angrboda as the light flashes as she blinks and hides her eyes quickly.  Moving from behind Viktor she uses that same grace to move deftly back over to the door way, [Private to group Eng: "HEY, that wasn't very nice.  I told we are here to help."] she yells into the doorway.

Angrboda once again speaks the strange tonal noises into the room.
As you wipe the moisture from your eyes, from either the water or tears, a single blurry shape lands on the stack of boxes a few feet(1m) from Rael Gol in the cargo hold. As your eyes are able to focus better it is what appears to be a "muppet" from the bridge. Strapped about its body are various belts and other items of utility that you simply cannot identify. Its pink skin is stretched thin with a mild hunger similar to those above decks, just not as pronounced. The dull hair that adorns its head is tangled, wild, and much longer than those you met in the bridge.

The "muppet" unfurls a length of string with a small oblong object on the end of it and begins to whip it around its head in a way the reminds you of a lasso. A warbling, buzzing, noise like a horde of bees starts up. The light of your torches cast shadows giving this new arrival a very haunted look and the glint off of the black saucer eyes. Overall the posture of the thing is aggressive giving this creature an almost barbaric look.

[Private to Rael Gol: From what you remember, this looks like the same being that watched you as you picked up the silver disk. It IS the same buzzing noise that you remember.]

Tries to get up and see what is going on but just stumbles to the ground....holds his ears and hopes the buzzing goes away soon...

"STOP IT!" Angrboda yells angrily, "Screw these little beasts, if they can't play nice." she thinks as she attempts to throw a spell at the beastly little monster.

OOC:  Casting Agony, hopefully it works on the bastard.

Berta breaks the surface, her fiery tresses whipping around as she turns her head towards the newest threat, alterted by Angrboda's cry.  "One of the mad ones !" she warns, though the words are stolen from her lips by the cacaphony.  Grimly she stoops again, hunting about with her fingers beneath the water, looking for something, anything that she might hurl at the creature to dissuade it from it's present course.

Rael is standing far too close and Viktor is far to far from this mad muppet. He tries to smile, not exposing his teeth, at the the thing.

"We are friends..." he says in a soothing voice, or rather in whatever voice he can make standing in freezing water and nearly half blind from Viktor folly.

Rivulets of water running off her steel-cap helm, and from her drenched hair, she blinked rapidly, doing her best to clear her sight of both water and the after effects of the painfully bright flash.   Thankfully, she managed to keep the torch above water, so it hadn't extinguished.

Berta's warning much confirmed what she beheld.  Hazarding rapidly on what to do next, she realized Angrboda was chanting a spell, and decided to await the results, before she did anything.

[Private to GM: Holding my action till Angr's spell goes off, and we see what it does.]

Angrobda's tone switches instantly from a helpful demeanor to one of near vengeance in an instant. She sets herself into the increasingly familiar motions to loose one of her incantations...only to once again have nothing happen. [Secret to Angrboda: "...The monkey thought 'twas all in good fun, Pop! Goes the weasel."]
[Private to Angrboda: As in the two times prior, you built up the power and released it, only to have it simply vanish without manifesting.]

After a few moments the figure glances at Rael Gol and crooks it's head. The length of cord and the bauble slow till the figure catches it easily in his other hand. It extends it's hand towards the group pointing first at Angrboda then at Rael Gol. With it's other hand it gathers together the length of cord and tucks into a folded pouch at it's waist. After things are situated to the still feral looking "muppet" it holds out it's gaunt hand open palm up.

Rael glance at Angrobda, yes she appeared civil and charming but behind that thin mask was the real daughter of Melniboné revealed herself.

Again he smile and with shacking hands pulls at his pouch finding some soggy biscuits and offering it to muppet. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you..." he adds trying to keep the same soothing demeanor as before "Do you have somewhere dry and warm we could go? please we are freezing in the water."

Angrboda stares at the strange creature in front of her, [Language unknown: "Ri, ic someenwheort iemo is cktoit hi a outncewas o.  Be for earthusan?"] she asks as she approaches the creature with caution, mimicking it's hand gesture as she does so.

Esyld gave a relieved sigh.  It was a lesson in not making assumptions.

She also gave silent thanks that Angrboda's magic had failed, as well as for Rael's more sensitive approach.   Perhaps they would have an ally, after all?

And, it occurred to her to wonder... that magic seemed not to work, here.  Was it possible this was a place of Law, then?   She'd heard tales of such, where the occult was said not to work.   It was a heartening thought, if hard to believe, amid all this craziness.

She smiled briefly at the moppet, then glanced toward the others.  Viktor, who'd caught the brunt, looked like he might need help.   Cirok too seemed like he might be more effected.  Since his head wasn't wet, she surmised he had not ducked.

"Can you see?" she asked of him.

It was good that the moppet had stood down from his aggressive posture, for Cirok would likely have borne the brunt of any assault from that direction as well.  He'd stood more or less motionless since the explosion of light and sound in Viktor's hands, his eyes blinking furiously and his head shaking back and forth every so often, as though to chase the buzzing bees away from his ears.  At least he wasn't shivering, nor his teeth clattering with the chill waters.

His head swiveled slowly when Esyld spoke to him, and he cocked it a little sideways so that he might see her from a slightly different angle.  "Can I what?" he asked, a little too loudly.  "Sea?  Oh, see!"  He chuckled slightly, and flashed a rueful smile.  "Yes, yes, more or less.  Looked into the sun too long, is all.  Big bright spots everywhere."

"You're all wet, I think.  Made it under?"  He nodded in approval, not really waiting for the answer he could barely hear.  "What's Rael and Angrboda saying?  One I can't make out, the other makes no sense.  Unless my ears are worse than I thought."  He took his head in both hands and rubbed his ears vigorously for a few seconds, then paused to evaluate.  A shake of his head told Esyld it didn't really work.

Rael Gol reaches out with his soggy biscuit as Angrboda approaches. At that moment a pealing wail of the ship echos across the cargo hold. In that tiny second of distraction the feral figure quickly lashes out and grasps Rael Gol by the hand knocking the biscuit into the water.[Secret to Rael Gol: "I saw you before. You did not seem real as they were attacking you. Nothing else survived. There was no way you were real. Now you stand before our door."] It's black orb like eyes seems to hold Rael Gol in thrall. Still holding onto Rael's hand it extends it's other hand towards Angrboda. [Secret to Rael Gol: "The moaning keeps them at bay. They are smart. You are not of the ship. They may have found a way. You did not seem them."]

[Private to Rael Gol: You are not transfixed. You can act freely.]

Angrboda flinches when the crazy creature moves but shrugs her shoulders and acquiesces to its demands, "I suppose they have a way to test for the ghost goats." she says as she holds her hand forward.

Berta curses as the small creature dashes Rael's offering from his hand and then seizes him.  Starting forwards, wading through the deep waters, she makes to draw her blade ...

... then stops, grimacing as Angrboda reaches for the creature, and none the less concerned, but trusting that the Melnibonean knows what she is doing or at least praying that is so.

Turning her head quickly, she looks to see that Esyld and Cirok are unharmed, shrugging her shoulders helplessly, then turns her attention to Viktor.  "It's me !" the warrior-woman calls out loudly as she tenatively places a hand on his shoulder, "Berta !  You took the worst of it !  Can you stand ?!!"

No I don't need a drink...oh can I stand....chuckles and attempts to stand with Berta's help...puts his arms around her and shakes his head a little...

She nodded reassuringly to Cirok, made an "ok" sign, understanding that at least he could see his surroundings. Deaf or no.  Berta was meanwhile assisting Viktor, which was good.  She wasn't sure if anybody else was strong enough to.

Her attention shifted back toward the moppett, and the other two.  She cringed at the wail, well tired of the sundry abrasive sounds of this place, then moved a bit closer to where they were, wondering what was going on - what the moppett was doing.

Was it possible the mouthless creature communicated through touch, somehow?

The figure grasps hold of Angroboda's hand in much the same fashion as it did with Rael. [Secret to Angrboda: "You they are drawn to. It is safe beyond the portal."] It looks expectantly between the two of them as if waiting for some sort of answer or reaction. After a few seconds it releases it's grip on the two and quickly scampers over to, and up, a stack of nearby boxes.

Angrboda just stares blankly at the creature for a second, "Drawn to?  You think?" she grumbles as she heads through the opening signaling the others to follow.

"We are real..." Rael echoes as he watch the thing sits on the boxes "Our own ship was damage and we came here looking for aid..." he explain further taking a step or two toward the thing "Please, help us repair our ship and get out of here... and fight the spirit horrors."

"The drink probably insulated him from the worst of it," Berta says disgustedly as she struggles to pull the big Pan Tangian to his feet.  "Lean on me," she tells him.

Looking up the warrior woman sees Angrboda heading through the opening. "Forward, Viktor ... you can do it," turning her head, she waves away any assistance as she tries to propel her charge through the opening.

Follow them?Only getting bits and pieces of what is being said...points towards Angrboda and leans against Berta as he tries to walk towards the group...

She waited until Berta and Viktor were some distance ahead, not wanting to be too close, just in case Berta lost her grip, and he toppled backward.

While waiting, she listened to Rael Gol's words, realizing he was making an entreaty to the being.  She had brief thought, that maybe, just maybe, the moppetts could be the ones to help her find her way back to her own world.

But she put that aside, for now; it was a self centered thought, and there were greater things at stake, at the moment.

She turned and followed the others through the opening.

"Tripwire," Berta calls back a curt warning to those following, reminding them of the line that runs beneath the surface.  Despite her words she is most solicitous of poor Viktor, bearing his weight as best she can as she tries to guide him forwards. "We're doing well," she assures him.

Taking care to avoid the area indicated by Berta you are all able to make it into the room full of organic ropes. The room, unlike the cargo hold, is illuminated by the pale blue light found at the rear of the ship. Once the last person enters the rear compartment the fleshy valve slides ship. You catch a glimpse of another scampering feral "muppet" fleeing from a behind a stand of boxes near the door deeper into the room. You are away of the presence of several others in the room as you catch glimpses and hints of their location as they scamper around just outside of your torches light.

There is an almost imperceptible pressure in your head similar to that of a weather front. Several voices, all in chorus, echo in your head. "Cueleven sent you to us. He says you are not the Kia. Why have you come? They will now not let us leave. You have doomed us all."

As your eyes adjust to the surroundings and flicker lights of the lightning bolt spiders you are able to make out a few ramshackle tents, places to prepare food, and what would be a latrine off away from the "camp". Above you hanging in place by hundreds of fleshy ropes and cables is the large carapace covered globe. The globe is easily 20'(6m) across at the widest point. The fleshy ropes anchor themselves at kinks in the chitin that extend about a handspan up the tendrils. The lighting spiders are seen moving rapidly up and down the length of each of the fleshy tendrils at the same speed as a lightning strike. The area here is considerably warmer than anywhere else on the ship though not to uncomfortable.

[Private to Angrboda: 09:03, Today: Secret Roll: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Angrboda, rolled 8 using 1d100.  Million Spheres tn 20. - pass
You have heard of the Kia. They are a vampiric energy demon that live off of the life force of others. They are clouds of pure energy that can not be hurt by normal means. Magic was the only known defense and offense against these creatures.

09:07, Today: Secret Roll: The Grey Lords, on behalf of Angrboda, rolled 4 using 1d100.  YK tn 15. - pass
The breed was used in antiquity to create vampiric weaponry by a group of assassins. That group was rumored to have been killed off long ago by a rival faction taking the secret of summoning these demons with them.]

Then come with us and leave this place...we need parts from your ship...speaks loudly after hearing the voices in his head...stops leaning against Berta and whispers thank you to her...

Now that they were inside a warmer place or at least a drier place. Rael could relax a little, he heard the muppets and while they may be feral or mad they were talking and not attacking which was good.

The others could handle the talking he figured while he had a look at Viktor. "Come here and kneel down so I can check your face." he said and motioned to Viktor with his hands.

If the brute of a Pang Tangian would comply he would check the man ears and eyes and any other source of injury and administer whatever medicine he had.

Hearing some of Rael's words figures he would probably want to look him over so he stumbles over to him and kneels down almost losing his balance and grabbing his ears again...

Rael shoos Viktor hands away "Don't be a big baby and let me examine your ears." Even on his knees Rael had to stand on the tip of his toes to be able to look at the man ears.

He twists his nose "Next time you dip into water make sure to take with you soap as well. Demon just love the smell of filth and are repelled by the smell of soap."

"Well, I was originally here to take a part of your dying ship.  Then I ran into your computer and it told me I needed to kill the poor creature that you have built your ship out of." Angrboda explains, "Now I suppose I am here to rescue you people also.  How is it that you came across these Kia spirits?  What do you have in those crates out there?  We can kill them but they are immune to normal weapons."

Cirok was the last through the valve-like door and started a bit when it closed behind him without prompting.  After satisfying himself there was no evil intent in the action, he turned to take in the strange room in which some of the moppets had made their home.  The brilliant whiteness of the lightning spiders that wicked along the fleshy ropes splayed out across the room's ceiling contrasted against the soft blue illumination of the room.  The spots before his eyes were growing fewer in number and apparently his hearing had improved as well, for he heard the unified voice the same as the others.

While he puzzled out the message in his head, deciding who Cueleven and the Kia were, Rael began tending Viktor and Angrboda began negotiating with, well, the voices?  He wasn't sure if she was addressing a community or a single moppet with her words.  Thinking that was more up his alley than fighting green goat spectres, Cirok crossed over to where the Melnibonean stood and prepared to join in the conversation, strange as it was.

For the moment though, he waited to see if one or more of the creatures answered the sorceress's questions.

The slight pressure returns as the chorus of voices once again slips into your head. "We were a scientific arendee vessel. We were in slipspace when they attacked. The computer is the O'Sidata. She is already dying. She is in great pain. We can not repair her. The crates contain specimens from worlds we have visited. We gather things to learn other ways to think. What do you need? What piece are you after?"

Rael begins to inspect the damage done to Viktor. It appears as if his senses were overloaded and need time to readjust. However, given the dim lighting you are certain that you do not want him swinging his axe any time soon.

You see one of the figures barely step out from behind one of the barricades and places several small silver rectangle pouches on the ground. "Please stay where you are. Eat and rest." At that the figure scampers back into the maze of boxes and other debris.

Berta releases Viktor to Rael's care, watching as the big Pan Tangian kneels, ready to steady him if needs be ... or grab his hands should he persist in making things difficult for his physician.

As she waits, grateful for the warmth in this chamber which serves to ward off some of the chill of the cold waters and her damp clothing, the warrior-woman listens warily to the discourse between the creatures and her companions.

"The ghosts are the Kia," she mutters to herself as she tries to follow the words in her head."The ship is O'Sidata ?"

"Cueleven ..." she shakes her head, stymied at this last as she tracks the movements of the creature who appears to be offering them food.

"Will he live ?" she asks Rael absently, patting Viktor on his shoulder, still watching as the creature returns to its nest.

"Yes..." Rael grumbles to Berta "He is too thick and drunk to know better..." he fondly slap the Pan Tangian side with affection.

Viktor was a brute and a terror when he was swinging his axe, not really the kind of person Rael ever thought to be friends with but oddly enough he was truly and deeply fond of the man.

He pulls some powder and mix them with some water into a paste "Your senses are overloaded, you need proper rest and no loud noises. So no axe swinging or crossbow shooting until I clear you. Rub this on your ears and eyes, it would make you drowsy but it will also numb your senses somewhat. Don't swallow this as it would turn you blind and deaf."

He turns to the muppet collective "I am a physician and an apothecary, if your ship is alive and sick perhaps I could help this O'Sidata?"

He glance around "Maybe one of the thing you collected? but please tell us what are the thing on the bridge and how have the goat spirit the ahm Kia came to your vessel."

Unlike Angrboda, Rael was not so sure they could kill the things, not easily and not without a great price.

He poked at the pouches inspecting their inside to determine if they are safe to consume.

Did you say don't eat the powder? hearing some what better rubs the ointment on his ears and eyes and crawls to a corner to rest on and passes out for a bit....

Thinking he had some grasp on what they were being told, Cirok speaks up this time.  "We are searching for something called an 'Entropy Configuration'.  Ours is damaged and we need a replacement.  I believe we have found it to the aft of the ship, near the bridge, but removing it has proven difficult."

"Would you be able to help with that?"

"We would need magic weapons, or possibly law enhanced weapons, I don't know much about things like that." Angrboda explains, "Maybe something that shoots out lightning or acid or fire." she finishes a bit weary and slumps down to sit on a crate.

With Viktor cared for and sleeping it off, Berta's mind wanders back to something the creature said a moment ago ...

"They have specimens in those crates !" the warrior woman looks angry. "Mirath's cold hands !" she swears.  "Then that ghost healed itself by stealing the lifeforce of whatever unfortunate was sealed in the vessel it breached ?!!"

"Weapons, aye !" Berta agrees most vehemently with Angrboda.  "Esyld thought that silver might be harmful to the ghosts," she looks to the sailor for confirmation.

All this new craziness aside, she was wholly grateful to at last be out of the water, and in a dry, warmer, clime.

The moppett's mode of communication was a little disconcerting --  but more or less confirmed what she'd guessed when the creature had taken Rael's and Angrboda's hands.  Realizing the bluish light was again present, she wondered whether it was good manners to stand there with a burning brand, clutched in hand. Yet she was reluctant to extinguish it, as they had now lit both those she'd carried.   She searched briefly for some soft ground in which to plant it, next to nothing that was flammable, if it could be found.

At the moppett's proclamation that they had doomed them, her lips parted slightly in shock, unsure what to say or think.   That would be terrible, if true --  yet there was no way to undo anything done.  She glanced at the 'spiders' of light, that darted up and down the odd tendrils, somewhat unnerved, but also consoled the moppetts seemed unconcerned by them.

She also looked briefly toward Rael and Viktor, as the former tended the latter. First aid skills were something she'd endeavored to learn more of, after being out on her own, in situations where dueling was no longer merely exercise and art. Rael seemed to know what he was doing --  she would have liked to have watched, in order to learn something, under other circumstance. She stifled brief laugh at the comment of demons' aversion to soap.  But her attention was yanked to other things.

She did not understand some of the terms the others made mention of ---   and was disconcerted when Angrboda claimed that they could slay the goat-heads --  or the "Kia" as they were apparently known.   "Kia" -- an almost pretty sounding word to describe such fiends. Her blade had been only barely effective --  she did not understand what Angrboda's claim was founded on, thought it a truly bad idea to mislead the moppetts on that matter.

Once the creature spoke within their heads again, she understand little of what it meant. Only that this vessel was apparently living, even possessed a name, and was mortally injured. She glanced again toward Viktor and Rael, noting the comradery between the two, who could not be more different in their aspects, and finding that bit of humanity comforting, amidst so much that was so alien.   She wondered if Rael's skills really could be successful, on a living ship.    That would be a song for the taverns, should it prove true!

Cirok then joined the conversation, speaking of an 'Antropi Kahnfig - yur -- a - '  something or other, that she could hardly say, let alone grasp.   Did he understand these things, too?

As Berta exclaimed her guess about the crates, though, that she did understand.   And again made the triangle of Law, both for the idea that living things might be packed into crates, and that the grisly specter had been feeding on one. Her lips faintly curled in revulsion, it took her a moment to realize that Berta had addressed her:

"It is possible," she replied.  "I had been told there was silver in the blade's alloy.   And that its smith had an interest in the makings of the people called the Vadhagh. Are there really living things within those crates?" she had to inquire.

"Why would you take them from their home, and imprison them like that, if it's so?"

It was imprudent to ask, she realized, as soon as it was out. Given the situation they were in, and that they needed these beings' aid...
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Sun 07 Feb 2016.

At Esyld's question Angrboda tilts her head quizzically and looks at the lady, "Why to study them of course.  Why else would you collect things?" she shakes her head a bit, wondering how humans ever managed to build anything.  "So do you know of anything you collected that was considered magic by the people who had it.  I realize that your species probably does not believe in magic given your," she looks around at the ship curiously, "Penchant for Law but perhaps some of the people you ran into were not quite as Lawful?" she says, trying to hide her disdain when she speaks of Law, while noting what it did to this plane.

OOC:  Angrboda is assuming this is what happens when law takes over a plane based on the fact that she cannot use her spells.  lol

Opened the next thread.

Few of you still have chances to improve you skills during "recess"