Banglen-Yp, blissfully unaware of the discussion taking place above her, moves through the Stygian blackness of the hold...

The group on the deck are drawing some curious stares from the sailors, and a ragged chorus of cheers and a smattering of applause from the men, as they realise that the blonde passenger has vanished before their very eyes.  Then one wag calls out, from where he works, "I's seed that'un afore...  She be up 'is sleeve!", and is  answered by gales of laughter from his shipmates.

"Stop yer lollygagging, and get back to work!"  Rovane Khorach is suddenly among them, and they hurry to obey her command, as she makes her way towards the remaining passengers.  When she draws closer, she looks from face to face, and asks quietly, "Tarrek died because of something down there, and ye've sent the girl below?  Alone?"

Roman quietly replies to the Captain.  "She is more than a girl, and she chose to go.  Do not underestimate her.  Going against her will be far more difficult than taking an old man in his sleep.:

"Roman has a point," James doesn't stop walking as he talks, "Banglen-Yp is surprisingly capable."  His phrasing is stilted, almost halting, as though his concentration was elsewhere.  "Nevertheless, it might be best if you go below as well, Roman.  Discreetly.  For now."

"The canvas, if you please.  Unless you prefer the crew to see...."

The captain shakes her head and moves away.  The canvas is raised again, and Roman starts to transform, first into a tightly wound miniature cyclone, which, even controlled as it is, briefly sets the sails flapping and banging overhead, and causes the canvas screen to billow, almost dragging Tahirah and James off their feet.

Rovane turns back and glowers at the pair, struggling to hold the screen in place...  Magic!  On her ship!

The storm dies down, and instead of the small whirlwind, there is a turbulent, roiling cloud of mist, roughly manlike in form, with eyes which burn a fiery orange.

And in that instant, liquid oozes up through the gap around the edge of the hatch, spreading to form a pool about the size of a dinner plate.  It swirls and bubbles for a moment, like milk coming to the boil, and a single blue eye forms near it's centre, followed by a gently smiling mouth...

 

• Found it •• Looks like human • to human • but is not human • to non-human •• Is now on left side on ship • if front is way ship goes ••

The small mouth speaks quietly and quickly, while the lone eye turns to study the shifting of Roman.  It blinks and then blinks again before seeping down below again.

•• I keep it there and you all can come play • if you want ••

Then the eye too vanished down below again.

 

Tahirah's sleeves hang low over her hands, bright white even against the sail she's holding.  They hadn't been so low, in fact, a moment ago, but now they cover her hands, and, incidentally, hide the white-knuckled grip with which she now holds the sheet.

As always, the hooded figure is serene and calm, and she gives James a simple nod to indicate that she is prepared to go in as well if that's what he thinks best.

Within, Tahirah desperately tries to tell herself that in the worlds beyond Charyk, this is all perfectly normal and nothing to worry about...

James was quietly, but profoundly, grateful that the Captain had wandered off before Banglen-Yp made her reappearance.  The disembodied eye and mouth were unsettling.  Once Banglen-Yp and Roman are safely below, James lowers the sheet.

"I don't know how you fight, Tahirah.  Nobody will think any less of you if you stay up here."

With that, James loosens Fangmir in its scabbard and opens the hatch, ready to descend.

<edit>OOC: Apologies if I'm pre-empting Roman.</edit>
This message was last edited by the player at 14:41, Wed 21 May 2008.

Roman sinks through the cracks, following Banglen-Yp's gelatinous form.  Whisper-quiet, his mist-like form drifts over to the left - port the sailors said - side of the vessel.

Tahirah is quiet for a moment after James speaks, watching him get ready to climb into the darkness.  Then she moves up beside him, with her arms folded into her sleeves, and stands a little to the side, watching the hatchway, taking up a good place to stay and guard against anything trying to get out.

With Banglen-Yp and Roman already below, James opens the hatch, and allows a shaft of daylight to illuminate a small section of the hold.  A square of light, showing crates and bundles of cloth, secured by heavy ropes and nets, about five feet below the deck.

Narrow gangways are visible between the cargo, leading away into the gloomy innards of the ship.

Any fight down there, in the cramped spaces and the darkness is sure to be dangerous.  Of Roman and Banglen-Yp, there is no sign...

Whether this portends ill for the vessel or any on it, Roman does not know.  Lightning begins to flicker within his form, as it becomes more like to a cloud, whirled by the winds...

With the hatch open, there is nowhere to go but down.  James starts down the companionway, while Tahirah waits on deck, her hands hidden within her long sleeves...


A shudder passes through the fabric of Seahorse...


A strange, animalistic howl rises from the dim confines hold, causing the entire crew to stop what they're doing and make signs to avert any doom which may be about to befall them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:22, Sat 31 May 2008.

 

There is a strange clattering from where Banglen-Yp should be, or to those who cannot see her (it?) and then, the air shimmers, and - still only to those who can see in the flickering gloom still ruling below deck - there it is.


See description too

An arm, a strange one with some kind of mesh on it, comes up and something fires in the direction of the howl, then it spreads out as if to grab the strange creature itself.

"Want some candy?" it comes from the figure, in a raspy version of a young kid.

 

Seeing the cramped quarters below-decks gives James pause.  He decides against drawing Fangmir.

He has barely reached the foot of the steep stairs when their quarry howls.  Reflexively, James moves to cover his ears.

Oh &%^#!  That's bad.

Into the shadows James calls, "Banglen-Yp!  Roman!  It's a shifter!  Nearly unkillable and dangerous up close.  Try to contain it."

With that James is gone, using his strength to all but throw himself up the stairs.

"Captain!  We'll need all spare hands to damage control!  Sailor Goodword!  Front and centre!"

James hoped that last bit worked; he couldn't be any less subtle without calling for Prince Benedict but there was no question that he needed his uncle's advice.

If it's so damned dangerous, why is it running away ?  And what sort of shifting can it do ?

Roman continues his advance, the strangely green-tinged lightning flickering before him.  The thunder rolls out, asking "Who?"

As James explodes out of the hatch, Tahirah moves out of the way, and then drifts off across the deck.  Now that subtlety seems to have been abandoned, the wickedly curved knife of the chanactarsa appears in her hands.

There is a roar of thunder, and the whole ship is jolted by the sound.

In the hold, it is deafening, drowning out any reply to James' warning. 

Rovane, almost thrown from her feet, by the sudden, unnatural movement of Seahorse, responds to James' request for aid.  "Tarr-  No, damn it!  Fennse!  Fennse, yer First Mate now!"  She snatches something from around her neck, snapping the cord which holds it, and tosses it to her new second-in-command.

"Get yerself down to my cabin, unlock the big cabinet, and fetch as many blades as ye can carry!"

"Aye Captain!"  As the man hurries away, she addresses the rest of the crew, "Lads!  Old Tarrek were killed by some sea demon.  The passengers've got it cornered.  We're going to help 'em avenge our mate!  Fennse's bringing swords for some of ye, the rest'll help any way ye can!"

Benedict ignores her orders, and approaches the hatch to the hold, producing a pair of heavy knives from somewhere.  He looks at James, quizzically, without saying a word, though the raised eyebrow speaks volumes.

In that moment, a wave of heat flows over the two men, blasting up from below.

Tahirah stands a little to one side now, knife in hand.  Around her, the deck starts to blacken, scorched in a pattern resembling an eight-pointed, star within a circle.  Then it starts to smoulder...

A summoning?  Or a binding?  Or possibly just an effect?

Whichever the case, Tahirah's not at all sure she wants to be standing in the middle of it.  On the other hand, that doesn't mean she's not where she ought to be...

One of her cards appears in her hand, and she begins to whip it around in a curious formation, fast enough that the edge of the card whistles softly through the air.

Not such a good idea.  If it keeps doing that we'll lose the ship - and I don't know the way.  Given no choice, now, Roman strikes.  There's no other option other than to take it down - fast.

 

Having trapped its prey and seen its reaction, the creature reached out for a barrel of liquid.  Beer, water, it does not know and it does not care.  Lifting it above its head it hurled it with all its might at its, for the moment, trapped game.

No sooner is the first tossed before another barrel is targeted for pickup.

 
This message was last edited by the player at 06:13, Fri 06 June 2008.

James steps closer to Benedict for a moment, lowering his voice as much as he can while still being heard over the noises of the fight below and the sailors around him.

"The enemy is a shapeshifter.  Fluid form.  My two are also shifters - not sure of their exact abilities.  Roman favours a storm cloud, Banglen-Yp looks more a monster than the enemy.  I don't know that we can kill it, but we've got to stop it before it tears the ship apart and I'm fresh out of ideas."

And the Captain, bless her, just ordered half the crew into a fight that's completely out of their league.

"Can your people take orders?" Benedict asks James, above the increasing noise, "Should get it in the open."

The ship lurches again, heeling over to port, and Rovane, still at the helm, finds herself hurled sideways across the deck, as the wheel spins wildly.  She fetches up against the rail with a jarring impact which drains the colour from her features and leaves her screaming incoherently in outrage and pain!


Briefly, the main deck, where Tahirah, James and Benedict are,  is a couple of inches underwater along the port side.  Then, slowly and painfully, Seahorse makes good on Rovane's frequent claims that her ship is as tough as a soldier's boot, and she starts to level off again.

Around Tahirah, the burning starts to die down, and the damage is not as bad as it had first appeared...

 

Picking itself up from the debris, throwing aside half a crate with ease, there is a zinging noise as an object in its hand takes the shape of some kind of disc.  The next instant that disc, bleeping and flashing, is hurled with great force at the prey, seeming to steer and swirl through the air on its own.

Then comes another headlong rush, accompanied by the sound of metal against metal as long, sword-like blades extends at the wrist of the creature - but perhaps worse still is the eerie, taunting laughter that springs forth.

 

Maybe it is that dangerous

While Banglen-Yp recovers, Roman strikes.  The quicker the thing can be killed, the better - and the fewer opportunities it is given to adapt and change the better. And it will give Banglen-Yp more opportunity to recover and find a more effective attack.  Roman unleashes a flurry of attacks, attempting to force the thing on to the defensive.