It is a beacon to draw the ship. After the candle is lit, the dragon-boat churns close to shore, the last beat of unmanned oars leaving it beyond the poet and the ascetic.

You can all now board if you choose or chance a free-style crossing.

In reply to Autarch (msg # 216):

Bill and Dourdoff both lick their own lips in anticipation of what may be on this vessel. They both move towards it with the hope of boarding it with little trouble..
 Dourdoff says "Well an here goes me o' dang fool of the o' wooly head getting meself in a spot for sure. Folks o' the rock dont be having no business messing with these waters! Bah!"

Finn watches in wide-eyed wonder as the ship approaches an docks near the shore.

"How's that for service?" he quips aloud before giving the ship a cursory once-over, perhaps searching for potential enemies hiding within. If none are seen, the tax-man will deftly hop over the rail and board the ship.

The nimble man will lend assistance to any who need help getting aboard.

Nyll grumbles something and extends a hand. Time to haul a dwarf aboard. "And the rest of you?" Finn asks aloud while holding out a hand....

OOC: Boarding the ship.

''On we go,'' says Sidd, and boards the ship of doom.

''Are you all mad?'' Zar eclaims. ''Eagerly going on a journey which as well might have no return? In the slaughterhouse above still lie our womenfolk, waiting for us to return and lead them out of this hellhole.''

''What about the locked portal? The riddle of the altar? We might miss things here of vital importance!''

But then he sighs and shrugs. ''Who am I kidding? We'll go anyway.''

And he boards the ship, too.

Felix nudges Zar and says Ain't we supposed to pay a boatman if we want to rescue anyone from a hellhole?  Well, where better to do that than on a boat?

Such talk puts thoughts into Arnie's head, for once not about being eaten alive.  His eyes take on a dreamy look and he says A chance to bring Del back?  Certainly we can at least see what this ship has to offer.  As an afterthought he adds Oh, and I suppose we can save the others too if they're there.

Dave, watching all of this, simply shakes his head and sighs as he follows the rest up the gangplank.

"That is clearly better."

The two poets turn wade back toward the shore, then board the boat with the others.  Most are wet to their knees and they are wet to their armpits, but other than that they're all there together.

Virgil's underground sea beach party ends before the bonfire and burnt offerings to ancient gods; when a dragon ship proffers conveyance to the island of the ragers, the sacrifices can wait.

On board, you discover neither mariners nor a captain. No hands that you can behold hoist the oars that disturb the depths yet the galley-slaves' song you can hear:

Dead longing, sundered evermore from pain:
How dim and sweet the shadow-hearted love,
The happiness that perished lovers prove
In Naat, far beyond the sable main.

A convulsive yearning worms through your hearts for Del! and even for hapless, short and long-fingered Jobb!

All the while the invisible thews of the undead thralls propel the boat forth, their suzerain, graciously, absent. Half way across the lake, the waters roil and froth, the black spew splashing the sailors on the starless sea. Two great tentacles erupt and wave, one on each side of the ship. You can easily imagine them crushing each and every one of you, leaving you lifeless and jellied, only to be raised to lend your hollow lungs to the dirge.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:44, Sat 24 Aug 2013.

"Daenthar help us!" Nyll cries aloud when he first notices the tentacles breaking the surface of the water. Despite being quite startled by the appearance of the monster, the dwarf had expected some sort of trouble after entering the boat and will attempt to smash the creature with his flail in the event it draws close enough.

Finn too will jump to action, though he might not be among the first responders who rush out to engage the beast. He's not trying to get himself killed or anything...

OOC: both characters will attack if they get a chance.

Nyll: 17 (4)
Finn: 8 (4)

18:10, Today: Udly rolled 7,4,17,4 using d20-1,d8-1,d20+1,d6+1 with rolls of 8,5,16,3. attacks: finn/nyll.

Bill gasps as he sees the tentacles pop up out of the water. He draws his sword, mockingly, as he thinks what little damage the sword could do against such a beast and yells to Dourdoff "Hey dwarf, this may be it! Enjoy the ride as fish food!"

Dourdoff snickers at Bill as he draws his mace and yells back "By me hairy bum if n' me to go now then rest assure that me mace will take many o' slab o' meat from this overgrown cod and may it never bugger another again! Bwwaaaaahhh!"

Sidd keeps his calm - or maybe he's begun to loose any connection to the here and now anyway with all the strange things that are happening - and waves his shovel with the blazing skull at the tentacles. The thing hasn't done anything yet, but it is such a weird item, it simply has to reveal some otherworldy use eventually.

A third tentacle joins the other two and surface bubbles promise the arrival of more.

There is quite a bit of aquatic disruption causing the boat to rock and waves to crash. Those not born to the sea might feel uneasy about the gills.

In reply to Autarch (msg # 226):

As the vessel begins to rock and sway on the water, Dourdoff uses his stocky legs and squat frame to steady himself. Being one of short stature races helps him a bit he thinks, keeping his form low and well grounded for now..

Bill on the other hand is not afforded the dwarfs low center of gravity, therefore he keeps his drawn sword firmly in his right hand and uses his left to grope for the nearest bit of rope that is swinging about and holds on for dear life. A spill here would pretty much seal ones fate he thinks..

''In the mosaic...'' Sidd says while gripping a handhold, ''the beastman with the skull sacrificed a maiden to the tentacles in the water...''

''But really, you have to draw a line somewhere. I guess I'd rather drown.''

''Besides the fact I'd shoot you dead with my bow if you were to try sacrificing anyone,'' replies Zar through clenched teeth as he holds on for dear life.

''Nefertiti, you have to promise me that you'll save yourself if we go down!''

''Gack-gaaawk?''

Sidd looks at Zar. Zar looks grimly back.

Sidd says ''Uh. Say. Where's that pig gone to? From what's-his-name? Dead guy?''

In reply to Levkojen (msg # 229):

Dourdoff hears Sidd's question and replies "The slab o' meat stayed in the first entrance we came to."

"This ship cannot carry us to shore quickly enough," Nyll grumbles while watching the flaying tentacles.

To which Finn half-heartedly replies, "Ah, now why'd you have to go and doom us with that sort of talk..."

The tax-man is taking all this in with apparent aplomb. It really was more serious than he let on.

OOC: just taking in the scenery until such time action is needed.

A moment before he can stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood, Virgil's face falls.  This is far more than he had bargained for.  "What is a just man to do, Milton?  In the face of overwhelming opposition, with no promise of success, I  mean?  Is this when we call one last time on our household gods, set our faces like flint, and seek a death that would make our fathers proud, since we will have no sons to honor us?"

Milton is sitting on his chest, right arm lashed into the rigging, left arm wiping the vomit from his mouth.  He looks positively green, but other than that he wears only his usual melancholy.  "This has always been our condition, Virgil.  Today we see the monster, but he was always there, under the surface.  Let us place our hope in the strength of one far greater than we, then do what we may."

For Milton, "what we may" is not much.  Try to keep his puke sluiced off the deck, mostly.  But Virgil nods, raises his sword, and waits to strike should the tentacles comes near.

Virgil's readied attack roll = 7, miss
This message was last edited by the player at 21:52, Mon 26 Aug 2013.

The tax-collector rolls his eyes and sighs, "Shh...no more talk of death, Milton, lest you wish to tempt Ahriman to grant such a thing." Finn stabs his thumb into his chest, "Me, I am trying to live."

Probably everyone felt the same in that regard; he just wanted to make sure the Gods knew it. Not that they would take that into consideration, but still.

Dave has been trying to line up a shot at one of the tentacles, but it's hard when the boat won't stay still like a proper piece of land.  Eventually he decides he has aimed as well as he's going to, and lets fly an arrow.

Arnie has quickly retreated to the hold, deciding he'd rather stick it out with the ghostly rowers for now than try his luck with the tentacles.

Felix, sharing some of Dourdoff's advantage of low center of mass (albeit with less mass overall to stabilize him) does his best to stay in one spot on the main deck.  He has a sharpened awl in one hand, waiting for one of the tentacles to get close enough for him to strike.

Josh rolled 11 using 1d20. Dave missile attack.

The fourth tentacular eruption -- 75 feet, it could be! -- lifts the dragon boat out of the water, and it becomes airborne for a stomach-wrenching aeon before it returns to the lake with a resounding SMACK!

You can only reasonably conclude that passivity will engender your destruction. You have to treat with these tentacles in some manner. Surely, you're not the first to cross these waters beneath a starless sky. The lighting of the candle, the boarding of the ship, it's all rather ritualistic.

You're going to have to offer it something or pacify it in some way.

In reply to Autarch (msg # 235):

It dawns on Bill that maybe just riding it out on this vessel isn't going to cut the cheese so to speak.. He decides to move to the next lower level to have a look around, for what he doesn't exactly know, but maybe in hopes of finding something that may appease the beast of the sea of get it to leave. He tells Dourdoff "Hey dwarf, hang tight if ya want to, I am heading down a level to see if anything of interest lies below that may get us some headway with this creature of the sea. Or you can come along if you like. It matters not to me."
With that said , Bill lets go of his rope and heads to the nearest ladder he can see that leads down to the next level..

"Shake the glowing soul over the water!" Finn shouts to his companions. "The mosaic showed what looked like blood drops coming from the skull staff. Maybe that will placate the beast?"

He wasn't sure it would work, but it was worth a try. He is also not opposed to offering his own blood sacrifice, perhaps cutting a finger or some such?

''Oh well, here goes my best shot.'' Sidd harrumphs.

Then he stomps his shovel's business end on the ship's planks and rattles the skull on its top, holding it high in the air.

''Great beast of Chaos! We are all travellers on the starless sea, heading towards the lands of the dead! Let us pass! We survived the well and the chapel. We won the trial by combat. And now we are here! Let us pass! We bring gifts of idols!''

''Whoever of you took the rat idol, and maybe the frog, throw it in! Now!''

''We bring the sacrifice of live animals!''

''Zar, that's Nef. Give her up!''

''Never!''

''Aah. Ok. No gift of live animals then. But we have myrrh! And incense!''

Sidd quickly fumbles around with the censer and the incense in his possession, filling one into the other, and lighting it all with his flint and stone. For good measure he also fills some incense into the skull.

''Here! Ah, the smell of the gods. No, Chaos, I mean! And notice I am carrying your robe, and I am carrying your skull, and now I am waving your censer! Let us pass!''

Upon hearing his cue, Felix scrambles to produce the idol he picked up earlier and toss it ceremoniously into the dark sea.

The dragon boat holds no more than the souls of the phantom rowers, Bill discovers. That and some residual ash.

The stone idol drops unceremoniously into the sea moments after Felix's awl does the same, having sailed past its intended.

Meanwhile or betimes or just before, Sidd ignites a cone of incense after having filled all available receptacles, including, outrageously, the skull from the pool in the Dread Hall. Twisting plumes of purple and gray smoke issue copiously forth. Quickly, the wafting tendrils infiltrate the whole of the environment. The air is alive with the scent of chaos: an over-ripened ginger, saffron, and myrrh melange.

Such is the stuff of ceremonies and sacrifices.

And, thus, acknowledging the age-old pact, the leviathan tenderly places its tentacles at Sidd's feet, before sliding back beneath the waves with nary a ripple.

With no further interruption, the boat completes the passage in sublime fashion

The island draws closer, revealing the source of the golden glow: a towering ziggurat, with burning light radiating from within the sliver-thin cracks between its massive stone blocks.

A wide ramp circles the edifice, sloping to the top of the temple. Hordes of beastmen crowd the ramp, howling to the darkness, hammering on massive hide drums and pushing a terrified string of prisoners to the ziggurat’s glowing peak. High atop the temple, you
can make out a fearsome silhouette of an enormous armored figure, wreathed in infernal smoke lit from below.

The boat has not yet landed; you have time to scheme for your lives.