The orc missed the elf's flinching, but Krogan looked at Thaniel with an eyebrow cocked, grinning.
Either the elf loves jungles, or he's in a REAL hurry to get out of town.   
He shrugged.  Feh.  Either way. he thought.
Out loud, he said.

I'd certainly love to join you.  It sounds like fun!  I've never flown before.  I'll bet it's GLORIOUS, seeing the world, as if through the eyes of a dragon, or something.   I'm in.   What are your terms?

He glances over at Thaniel., smiling.

And thanks again, my friend,  for mentioning my conversational skills.  Not many people in this town seem to appreciate good conversation.

"A pleasant pair of surprises in finding a conversational orcan warrior and a fellow elven traveller," Abbas remarked, nodding to the professor's look of whether or not the elven swordsman was in favour of the two.  "I must say, after the priest's acrid nature, your discourse and company has been most pleasant."

Abbas touched tentatively upon the wound he had received during the battle, but did not feel it quite as bad now that combat had passed.  Something to be said for the heat and air of this climb, one imagined.

Krogan smirked at the other elf.
I was raised among a tribe of orcs that were not real good at conversation.  I guess I'm making up for lost time.

He chuckled a bit.
Especially when the only thing they talk about is how much they hate elves.
Which wouldn't be so boring, except that most of them have no reason to hate you, other then "Gruumsh One-Eye said to". 

The Professor eyed Lambrac with suspicion. "Services indeed?" He smiled and twiddled his thumbs together. "Very well. I suppose It's inevitable that Ghusoon has a hand to play in this, Gond knows she's got her fingers in everything else." He shivered, as if at the thought of a memory. "But rest assured young Lantanna, I really do have eyes in the back of my head."

He let his gaze linger on Lambrac for a moment before turning to Thaniel. "Excellent! Glad to have you along! That is, glad to have you on board...the boat."

He sighed and glanced at Abbas. "Another pointy eared friend for you swordsman, maybe you two could share a bunk and save some room!" He made to roar with laughter but instead broke into a fit of coughs. "So you say the Azuth-lover stayed behind? Do you expect him to return here? I wish to make headway soon."

"Considering his focus upon his attire and tracking down the attacker, rather than exploring, it is unlikely.  Always possible, but unlikely."  Abbas ignored the elven jest, taking it for the good-nature meant behind the bigotted comment - for certain elves were more fair than gnomes and humans, but elven women were that much again more impressive.

"Oh, I'd have volunteered for this mission anyway, sir, for a chance to travel aboard your magnificent sky-ship." Lambrac replied, gazing up in awe at the vessel, and wonder just how much the gnome suspected.

"The Magistrati did say he would catch up with us later, so I believe he intends to return. That is, if he still lives."

Krogan raised a shaggy eyebrow at "the elves sharing a bunk" comment.
The orcs were always speculating on the sleeping habits, and other nighttime habits, of elves.  The speculations and rumors had gotten so outlandish at one point that Krogan had tuned them out years ago.  One had been that elves sleep in a big pile like rats or other rodents.  Krogan assumed that it wasn't true, but it seemed that the gnome inventor had heard the same rumor.

Looking somewhat cleaner, though with his perpetual sneer still firmly in place, Jibril returned to the laboratory, via the front entrance - having evidently been too stubborn to use the rear. He seemed to realise that none of them had been expecting him to return and looked on at their obvious disappointment with a sort of smug derision.

The Professor eyed Jibril's return with an arched brow, noting the splatters of blood and dust marring the priest's yellow robes.

"Good of you to join us sir." He spoke with a thin smile. "Well then, let us not delay any longer - the adventure of a life time awaits us!" He turned to look at the Scilandar and chuckled. "That or certain death."

Humming a tune, the Professor began to walk forward. He lifted into the air, his legs still walking furiously, and started to float upwards. Reaching the gunwale, he dropped forward, landing in a heap on the ship's deck.

Cursing loudly in Gnomish, his face appeared over the side again. "Well? What are you waiting for" His eyes drooped. "Don't tell me my new employees cannot even levitate? How do you expect to evade marauding Rashelen Land Reavers in the swamps of Ubten Kallarek?"

He sighed loudly. "HAM!"

A rope ladder flew over the port gunwale.

Krogan waved to Jibril.  Unlike some of the others, he was happy to see the priest.
"Good to have you back!  You're JUST in time!"

As the rope ladder was lowered, Krogan shrugged and was the first one to approach.
Adventure or certain death....eh, they're both something to do, I guess.

As he began his climb, he looked over to Thaniel.
I LIKE this gnomish fellow.  He's very entertaining!
You know, I have a REALLY good feeling about this trip.

He scrambled to the top, then took up a position with a javelin in hand, to cover the rest of them.
The orc honestly expected no trouble, but, well, he WAS "on the clock", after all.

So the priest wasn't dead. Lambrac was surprised, though noting the blood-stains and the dust, he wondered how close it had been. Or had they been sustained in the initial ambush? It had been dark, he couldn't be sure.

The Lantanna shrugged and stepped up to the rope-ladder after Krogan. Hand over hand, he scrambled up it with ease, and bounded over the railing onto the deck. Already he was looking eagerly about to see the mechanics and devices of the ship at work. How had it been done? How it could be copied and sent back to Lantan?

Hand over hand, the elf made his way quickly up the rope ladder, before swinging a leg over the side of this ship and taking in the sights around him. A flying ship, who would have thought... And so it begins. I'm here, and the path is set. All will come to pass that is destined to. All shall be righted.

The man seemed lost in thought for a few moments, but seemed more then capable of pulling himself from this state in order to size up each of his fellow passengers as they climbed on board. "I do have a minor preference as to my sleeping arrangements, but perhaps it is a discussion for the two of us to have in private - among some other topics I'd like to bring up with you Professor, to iron out the finer points of the employment of my associate and myself." Glancing out to the bow of the ship, Thaniel smiled.

"It's a discussion that can wait until we've got air in our sails though, no rush." He smiled.

Krogan moved to the elf's side and whispers.
Waiting until we're trapped high in the air might NOT be the best time to negotiate.
Just a little friendly advice.

He grinned, confident that the wiley elf would do a good job, however.

Thaniel spun on the orc, as if caught off guard by the man's whisper. After locking eyes with the orc for a moment, he shook his head. "I know what I'm doing my friend. No worries."

With a sigh, he walked away from the entry ladder and moved to get a better look at the main deck of the airship.

Krogan grinned and shrugged.
Alright, my friend.  Just speaking my mind.   I'll leave you to it. 

The large, lean orc wanders off, seemingly not worried either way.

He goes to take a look around the ship.

Abbas offered a hand to the women of the party, then flit lightly up the ship ladder.  He, like the half-orc, took careful examination of the vessel's layout, especially fastest routes to various locations, defensive focal points, general paths through the ship with respect to hatches and portals, and so forth.

(OOC: this is probably the last post of this thread so i might as well get cracking before the next chapter.)

Fareeda released her tight hold on Abbas' hand as she climbed aboard onto the main deck. The Scilandar was indeed a marvel in Gnomish engineering design although such matters were not her strongest subjects. It was one thing to see the Scilandar from a safe distance but it was quite another to actually be standing on the airship itself. Fareeda's hands were touching the cool metal and wood with a sense of awe.

She went to one side and saw the many spires and minarets of Calimport. While her face was calm and confident, deep inside she felt odd mixed feelings about leaving the city. Calimport had brought her much misery over the years and yet it was her home of sorts. It was strange leaving it all behind almost like if she was already feeling homesick.

Shaking her head rapidly as if to clear it of such dismal thoughts, Fareeda offered a quick silent prayer to Lady Firehair and made hand motions in the air and soft chants and the bit of wool in the palm of her right hand had disappeared into nothingness in a haze of bright red and azure light.

Then she took out her mandolin and played a song that accompanied the sounds and voices of the Ghost Sound spell she had just casted:

http://www.mixpod.com/playlist/86255660 (Track 3)
This message was last edited by the player at 00:37, Sun 23 Oct 2011.

OOC: Sure, I'll join in the fun

Krogan joined Fareeda at the railing as the air ship lifted off.   Though not particularly afraid of heights, the orc shaman couldn't help but feel nervous about being so high up.
Until, that was, he saw the view.

The big man's face lit up with almost childlike wonder, and he gazed with awe, joy, and a little envy at the slowly sinking rooftops of the city.

It's a little like being a dragon, flying over the mountains.
He seemed.to be.speaking more to himself than to the bard.
Then, self consciously, he seemed to remember that she was there.  To try to cover up his embarrassing statement, he gave her a sudden smile with suprisingly clean teeth.

That's a good song.   It fits this occasion well.

Krogan was not homesick like the human beside him.  His "home" had been a system of smoky, smelly, dank orc caves for most of his life, which he hoped to never see again, so he'd never developed the sentimentality for any particular place that mamy humans had.
Calimport was nice, but he was ready to move on.

The Ghost Sound cantrip finally fading, Fareeda had just finished her song and was taken out of her trance like state by the sudden appearance of the orc. At first, she was more than a little unsettled by the ugly brute as orcs were quite rare this far south. However, realizing that she was to be in the same airship with him during the long voyage, Fareeda saw no reason to be uncivil.

"Thank you, Its basically a farewell song about the city itself. Calimport is often called the city of glory but it is also called just as often the city of slaves. Perhaps i will miss it but not too much." she said softly.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:21, Sun 23 Oct 2011.

OOC: As orcs go, Krogan is actually very clean, well-groomed, and even somewhat handsome.   Of course, that might not matter to the bard.   Just saying, though.

Krogan nodded, looking out at the cityscape.
Yes, I enjoyed my time in Calimport very much.  I can see the bad as well as the good, of course, and am glad, I'll admit, to get back to the purity of the wild places of the world.    Still, I look forward to our return to the wonders of civilization.

"If even half of the whispered tales i have heard in the drinking places within the sabbans are to be believed, then Chult is indeed wild. Forgive my staring at you so, i truly meant no offense, its just that i encountered few orcs as your kind are extremely rare this far south of the Lake of Steam.

But then again what do i know of anything outside of city life? Mayhap there are orcish tribes in the Calim desert or in the lands of the lions or even in the jungles down south that are waiting to be discovered? Who can really say?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Sun 23 Oct 2011.

Krogan chuckled at the songstress.
If the legends of my people are to be believed, we can and will, survive and thrive, anywhere and everywhere.

Then he snorted a laugh.
Though I've always found the shaman storytellers of Gruumsh to be pompous windbags who are much too impressed with themselves.    In truth, though, orcs are hardy, and we might be around the world, certainly.   I think only humans are more adaptable.   

And that, he added silently, because humans will sometimes humble themselves to the elements where orcs will fight with nature until one dies.
But he didn't add that.

"Mayhaps we humans a little too adaptable if you listened to the elves." Fareeda turned to look the city skyline for a moment.

"Its bad enough we have to share this trip with that pompous Azuthite, but why for Sune's sake do you let the other elf, what is his name again, oh yes Thaniel, treat you so? I have noticed it and i can tell you are no servant brought and paid for like Lambrac. Even if he saved your life or something like that, a debt of honor can only be taken so far if one abuses it."

The orc grinned.
I'm his bodyguard, for now at least, but it's no "debt of honor" or some similar nonsense  rest assured.   He can be a bit full of himself, but I figured that was an elven thing.   If I ever feel "abused", I will quit, don't worry, my friend.

The big man seemed happy to get the advise, even if he wasn't concerned at the moment.

Quest completed. Awarded 250 Experience each. Feel free to add this to your character sheets. Linni and Fareeda, I gave you both an exp boost to account for the monthly bonuses you lost so you'll be around the same level as the others now.