Between her iron will and her natural agility, Felicia had gained her 'sea legs' quickly the day before. She had still spent most of the previous day below decks, the weather being a bit too brick for her to find it pleasant.

Come the morning she bounces out onto the main deck, a smile on her face and a spring in her step. It's rather obvious that she suffered little if at all from the foul weather.

Finding the Captain, she waits till he's not immediately occupied and steps up to him giving a jaunty salute and smile as she says, "Novice seaman Armstrong reporting! What are my duties today Cap'n Broadarm?"

The captain takes a moment to size up Felicia, "Hmmm 'ow good are ya with heights lass? There be the crow's nest that could use some attention...that or the riggin...Unless ya like t' keep yer feet on the ground in which case I can 'ave ya work with ol' Mertos over yonder." Following his eyes, you see an old bald human, old enough to be most of the crew's father twice over with a hunched back currently tying knots to keep the rigging and sails in place.
This message was last updated by the GM at 07:08, Sun 03 June 2012.

"I don't mind the height Cap'n. I'll take the crows nest. What needs to be done up there aside from keeping a lookout?", Felicia asks, obviously eager to get to work and learn new things.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:54, Sun 03 June 2012.

Kuldar nearly falls over himself at least half a dozen times over...he was not particularly graceful but, hell, that wasn't his job. He does his part by playing his drums to a simple rhythm as he tells the tales of Dwarves long past, moving on to legends that involved ships, or discovering new lands. He did not know any sea shanties, or anything quite so quick-paced, but they were well-measured, and entertaining to most.

Taking 10 for:
22 Oratory
24 Percussion

"Well ye hit the nail on the 'ead ya did. Lookout fer rocks, other ships, n' the like o' things that'd put a quick end t' our voyage. May be some work relatin t' the upper rigging lines but that be easy enough. Ya can get up there by the mast ladder or them ratlines," he points to both in turn, the ratlines being the interlaced ropes leading from the railings to the crossbar across the mast.

Kuldar's musical ministrations seem to boost morale after the squall, keeping the crew in time as they tie off ropes, swab the deck, and raise the mast to get the ship moving at full speed again now that the storm has gone. None of the crew know any of the stories well enough to sing along at any part where it would be appropriate but they enjoy the tales nonetheless but are still able to keep to their duties, a happy medium. "Kuldar ye just keep up what yer doin n' ye should be just fine."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:59, Sun 03 June 2012.

Solomon tried to keep scarce.  He was indeed sufferring sea sickness, but didn't want to burden people with it.  While devine spells would make it go away for a few minutes it always came right back again.  During the storm, he sat propped up against the railing letting the rain beat down on him.  Strangely, enough that was was the best of cures.

The second day he was content to slowly push a mob back and forth across the deck.

Kuldar gives a heavy laugh, obviously entertained by the work he was doing. "Ye don' have ta tell me twice, I live fer this kind of work." After some time when the work was less strenuous, Kuldar would begin singing Sea Shanties, or when work was slow enough the crew could enjoy a rest even a nice drinking song. His singing was not the best but his instrument seemed to make up for it with a solid rhythm, and once the crew had a few drinks no one could resist joining in.

Taking 10 on sing(12)
06:23, Today: Kuldar Balak rolled 19 using 1d20+14. Perform(percussion).

Felicia grabs the ratline and swing out easily over the side of the ship, then moves up the lines like she's been doing it all her life. She reaches the crows nest and settles in, looking about quickly in all directions for any immediate threat, then glancing down at the others on the deck below.

Eventually finding himself in Kuldar's audience Renard listens happily, quite enjoying the tales and the music as he watches Felicia clamber up the rigging and into the crow's nest.  He didn't have much to say or do at the moment, but he was still ready to help in some way, whether that included magic or merely physical labor, though he was not the strongest fellow on board by any means.

Having overheard tidbits of the conversation the morning before, when the captain finds Renard alone for a moment he beckons him over, "Believe it or not lad, even the saltiest o' sea scoundrels get sick from time t' time. Just make sure they don't go untended n' help out that one fellow with 'is moppin." He points over to Solomon who's mopping consists more of swaying with the rocking of the boat, letting the mop follow than actual involved mopping. "Maybe 'e'd be yer first patient as well," he says with a chuckle.

With a polite nod to the Captain, Renard replies, "I'll do what I can to help.  Please let any sick crewmember know they can come to me for help."  With that he wanders over towards Solomon, snagging an unattended mop on the way, then settling in next to the sickly-looking fellow, "Haven't been on many ships, eh?"

Solomon raises his head and puffs up his chest unwilling to show how poorly he felt.  It showed in the paleness of his face however.  "Not many, just a few.  It's new for Raznik however."  Despite his best efforts he knew his condition was obvious.

"I should have seen to a medicine woman rather than drink and make merry last night.  This trip is my punishment.  It'll act as a reminder that I should attend to business before pleasure."

With a slight shrug he begins to assist in the mopping as he speaks, "Self-imposed punishments.. I won't share my opinion on the subject out of courtesy.  Suffice it to say that should you wish an end to your illness you have only to ask."  He was not condescending about the matter, merely offering some friendly assistance.

"If you are talking about a touch of divine magic...It is something I have already tried.  The sickness of the sea comes back shortly after.  I suppose that upon the water, the sea god's powers are strongest," he explains.  "The sea god's ways are still foreign to me.  I'm not sure how to appease him.  I heard there are herbs that could help, but..." he said with a shrug.

Continuing to mop, though not putting nearly as much effort into the task as he is into the conversation, he shrugs slightly, "I doubt the god of the sea would concern himself with making you ill when he's got an entire world's worth of water to rule over.  If you've tried magic then I doubt herbs are going to do much to help."  He looks around at the other people on deck for a moment before looking back at Solomon, "In my experience if the ailment can't be magic'd away it is more likely to be an ailment of the mind."  As he wraps up that last statement the padlock hanging from the manacles looped over his neck pops open and rattles rather menacingly, "Ah, right, or a spiritual ailment.  Thank you, Jeeves."  He nods matter-of-factly.

Temnir comes out of the ship's interior a couple of hours after dawn, one of the, if not the, last person to do so. It doesn't look like he's been touched with any of the sea sickness that Solomon has been suffering from and his sea legs seem to have found him at some point during the night so it's likely a case of oversleeping or preparing for the day ahead. Making the deck, he looks around, seeing Kuldar at his post with his drums, Solomon and Renard talking over by the front of the ship with a mop a piece, and even spies Felicia up in the rigging as he looks up to check the sun's position in the sky.

He decides to walk over to Solomon and Renard though, "Morning," he says raggedly. It seems that the verdict was oversleeping after all. "Either of you seen Raznik this morning? I was hoping to have a word." Scanning the deck once again and not seeing the man, he shrugs slightly and turns his attention back to the men of faith, "One day down, two more to go if the weather stays with us by the captain's reckoning. Least that's what he told us when we hired him. I, for one, will be happy when we're off this wooden deathtrap."

Raznik spends the morning hiding beneath the deck. He does not feel any sickness, simply fear. The shaking of the ship has his mind playing tricks. Today he will die, and it will be a lonely death at sea, on a machine that should not exist. Hearing Temnir rise and leave, he realizes that he is the last belowdecks, and steels himself. Once on deck he is careful to stay far from the edges of the ship, rushing to the mast and clutching it for safety.

"Have much experience with ailments of the mind do you?" he asked sarcastically.  He couldn't help but feel that Renard was insulting him in some way.  His condition has put him in a particularly uncharacteristic foul mood.

Solomon pointed to Raznik as he watched him climb up from below decks and run for the nearest solid handhold.  "I fear not the sea or its beasts, but this incessant swaying..." he growled, holding off a curse.

He gave pause to consider Renard's words.  "I'm thinking about taking to the rigging.  Trick my body into believing the movement is my own doing."

"Have much experience with ailments of the mind do you?"

Renard gave a soft chuckle at that question, "I certainly feel that way sometimes thanks to Jeeves.."  He says as his gaze follow's Solomon's pointing finger in time to catch Raznik looking rather close to letting loose the contents of his stomach.

"That rigging trick might actually work.  Never thought of that before." He nods approvingly as he goes back to his swabbing of the deck.

"Speak of the devil..." Temnir trails off of he nods to the two and whips away to Raznik and his new best friend. "You...you do not look so well. Want me to return the favor from the desert and go and get you some relief before we speak? I'm sure Renard could do something to help with the sea sickness. I overheard him mentioning something along those lines a moment ago." A smile plays in his voice at the poor man's situation. Not entirely malicious though not devoid of a hint of a sardonic undertone.

"My sickness is not of the sea, but of the ship. I would appreciate something to calm my fears, however. My thanks." Raznik releases the mast for a moment to bow, but the ship lurches slightly and decorum is abandoned, as he grabs for the mast once more.

Temnir starts to chuckle at first but soon breaks out into unbridled laughter, "So let me get this straight," he says through gasps of air, "you're willing to follow me into the heart of the undead's base of operations, against possibly hundreds of undead and their masters, where we'll face death constantly but what you're afraid of is the ship that's taking us there?" Clapping Raznik on the shoulder before walking towards Renard once again, he wipes a tear from his eye, "Oh that's rich."

Coming up on the two men of faith again, "Renard, I overheard you saying you had cures for seasickness... How about fear?" he says looking over his shoulder to their mast-clinging comrade.

Looking up from his mediocre mopping to Temnir he shrugs and shakes his head slightly, "Not so much, no, unless you feel that the ship is evil.  Possibly sanctuary but that lasts little more than a minute and.."  He gets a thoughtful look on his face for a few seconds as he ponders the idea, then he turns to Raznik, "Tell me, do you perceive the seasickness as a direct attack from the ship?  Then it might actually work, if only for a short while."  It was a rather silly question, but Renard didn't always know the nuances of his own magic.  He'd never studied it he'd always just.. done it.

"Thank you sir, but my problem lies not in what the ship is, but what it is likely to become. That is, driftwood." Raznik relaxes his grip on the mast a little and takes a couple of steps away from it, feeling a little silly at all the eyes on him. "I will manage."

The day continues on and the group gets used to their duties that the Captain had given them. Though gruff in the negotiations meeting with Raznik and Temnir and during the loading process, now that he's in his element, he's a bit more carefree and helpful if still a bit rough around the edges, especially when it has to do with failure or dereliction of duties. The group gets to know a few of the crew members, among them Plume, the tengu lookout in the crow's nest with Felicia, Tralin, a gnome who is the overseer for Solomon, Renard, and Raznik in their mopping and rope tying, and Elona, a surprise if ever there was one. Elona is a beautiful human woman though the moment she opens her mouth, you'd regret crawling out of your mother's womb. She didn't earn her title as First Mate for being nice to others after all and spends most of the day yelling at Temnir who seems only half-interested in his work, much to her ire.

At the end of the day, the ship settles down and begins the night shift and upon waking the next morning, the ship mates find themselves in a thick fog bank, less than a day away from Heldenburg. "May take us a bit longer than expected if'n this fog don't let up. Can't see me own beard in front o' me face, let alone the rocks this part be known fer. Plume! Felicia! Keep an eye out, nay, both eyes out fer rocks if ye can," Broadarm shouts into the fog above in the general direction of the crow's nest. Elona stands at the rails at the bow of the ship, calling out to the Captain here and there for course directions and when she spots the tips of the sunken rocks.

The longer you're subjected to it, the more you notice that something smells off. As if the air itself is spoiled. A smell like a mix of spoiled fish, decay, and concentrated brine. Solomon is the first to notice, his seasickness only worsening at the combination of the rocking and the smell though mercifully, at this slower speed, the rocking of the boat is much gentler. The crew notice it too and seem to be a bit on edge as they go about their duties much more cautiously than normal. Even Broadarm has a bit of a worried look on his face though only when he feels no one is looking...
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:35, Wed 06 June 2012.