As the rest of the group discusses where they are going and what they are doing Angrboda continues looking around, trying to figure out where they are.  Coming up with nothing in her limited knowledge of the million spheres she returns back to the problem of the slaver, the group seems to be of two minds regarding her.  As Viktor approaches and offers to "take care" of the woman he will notice that Angrboda has already taken care of it.  The slavers blood is pumping out upon the grass, fast at first, then slower.  As the light leaves her eyes Angrboda sighs, "You would have made a fine sacrifice but it seems you were going to cause too much contention." she says as she kisses the corpse on the forehead and closes it eyes, "Enjoy your time in Balo's court.  Perhaps we shall meet again there."

She then turns back to the group, "So, you are supposed to find someone and then you will get a ride back to the Young Kingdoms? Do you need a hand?" she asks.

Eclair watched as too much flippancy wagged tongues and not enough suspicion was afoot. She knew nothing of the... Young kingdoms... or, Ildaron was it? The first conjured images of strange places and foreign smells and sights, but the second was a blank word for her. It certainly wasn't Kansas anymore. She signed and shook her head as things sped up and she gritted her teeth. "Suspicious or not: I agree we need to approach the ship and make what use of it we can with a bit of our minds present."

She looked over as the Slaver bled out and the strange elf looking woman said some kind of benediction, then shook her head. A strange war sounded in her mind revolting against murder while another part saw it as worthwhile efficiency. They were getting all they needed from the Valmir fellow. A bit of knowledge about Syfera would be warranted though.

"IF there is a guard, we ought to take them captive. If we are lucky, their tongues will wag and give us a bit of information about this Syfera. As for anything else, we may have a ship, but we should secure provisions." Eclair also started to muse on the role she might play on Syfera as the only human woman amongst the group. A wicked grin split her face as she contemplated it. She did listen closely for if any information about the massive chains was revealed.

[Private to Angrboda: As if his mannerisms weren't enough. Now that you have gotten a better look at Viktor it is evident that he is Pan Tangian]
"Ha ah, Now we are getting somewhere. We ARE to find someone, and you say you need information about Syfera. Perhaps it is a kinsmen you are after. It is believed by the people here that Media, more so her chief engineer Salrenna, are the organizers of the slave raids. It is said that Salrenna is an adept of the dark arts. Astrologers point to the fact that since the reign of Media the isle of Syfera has slowly drifted down the length of the chain. That move being visible to even the most amateur of eyes. Now whether or not they are physical or magic I cannot say. Anyone or thing getting to close gets torn apart by the chains themselves. Aeronautics 101 teaches us to stay far away from the chains or be lost as they tear you apart."

Seeing the lifeblood of the slaver bleed out, Valmir shrugs and sheathes his longsword. "It seems as if the point were now moot, but we have presented King Rexis with slavery evidence, as well as, other injustices. Many of us amongst the nobles feel that his befuddlement in unnatural. We have begun to take many such defense matters into our own hands."

Valmir looks around, pats his body down as if looking for something, and pulls out a small case. He flips open a small silver book takes out a small white tube. Closing the book he puts it away and takes out a small wooden sliver. Rubbing the sliver on a nearby rock a flame erupts from the end of the tiny stick. Putting the white tube in his mouth, the raises the flame to it and begins to puff. Tossing the tiny stick to the ground he extinguishes the flame with his boot. "Well, now that this is taken care of. I think it is best to get going and secure that airship rather than stand in the middle of a slaughter. If there is someone on board, they may begin to wonder why no one has returned yet. Besides I easily have a few hours by ship to talk to get to any civilized area." Taking a few more puffs from the white stick he also tosses it to the ground and crushes it with his boot. "And don't worry about the captives, they will be taken care of."

Rael was angry, he moved slowly standing in front of Angrboda "You were task with questioning her, her life were not yours to take." he says in a cold voice "Do that again and I will kill you myself."

Turning to the others he motion at the dead slavers "We should take the cloaks and disguise ourselves, if there is a watch on the ship he would not raise alarm till it would be too late."

He pause next to Viktor and whispers in his ears [Private to Viktor: "My friend, you must that demonic heart... it lures you to a path you chose not to tread anymore... be brave."] before he goes to take one of the smaller cloaks which was still slightly larger than him.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Tue 17 Feb 2015.

Angrboda arches her eyebrow at Rael, "Excuse me?  That man," she says pointing to Viktor, "and that man," she indicates Valmir, "Were both going to kill her.  I merely saved them the trouble.  In case you haven't been listening, the native here insisted that this woman would not receive the justice that she deserved.  Are you the law here?  Did you suffer from her attentions?  Did she drug you constantly for who knows how long?  Steal your money and possessions?"  She stands and stares at him, "I think not, so how dare you judge how I treated her?  If you do not desire my assistance in your travels so be it but do not threaten me for doing what needed to be done."

"Ok, lesson one: Stay away from the chains. Got it. Anything else we should know. You know, like things that will kill us right off the bat? Besides the usual like getting into an argument between your wife and your mistress."

As the words flowed from him, Lars attempts to divert attention to himself from several potentially nasty quarrels which may develop among the people present.

Khazim stays out of the conflict, understanding both sides but not wanting to choose one. He does wince as he touches the area where one of the slaver's tagged him and moves closer, calling to Rael; "Yes Rael, I could use some ministrations to my wounds, I took a shot and would prefer to be at my best for whatever is ahead. At least we found the flying ship we were looking for, I think."

Eclair watches the farce of a scene play out and rolls her eyes. She had seen this Rael Gol fight now and she doubted he was much of a credible threat to back up his words. The woman he threatened was a magician of some kind, not to be trifled with. OF course there were magicians in a world with demons, dimensional travel, strange metsphysical chains, and who knows what else. The lady was an elf [Language unknown: evyin oshopeni].

Eclair caught herself shifting langauges again casually and was just working at strengthening the part of herself which seemed to manage the switches when a part of her mind was caught by a word and she glanced sideways at Khazim with a frown. She looked at the wound and grit her teeth. She knew she could heal it with a touch but something rebelled. She screwed her eyes shut and mentally knew it was the strange hand she bore. For all the concerns over other people's weirdness, what was she?

Setting her jaw, she adjusted her gear and began to make for the ship. Talking was getting nothing done; doing nothing was not going to end this nightmare. She looked back to see who was following the lead she was giving; she was not dumb enough to board the ship alone.

Rael turn his head and move to Khazim the anger and frown disappearing from his face. He pulls his herbal pouch and move to examine the man wounds.

Tensions skyrocket for a few moments. Rael Gol, normally far more passive when compared to the near butchery that the rest have achieved, stands up to the Melnibonean in an attempt to retain the morality of the group. Others instinctively back away as neither side wants to give ground. All of a sudden Khazim begins to sway a bit, his hands begin to drop to the side as his facial features begin to cloud over.

[Private to Khazim: 07:40, Today: on behalf of Khazim, rolled 96 using 1d100. Resistance. - fail]
Rael Gol breaks from the test of wills as a far more important matter presents itself. Quickly gathering his herbs and ointments Rael Gol begins the inspect Khazim. The area around the minor wound seems red and angry. Basic probing points to a sticky substance that coats the armor in the area just surrounding the wound. Obviously some kind of poison was coating the blade. Digging furiously into his satchel Rael Gol produces a few salves and begins to spread them over the area. Within moments Khazim's body stiffens a bit as free will once again asserts itself.

[Private to Rael Gol: 07:35, Today: on behalf of Rael Gol, rolled 50 using 1d100. Physik. - Pass
07:40, Today: on behalf of Rael Gol, rolled 41 using 1d100. Potions.  - Pass]

Damn, just noticed the time, Have to get to work. I'll finish this when I get home.

looks over to Rael and nods and then Angrboda.....Rael is right we are not cold blooded murderers at least not anymore...Angrboda you are most welcome to join us...we need your strength and knowledge and your companionship....not to mention you are very pretty and that could be a useful distraction......motions towards Eclair who is walking toward the ship and offers his arm to Khazim if he needs help walking..
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Thu 19 Feb 2015.

Angrboda tilts her head in confusion at the Pan Tangian's statement, "Why would killing this slaver change my temperature?" she asks, also wondering if the man is suffering from some sort of mental illness, she had heard his kind often do.  His complete reversal of attitude about the death of the slaver confused her.  She ends up just shrugging her shoulders and chalking it up to human strangeness which was, after all, why she had left the dreaming isle in the first place.

Feeling that conflict is not about to start she slips the second dagger onto her belt and slides the third into her newly acquired boot, then follows the others.  "So who exactly are you supposed to be finding?" she asks.

Valmir Turns to follow suit with Eclair and the rest. As if for the first time he notices that Angrboda is not human. He takes a double take noticing her fine boned features. Absently he drifts a few feet further from her as the group moves through the brush towards the waiting airship.

"I wonder too! It is a bit exciting all this cloak and dagger stuff. Milady, I must pry, but you seem of a different lineage as those about you. You were in the hands of the slavers, but yet I have not seen such features in those in the isles around. Do you also fare from this edge isle of the Young Kingdom?" He addressees Angrboda in a hushed tone.

After a few moments of walking you are able to approach the airship within a reasonable distance. Moving as quietly as possible your group gets within about 30 feet of the anchored ship. From your vantage point you can see no movement on the deck and no source of flames within the hull. The overall design looks sleek. Large enough to move several groups of "cargo" yet still be manned by only a handful of sailors.

"Interesting I see no fans, no chains, or screws." Pointing to a set of small cylinders set along the keel near the stern of the ship where a rudder should be. "Interesting, that is how they are doing it. Silent propulsion so they can get in under dark and not be seen or heard."

The group waits and watches with bated breath. After a few moments it is evident that there was no watch set on the airship. As is typical, Eclair leads the charge to the slavers vessel. Ascending the rope ladder you find the cutter to be spacy and efficient for it's size. Near the Stern a steering wheel and a series of levers stands near where a typical helmsman would station. Rigging is spaced about the gunwale in slim rope ladders heading to the large balloon/sail that over shadows the ship. Ropes for the balloon/sail form into a net that drapes over it and anchors at several places spaced about the outer deck.

Exploring the ship further you notice that there are no hardpoints for any kind of ship to ship weapon. Two stairs lead down into the hold, one near the bow and one near the stern. The front end of the hold is a large cargo area set with rope restraints. At it's fullest you could easily fit 20 or so captives. The mid and rear of the hold contain crew quarters and basic supplies such as food and water. The overall design for this vessel is not one of long term voyages, but there is reserves for times when laying low is needed.

Pulleys, Gears, and cogs in a clockwork nightmare occupy the far rear of the ship near the location of the long brass tubes. Valmir moves about the airship in wonder and thoughtfulness muttering to himself most of the time. He seems particularly interested in the propulsion area of the ship. You can see him tracing lines, gears, and pathways. "Yes, yes, modification of a basic design. No different than any other ship in the basic sense. Well, I know I can fly this, but I still do not know what we are doing and where we are going? If you simply want to get to Syfera no problem. Just sit back and relax for a nice 10 hour tour, provided this contraption goes full twist. I think it is time we all figure out what we are doing."

The 'ship' is very strange to Lars. It combines things that are mundane, with the fantastic. So strange and yet so familiar. But, at least he knows one thing, if he had been on this ship before, then his possessions should be here somewhere, and perhaps some other things that their previous owners no longer need.

"I am going to look around and try to figure out how this thing works. Perhaps, I can find some of my stuff as well. Hopefully they did not get the chance to sell anything."

Lars climbs aboard and starts poking his head into various areas and compartments.

[Private to The Grey Lords: 19:40, Today: Secret Roll: Lar 'the Awesome' rolled 17 using 1d100. Search.]

After a while Lars reappears carrying this and that. "Found some useful stuff. Not my gear, but will do in a pinch." Dumping things in a pile on deck, he begins to sift through it. His first item is an short handled broad bladed axe. Lars looks to be very please in find this item, and goes through several practice swings with the weapon. "Yeap, this will do." There looks to be another one in the pile. He then sorts through and picks out a suit of light raider armor, which he declares to be better than nothing, and a helm.

"If any of you want any of this stuff, be my guests. There are some other stuff which I did bring up back there."

---

Found:
1 axes that are close enough to a Sea Axe to work.
5 Suits of Leather & Rings (Black leather with iron rings)
Several sets of clothes, all "female" cut (Certain areas are going to be tight)
Basic Foodstuffs for about 20 or so days. (lots of Gruel, Beans, and other dry goods)
Several Barrels of Water
1 Barrel of Wine + Several personal wineskins.
3 "bows sitting transversely on a stick" along with a barrel of short unfletched arrows
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:00, Sat 21 Feb 2015.

Viktor smile and nods at Angrboda and walks into the ship...looks at the pile and decides to pick up another wineskin and fills up his and the rest of them...figures 2 is good enough to carry around...walks over and grabs some dried beans and puts them into his backpack...finds a bench and sits down awaiting to see what happens next...

Angrboda nods to Valmir as the group continues on, "Yes, I am of a far more ancient race than human.  I suppose I need to cover that up somehow.  Hopefully there is a mirror on this ship we are headed to." As the group spies on the "air ship" she marvels at it.

After the quick assault on the air ship Angrboda searches with Lar, "Very interesting vehicle this is." she says as he piles up the useful gear. She digs through the clothing looking for decent articles to help her, then disappears into the captain's cabin.  She returns a bit later looking far different, her alien heritage covered up somehow.  "There, that should keep me from standing out in the crowd."  she says , smiling.

OOC:  05:19, Today: Angrboda rolled 53 using 1d100. disguise, tn 100.

Eclair hunts through the ship with dagger her "tube" drawn and does not relax until she has inspected the whole of the ship. Only then does she return and go through the belongings then shrugs and takes some articles of clothing to replace that which had been under her armor and damaged.

She sits against the mast in her new things and tries to see what can be done for said armor. It wasn't unusable but it was in bad repair and she needed to make something of it. She could just take the leather and rings, but it wasn't quite as good of protection as her steel. A bit of work and she had it in decent order though ti was a bit spare in areas now.

"As far as you need to know for now, we need to get to Syfera without being spotted. The vessel seems apt for that business. I do not trust these three here and I have known them for all of two hours. Your twenty minutes gets you nothing from me."

In the last two hours she had been abducted, ensorcelled, and nearly killed. It was not looking to be an awesome day.  A ten hour nap seemed a fine thing. "Unless you can get me a new suit of steel, then a ten hour tour is fine as long as we don't end up on [Language unknown: Beal'riekas] Island fer chrissake. A nice long sleep just might fix me."

Lars picks up one of the 'bows sticks' and loads(?) it. "Hmm, I guess I can figure out how this thing here works. Hey Valmir! What do you call these things." Lars ask while pointing the business end at him.

Seeing his inquisitiveness shot down by Eclair, Valmir feigns a look of hurt. "And here I thought we were becoming such good friends. That is fine. I shall transport us all to Syfera. Lar my good man, if you would shimmy down and unhook the ground grapple we shall be able to take off. Luckily, ships such as this are rigged as such that minimal prep is needed to take flight." Valmir moves about and tests a few of the rigging ropes to ensure that tension is adequate. You hear Valmir begin to hum a shanty like verse.

Moving near the center of the deck takes a few moments to look around. Digging down amongst a few things he pulls out a small box and unfolds the tarp over top of a large bin. Placing several pieces of coal and tinder into a furnace type box he strikes a spark and fans the flames. After a few moments, he closes the furnace and connects a few tubes to a piping system. Those tubes originate from the balloons and connect into the furnace. "Ahh, yes, just enough to ensure buoyancy."

Standing after tending the small flame, he emerges nearly face to point of the weapon that Lar holds. Startling for a second he raises his hand and gently nudges the pointed end away from himself and any balloons. "That is a crossbow. Not as elegant a weapon as the fine specimen your archer there has. A bit more versatile in close quarters. The best part of it is you can hand that to anyone and they can fire. Bows rely, in part, on the strength of the user. Now, if you would be so kind as to unhook the grapple, we can be on our way."

There is going to be a long journey. Talk amongst yourselves, Plan, scheme, plot. As usual I will update in a few days (you will arrive at Syfera). It is enough time to do many things, include catch up on skills and the like. Once again Look for the "x" on your sheet and do skill checks. How to do a skill check is in the Mechanics thread. As before any questions, just ask.

As you fly away from Laukland you are able to take in what it truly means to be on Ildaron. The isles are a great wedge of soil and bedrock. It looks as if a giant had scooped out chunks of land and set them adrift. Around the larger islands there are usually tiny satellite lands of various sizes held in check by the same golden and dark threads. The golden strands range from brilliant gold/white to a dusky goldenrod while the dark threads range from a smoky grey to a terrible soul sucking black that seems to absorb your very vision.

Several hours into the journey Valmir calls those who are up and moving to take a look off the port side. The ship is approaching a large undulating bubble of water hanging in mid air. Those who take a deeper look can see that fish and other aquatic animals reside within this floating lake. Curiously no chains anchor this globule of water.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:21, Sun 22 Feb 2015.

Angrboda spends her first day on the ship exploring and checking for magic (casting witch sight) trying to figure out how the marvelous contraption was made, "Such a ship could be useful in traveling the young kingdoms." she remarks to herself as she looks around, "If it can remain in the air indefinitely it would drastically reduce the dangers of travel."  After thoroughly inspecting the ship she looks around for something to sketch the ship on.  She then goes to a cabin to get some rest.

The following day she spends asking whomever will talk to her about what their mission is and attempt to help with the planning.

[Private to GM: If possible she will conjure the demon to quell her addiction the first night and one to bind to her dagger the second night.]

Rael took the time to scout the ship a little, he had no illusion as for his ability to understand what made the thing fly but still he was curios. Once he stated his curiosity, and made sure the thing did not plummet into the abyss, he would find himself a nice private place where he could try to see if he can make anything from the drug they took from the slavers and make some order in his notes.

finds a nice corner to himself and pulls off some of his armor and newly acquired weapons strapped to his back...looked over the new slaver sword which seemed rather impressive and then pulls out the long tube looking thing..looks down the barrel of the contraption and wonders if it is some sort of weapon...points the weapon towards an empty barrel and pulls the trigger ... click,  nothing but a pale whirring noise comes from the tube.  Smiles and laughs a little and looks around to see if anyone else heard that...decides to put the weapon at his side and takes a drink of his wine and closes his eyes for some shut eye..wakes up and admires the floating oceans and the little floating fish...
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Tue 24 Feb 2015.

Lars acts like a kid in a candy store. This is a ship of unfamiliar design and with capabilities that one could only dream of. For a sailor it is a fantasy and an adventure come to life.

Everyone begins to enjoy their time and stretch out for the first time since this wild ride started. It feels like only yesterday you were back in the Young Kingdoms, and for many of you, it has been only a day. The ship is a marvel of ingenuity that even the clockwork smiths of Jadmar would have troubles believing. Valmir would occasionally hop down from his pilot roost and stoke the furnace. The creaking of ropes give that familiar ship sound, minus the splashing of the waves. Cogs and wheels turn. Ropes and pulleys slide. [Secret to Lar 'the Awesome'; Viktor: Not sure if it was the reminder that you are not on the ocean, or the expectation of needing sea legs, or the few times that you looked overboard to only see empty blackness with no sense of distance, but you begin to feel queezy and nauseous. ]Many of you , curiously, glance over the edge only to see the void. A darkness so vast and disturbing that you can glance for only a few seconds. The great dark chains all eventually merge down into that inky blackness.

Over the course of the journey Valmir begins to inform you about the land of Syfera.
Syfera is a matriarchal society where males can not own property, have no say in the government, and have few personal rights. This is held in check by the queens personal guard and religious followers of the land. The guards are an arrogant, contemptible lot, hardly better than hired thugs. Easily recognizable in their polished brass armor over red hose, it is a common sight to see them shaking down civilians for a "Spot Tax": They spot you, they tax you. Each guard is hand picked and fanatically loyal and will do just about any act unquestioningly.

Amaht, the Capital city, lies near the shores of Lake Raynar. A Mid-sized lake that has been declared off limits to the general population and serves only the Queen and her most loyal subjects. It is said that the population smoulders with resentment and Media's name is cursed, in hushed tones, as soon as her royal guards have passed. Magic is known to exist in the land, but if found in "unapproved" hands, the female individual is taken to Media's castle, Males are simply killed on the spot. If they do return, they have been obviously changed and are far more approving of Media's reign.

Valmir gets lured into talking about the airship. "Airships do have their own dangers. First, they can only remain in the air so long as you can provide enough hot air to fuel the balloons. Second, unlike this design, most airships are driven by large fans. If one of those fans or the chains moving them breaks, someone has to climb outside the ship to fix it. Lastly, don't ever fall overboard, I've seen those chains latch on to people and rip them in half. It seems as if the chains will form around people once they drift far enough from the isles, or ships, and play a gruesome game of tug-of-war. Once I saw a ship drift to close to a rock and collide with it, I had to look away as dozens of chains formed around those cast adrift."

Valmir throttles back the drive system on the airship and "parks" it. He hops down from the pilots roost and addresses those present on deck. "We are about a cycle from Syfera. Do I get to simply park you where I want? or are you finally going to tell me what is going on and where we are going?" You feel the ship slow to a stop, and then begin to drift in the cross breeze.

[Private to Rael Gol: I added what you know/figured out about the potion to your character sheet. It may work on the edge of a sword, but it is designed to be ingested. There is a good chance that added to water or food the effect would remain as potent.]
[Private to Angrboda: Your natural ability at the sight is off, so you cast they spell to augment. The "silent drive" is actually a caged Air elemental. As more tubes are opened, more air is allowed to propel the ship. The mechanics are in place to regulate flow and to help direct the ship.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:47, Sun 22 Mar 2015.