[Adventure] Serpent's Skull: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv (DM: Mewness; Judge: THB)

GROMkill said:

Takahaan realizes this is the first time he and the gnome have directly spoke to each other. Addressing him politely, the dragonborn speaks. "Gelik, I am willing to risk a slight bother in order for my sheath to be properly adorned. Such a blade," He pauses, patting the hilt of his newfound companion, Otaruhi Nodachi. [color]"...deserves to be regarded highly of, and in this manner it is my duty to fulfill it. But thank you, my friend. It brings me much comfort to know you are concerned."[/color]

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Gelik shrugs. "Perhaps the possibility of being enslaved to a conniving woman need not concern you overmuch; married men somehow manage to survive the experience."

Unsure how to take Gelik's comment, Takahaan finds some humor in it and cracks a goofy dragonborn-smile to the gnome.

"I will take your advice, gnome. If I can find a more fitting article of decoration for my scabbard, preferably one that wasn't previously worn by a succubus-woman, I will throw away the scarf; maybe we could toss it into the fire." says the dragonborn, lightheartedly.

Kane mumbles just loud enough to be heard: "Or c-captain and his m-m-master..."

The watch schedule has Castile on first, followed by Aerys, then Gelik, then Noriaki, with some of the Irregulars on each watch. Sasha asks to be woken for the second watch as well, and ends up replacing Aerys entirely. Jade stays up for most of the first watch, chatting with Castile (he is still curious as to her origins).

The first watch is uneventful. Sasha is a lively presence during the second. She comes out of the shelter carrying the flower that Dartmoor left for her and plays with it, sometimes smiling with a sort of secret satisfaction (she apparently does not connect the flower with Dartmoor). When she sees some of the Irregulars looking up at the sky, her attention is drawn there too. Eventually, the mysterious creature passes over once more--its shape again only discernible as an absence of stars. “Creepy,” Sasha murmurs.

The night otherwise passes peacefully, except for a couple of the sleepers....

[sblock=Castile]You are shaken roughly awake. Groggy and sick, you try to crawl away from the disturbance and get back to sleep, but the person will not leave you be, and hauls you to your feet with strong hands. Suddenly the whole world pitches alarmingly, and you realize that the Jenivere has hit a rock and is breaking up. Alton, the first mate, drags you across the shuddering deck to a lifeboat and gets in with you, rowing away from the doomed vessel. His face is sunken, his expression fixed and unblinking, his skin bloodless, gray. There is a deep wound in his chest, but no blood flows from it. The lifeboat reaches the shore and Alton helps you out, saying nothing, apparently not even breathing. You are dimly aware that your companions are lying scattered around you on the shore, but as Alton rows back to the Jenivere for more survivors, you cannot shift your gaze from him--you are simultaneously repulsed by his horrific appearance and amazed at his heroism. Suddenly feeling you should be doing something to help, you find that you cannot move--your feet are rooted to the spot, and your arms are stuck weirdly up in the air. Bark forms around your legs as you stare at them. You are turning into a tree.

You wake up, jammed against a wall of the shelter, and suffer a brief moment of panic before realizing that you still have control of your limbs.[/sblock]
[sblock=Noriaki]You have another strange dream. You are back in the Kingdom of Jade, trying desperately to persuade Hachi not to set sail on the Jenivere, which you know will never safely reach its destination. But Hachi will not listen to you, no matter what you say, and as you grow increasingly insistent, he becomes very angry with you and tells you that you are no longer his student. Despite all your efforts, he departs, and you watch the doomed ship sailing away with a feeling of utter desolation. When you wake up, you soon realize how ridiculous the dream was--the Jenivere would never have sailed as far as the Kingdom of Jade, Hachi was never on it, and your quarrel with him is in the past and not related to any recent event--and yet, even as you reassure yourself of these things, you cannot shake the feeling of hopelessness engendered by watching your former master sail away to his doom.[/sblock]

The Captain, oddly awake for Sasha's watch shift, does not seem perturbed by her perception of the flower. After the creature passes over head, he will spend time regaling her with tales of their battle the previous day. In particular, he stresses Noriaki's prowess.

He tells the tales well enough, and he does a reasonable job of not over-inflating Noriaki's skills in battle. It is clear, by the end, that the Captain is quite sure that he wouldn't be alive tonight had Noriaki not been along.

Castile trades stories with Jade during the night, though it seems to her that she does most of the talking. She wishes he would speak a little more about his own clan. Still, her excitement is obvious as she has trouble confining her voice to a whisper.

In the morning, Castile is rather quiet as she prepares for the day and takes breakfast. Something does seem to be weighing on her mind...

Smuggler's Shiv, Day 3, dawn

Jade and Ishirou are up early as usual. Ishirou begins his meditation exercises, but Jade waits for Castile to wake up, in case she wants to join him at his prayers again.

Sasha gets up soon after and announces that her leg is much better. Gelik is also up surprisingly early, and seems to go to some effort to make himself agreeable, inquiring after the group's plans for the day with genuine interest and very little sarcasm. Aerys does not appear for breakfast, and responds gruffly to any inquiries.

[sblock=ooc]So the plan seems to be to go on following Ieana and Kovack. Who, if anyone, are you bringing along?

Ishirou will do whatever Noriaki says without complaint (whether it involves coming with the party or staying in camp) and refuses to admit that he has any preference. Sasha would like to go along with the party, but is also happy to do a little exploring and hunting as she did yesterday. Gelik also seems to want to come along: despite not being the adventurous type, he doesn't like feeling as though he's missing out on things.

Aerys will stay in camp, as she's not feeling well. Jade will come with the party if he is asked, but he is inclined to stay in camp and make sure that Aerys is all right. Alkas will stay in camp as well, of course, unless Sasha drags him off again.[/sblock]

Noriaki returns to camp late, barely getting in before the second watch. He passes Jade and Castile with a small wave, but is careful not to get too close. He doesn't want them to see how worn he is. Noriaki slips into his bedroll and passes out nearly instantly, only to have his sleep troubled again.

When his watch comes, Noriaki is glad for it, to escape his troubled dreams. He sits crosslegged and watches the campsite, a Fitzpatrick on each knee, idly polishing his katana until the others awaken. When they do, he gets up and heads over to Gelik. "Hey, half-size, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Once he gets Gelik alone, Noriaki speaks in a low tone, without the normal playful insults he usually uses with the gnome. "Hey, I know you know something of magic, so I wanted to see what you make of this. As you know, I was the one that read the logbook, with all the stuff about Ieana being some kind of thing. Well, since then, I've been having nightmares. They always involve the Jenivere, and me arguing with my old-with this old man I knew. And I always know, in the dream, the ship is doomed, somehow. Is this, is this anything to do with whatever that woman is?"


[sblock=ooc]I'd kinda like to take Gelik, if we follow the lovers. He's got some amount of arcane knowledge in that little skull, he might know something about Ieana that we'd miss.[/sblock]