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Story Hour
Adventure in the Open Skies: The Liralen Irregulars (Eberron, Updated 5/10)
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<blockquote data-quote="PhoenixAsh" data-source="post: 1896447" data-attributes="member: 18230"><p><strong>Update #3: In Which the Crew Defends the Ship for the First (And not the Last) Time</strong></p><p></p><p>Loki drops a large crate to the dock as he hears the Alarm spell sound from the far side of it. Sparing a glance down, he winces, seeing the words ‘Fine Crystal’ painted across its surface. Above him, Ruel is running down from the passenger quarters with a crossbow in hand. Deftly scrambling down the gangplank, he pauses to clap the half-giant on the shoulder before continuing towards the source of the Alarm, calling out over his shoulder.</p><p></p><p>“That is what <em>Mending </em> spells are for, do not worry over it!”</p><p></p><p>Loki smiles briefly at Ruel and hefts his greataxe, larger than the half-elf running before him is tall. Pounding down the dock towards the melee, he focuses his mind and spirit to the task at hand: an intrusion, an attack on the ship… his ship. Casting his eyes to the end of the dock, he watches the orc charge down Audric, and fell him with one blow. Tightening his grip, he grits out the orc’s name between clenched teeth.</p><p></p><p>“Bash.”</p><p></p><p>More than two weeks ago, Loki had applied to be a deckhand aboard the Liralen. Bash had tried out as well, and both of them with many others had undergone a series of tests, from peeling potatoes to obstacle courses to docking exercises, both in Stormhome’s pleasant weather and under the effects of a powerful storm invoked by Ravien d’Lyrandar, the ship’s Master Windwright. One test involved moving crates across a dock, and the largest crate even he had been unable to budge on his own, but Bash had managed it. It was not Bash, however, who had been hired. Rumors flew among the deckhands as to why that had been the case.</p><p></p><p>Loki does not care for the reason now, the orc has already committed murder of a friend. Loki’s eyes sweep across the battle and evaluate the situation. With Audric down, Elisa briefly holds the narrow dock on her own, but Fortunato and Alexandre quickly move up to prevent her from being surrounded. On the deck of the airship above the fight, Dox is freeing his bow and taking cover behind the wooden railing.</p><p></p><p>Two of the thugs charge both Alexandre and Fortunato, both striking with their shortswords, one drawing blood and the other barely denting Fortunato’s armored plating. A crossbow bolt shoots out towards Dox, but hits low, lodging in the wooden rail of the Liralen. On reflex, he returns fire with his shortbow, drawing a sharp cry but doing little damage as it nicks the shooter’s side.</p><p></p><p>Fortunato springs into action; throwing up his shield and turning a powerful slash from Bash’s axe, while driving his blade into the gut of the attacking thug before him. Staggered and bleeding furiously, he flails at Alexandre, but the nimble deckhand turns the blow and the thug falls to the dock, not rising again. Another tough tramples the body to strike back at Alexandre, gashing him across the shoulder with his blade, but not felling the gritty swordsman.</p><p></p><p>Elisa swings her blade two-handed and one foe falls before her. Coming up behind the furious melee, incanting and gesturing, Ruel casts a <em>Sleep </em> spell and four of the thugs slump to the ground, dozing peacefully. The crossbow wielder glares at the wizard as he reloads his weapon, running over and stepping on each comatose comrade. All of them stir and reach for their fallen weapons, clambering to their feet. Ruel’s expression turns from a grin to a glower as he considers another spell. One of the awakened men resolves to take out the spell-caster, and tries to tumble past the ranks of the crewmen, but Alexandre repels him at the end of his thinblade. </p><p></p><p>“Where d’ya think your going?” He taunts him with a crooked grin as he tugs the weapon free.</p><p></p><p>Still pounding down the dock, Loki allows his focus to seek inwards, drawing new energy and strength from his spirit, then flow outwards to enliven his whole self with the effects of <em>Vigor</em>. Casting his awareness back into the heart of the battle, he sees Bash whirling his great axe in heavy arcs, swinging the weapon up under Fortunato’s shield and into the warforged’s frame with a rending screech of metal on metal. Nearby, Elisa delivers another powerful strike with her greatsword, doubling over her opponent and then felling him as she wrenches the blade free. Ruel finishes his spell and a slick of <em>Grease </em> appears under two thugs threatening Elisa as well as Bash, and all lose their footing and fall to the dock, writhing in the oily substance.</p><p></p><p>“Well done Ruel!” Fortunato sounds particularly relieved to have Bash floored as he slashes at the prone orc, causing only minor harm. Above him, Dox lets another arrow fly, catching one of the thugs in the chest and dropping him. Alexandre misses with his thinblade, but his dagger gashes the thug before him, staggering the man and who falls back unconscious.</p><p></p><p>Loki smiles confidently, as the fight has turned out very poorly for the attackers. Many of their number are down, and one of the thugs caught in Ruel’s <em>Grease </em> spell is desperately crawling out of the area of effect while the other struggles to his feet, but is unable to land a blow against Elisa. Yet again, one of the attackers tries to roll past Alexandre to attack the wizard raining spells down on them, but Alexandre is right there once again to block his passage and stab another hole in him for his trouble.</p><p></p><p>Loki’s face falls however as Bash leaps to his feet, moving with grace and speed that seems almost impossible for such a massive warrior. Bringing his axe down on the surprised Fortunato, his blow shatters armor and crumples internals, nearly rending him to pieces and he topples, crashing to the dock, the wooden beams creaking under his weight.</p><p></p><p>“That is the last mistake you will ever make Bash!” Loki charges into the fray and brings his greataxe down in a blow that should cleave the orc in two. Perhaps it would have too, if the orc did not manage to sidestep it completely.</p><p></p><p>Elisa, equally intent on engaging the orc, fells her third foe with a quick swipe of her greatsword and looks to find a way to navigate the <em>Grease </em> spell to attack Bash. Ruel lifts his hand and yells out a clipped arcane phrase and a burst of light pops in front of Bash, <em>Dazing </em> the powerful orc. Desperate to disable the crew’s spellcaster, the twice-repelled tough pulls a dagger free and hurls it at the wizard, but the agile entertainer ducks the thrown blade, which clatters down the dock harmlessly.</p><p></p><p>Dox fires another arrow from the deck of the Liralen, catching a thug through his stomach. Gasping, the man staggers out of the fray and back towards the ruined gate. Alexandre skillfully drives his thinblade into one of the remaining thugs, and then brutally gashed his dagger across the tough’s face, nearly felling him. A moment later he does fall, attempting a feeble attack against the deckhand that proves to be too much for him. Behind him, however, one of the men draws a dagger and leaps at Alexandre, and both fall back in a grapple, until the man sinks his dagger in beneath Alexandre’s ribs, causing the deckhands eyes to go wide as he twists the weapon cruelly.</p><p></p><p>"Rest easy now, mate." The tough spits in Alexandre’s face before yanking his dagger free, leaving him bleeding and near death.</p><p></p><p>Loki grimaces as he catches Alexandre’s fall out of the corner of his eye. Only himself, Elisa, Dox and Ruel are left standing. But the wizard had given him another chance to bring down the orc, and he intends to take it. Driving his greataxe into the orc’s side, he delivers a powerful strike that should cut any man in two, yet somehow the orc manages to not only stay in one piece, but also keep his feet and keep in the fight!</p><p></p><p>Elisa runs in to try and help finish the orc, but crosses the still active <em>Grease </em> effect cast by Ruel and she slips and falls, cursing. Only a moment later the <em>Grease </em> disappears entirely as Ruel levels his crossbow on the thug who felled Alexandre, shooting a bolt that catches him in the arm. He ignores the wound as he studies the massive half-giant facing down Bash.</p><p></p><p>Both Loki and the orc now face each other with great axes whirling in heavy arcs. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki catches sight of the thug leaping at him, forcing him to disturb the rhythm of his weapon. Catching the thug with the haft of his axe, he easily repels the clumsy attack. But Bash seizes the opening and drives his axe into the chest of the half-giant. The attack appears to be overpowering, but somehow seems to barely affect the massive warrior, and little blood seeps from the wound. Loki only smiles grimly and starts the deadly whirl of his axe anew.</p><p></p><p>One of the toughs slips past the ferocious melee and jabs at Ruel with his blade, stabbing the wizard in the shoulder but failing to cause him serious injury. Elisa, finally retaking her feet, steps in and drives her greatsword in a powerful slash that breaks the orc’s skull, killing him outright. Ruel runs behind Elisa and Loki, intent on keeping both fighters between him and his foe, but his effort is unnecessary, as with Bash down the three remaining foemen run from the scene. Elisa catches up to the most injured one, popping him across the skull with the pommel of her blade and knocking him unconscious, as the other two escape.</p><p></p><p>The dock is silent for a moment, until the pounding of footsteps announces the arrival of the watch and members of the House Lyrandar guard.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PhoenixAsh, post: 1896447, member: 18230"] [b]Update #3: In Which the Crew Defends the Ship for the First (And not the Last) Time[/b] Loki drops a large crate to the dock as he hears the Alarm spell sound from the far side of it. Sparing a glance down, he winces, seeing the words ‘Fine Crystal’ painted across its surface. Above him, Ruel is running down from the passenger quarters with a crossbow in hand. Deftly scrambling down the gangplank, he pauses to clap the half-giant on the shoulder before continuing towards the source of the Alarm, calling out over his shoulder. “That is what [I]Mending [/I] spells are for, do not worry over it!” Loki smiles briefly at Ruel and hefts his greataxe, larger than the half-elf running before him is tall. Pounding down the dock towards the melee, he focuses his mind and spirit to the task at hand: an intrusion, an attack on the ship… his ship. Casting his eyes to the end of the dock, he watches the orc charge down Audric, and fell him with one blow. Tightening his grip, he grits out the orc’s name between clenched teeth. “Bash.” More than two weeks ago, Loki had applied to be a deckhand aboard the Liralen. Bash had tried out as well, and both of them with many others had undergone a series of tests, from peeling potatoes to obstacle courses to docking exercises, both in Stormhome’s pleasant weather and under the effects of a powerful storm invoked by Ravien d’Lyrandar, the ship’s Master Windwright. One test involved moving crates across a dock, and the largest crate even he had been unable to budge on his own, but Bash had managed it. It was not Bash, however, who had been hired. Rumors flew among the deckhands as to why that had been the case. Loki does not care for the reason now, the orc has already committed murder of a friend. Loki’s eyes sweep across the battle and evaluate the situation. With Audric down, Elisa briefly holds the narrow dock on her own, but Fortunato and Alexandre quickly move up to prevent her from being surrounded. On the deck of the airship above the fight, Dox is freeing his bow and taking cover behind the wooden railing. Two of the thugs charge both Alexandre and Fortunato, both striking with their shortswords, one drawing blood and the other barely denting Fortunato’s armored plating. A crossbow bolt shoots out towards Dox, but hits low, lodging in the wooden rail of the Liralen. On reflex, he returns fire with his shortbow, drawing a sharp cry but doing little damage as it nicks the shooter’s side. Fortunato springs into action; throwing up his shield and turning a powerful slash from Bash’s axe, while driving his blade into the gut of the attacking thug before him. Staggered and bleeding furiously, he flails at Alexandre, but the nimble deckhand turns the blow and the thug falls to the dock, not rising again. Another tough tramples the body to strike back at Alexandre, gashing him across the shoulder with his blade, but not felling the gritty swordsman. Elisa swings her blade two-handed and one foe falls before her. Coming up behind the furious melee, incanting and gesturing, Ruel casts a [I]Sleep [/I] spell and four of the thugs slump to the ground, dozing peacefully. The crossbow wielder glares at the wizard as he reloads his weapon, running over and stepping on each comatose comrade. All of them stir and reach for their fallen weapons, clambering to their feet. Ruel’s expression turns from a grin to a glower as he considers another spell. One of the awakened men resolves to take out the spell-caster, and tries to tumble past the ranks of the crewmen, but Alexandre repels him at the end of his thinblade. “Where d’ya think your going?” He taunts him with a crooked grin as he tugs the weapon free. Still pounding down the dock, Loki allows his focus to seek inwards, drawing new energy and strength from his spirit, then flow outwards to enliven his whole self with the effects of [I]Vigor[/I]. Casting his awareness back into the heart of the battle, he sees Bash whirling his great axe in heavy arcs, swinging the weapon up under Fortunato’s shield and into the warforged’s frame with a rending screech of metal on metal. Nearby, Elisa delivers another powerful strike with her greatsword, doubling over her opponent and then felling him as she wrenches the blade free. Ruel finishes his spell and a slick of [I]Grease [/I] appears under two thugs threatening Elisa as well as Bash, and all lose their footing and fall to the dock, writhing in the oily substance. “Well done Ruel!” Fortunato sounds particularly relieved to have Bash floored as he slashes at the prone orc, causing only minor harm. Above him, Dox lets another arrow fly, catching one of the thugs in the chest and dropping him. Alexandre misses with his thinblade, but his dagger gashes the thug before him, staggering the man and who falls back unconscious. Loki smiles confidently, as the fight has turned out very poorly for the attackers. Many of their number are down, and one of the thugs caught in Ruel’s [I]Grease [/I] spell is desperately crawling out of the area of effect while the other struggles to his feet, but is unable to land a blow against Elisa. Yet again, one of the attackers tries to roll past Alexandre to attack the wizard raining spells down on them, but Alexandre is right there once again to block his passage and stab another hole in him for his trouble. Loki’s face falls however as Bash leaps to his feet, moving with grace and speed that seems almost impossible for such a massive warrior. Bringing his axe down on the surprised Fortunato, his blow shatters armor and crumples internals, nearly rending him to pieces and he topples, crashing to the dock, the wooden beams creaking under his weight. “That is the last mistake you will ever make Bash!” Loki charges into the fray and brings his greataxe down in a blow that should cleave the orc in two. Perhaps it would have too, if the orc did not manage to sidestep it completely. Elisa, equally intent on engaging the orc, fells her third foe with a quick swipe of her greatsword and looks to find a way to navigate the [I]Grease [/I] spell to attack Bash. Ruel lifts his hand and yells out a clipped arcane phrase and a burst of light pops in front of Bash, [I]Dazing [/I] the powerful orc. Desperate to disable the crew’s spellcaster, the twice-repelled tough pulls a dagger free and hurls it at the wizard, but the agile entertainer ducks the thrown blade, which clatters down the dock harmlessly. Dox fires another arrow from the deck of the Liralen, catching a thug through his stomach. Gasping, the man staggers out of the fray and back towards the ruined gate. Alexandre skillfully drives his thinblade into one of the remaining thugs, and then brutally gashed his dagger across the tough’s face, nearly felling him. A moment later he does fall, attempting a feeble attack against the deckhand that proves to be too much for him. Behind him, however, one of the men draws a dagger and leaps at Alexandre, and both fall back in a grapple, until the man sinks his dagger in beneath Alexandre’s ribs, causing the deckhands eyes to go wide as he twists the weapon cruelly. "Rest easy now, mate." The tough spits in Alexandre’s face before yanking his dagger free, leaving him bleeding and near death. Loki grimaces as he catches Alexandre’s fall out of the corner of his eye. Only himself, Elisa, Dox and Ruel are left standing. But the wizard had given him another chance to bring down the orc, and he intends to take it. Driving his greataxe into the orc’s side, he delivers a powerful strike that should cut any man in two, yet somehow the orc manages to not only stay in one piece, but also keep his feet and keep in the fight! Elisa runs in to try and help finish the orc, but crosses the still active [I]Grease [/I] effect cast by Ruel and she slips and falls, cursing. Only a moment later the [I]Grease [/I] disappears entirely as Ruel levels his crossbow on the thug who felled Alexandre, shooting a bolt that catches him in the arm. He ignores the wound as he studies the massive half-giant facing down Bash. Both Loki and the orc now face each other with great axes whirling in heavy arcs. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki catches sight of the thug leaping at him, forcing him to disturb the rhythm of his weapon. Catching the thug with the haft of his axe, he easily repels the clumsy attack. But Bash seizes the opening and drives his axe into the chest of the half-giant. The attack appears to be overpowering, but somehow seems to barely affect the massive warrior, and little blood seeps from the wound. Loki only smiles grimly and starts the deadly whirl of his axe anew. One of the toughs slips past the ferocious melee and jabs at Ruel with his blade, stabbing the wizard in the shoulder but failing to cause him serious injury. Elisa, finally retaking her feet, steps in and drives her greatsword in a powerful slash that breaks the orc’s skull, killing him outright. Ruel runs behind Elisa and Loki, intent on keeping both fighters between him and his foe, but his effort is unnecessary, as with Bash down the three remaining foemen run from the scene. Elisa catches up to the most injured one, popping him across the skull with the pommel of her blade and knocking him unconscious, as the other two escape. The dock is silent for a moment, until the pounding of footsteps announces the arrival of the watch and members of the House Lyrandar guard. [/QUOTE]
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