Catastrophe!

[CrimsonFlameWielder]

Cadalis smirks at the half-orc. "Only if you can place one above the other and can expand your tactics into the third dimension. But enough about that. Enjoy the ship. Dinner will be served in two hours and we'll all talk more about the mission."

 

[WEContact]

Cadalis smirks at the half-orc. "Only if you can place one above the other and can expand your tactics into the third dimension. But enough about that. Enjoy the ship. Dinner will be served in two hours and we'll all talk more about the mission."

Ignatz boggles. His mind is blown, and he stands thunderstruck while Cadalis takes his leave. "Vun on top off de odder? Like... like a sandvich? Hy is confused," he murmurs to himself. He wanders, still holding the chessboard, until he finds Rilissa. He holds it out to her, and says, "Hy tink Herr Cadalis vants to fight me vit dis ting? It iz... not a veapon, iz it?"

OOC: Ignatz has never encountered board games, turns out. I'm up for fast-forwarding to dinner. Some of you guys may not be, but if you are, say so.

 

[Faraque]

Seeing the barbarian approach carrying the chessboard, Rilissa tilts her head in amusement.

... until he finds Rilissa. He holds it out to her, and says, "Hy tink Herr Cadalis vants to fight me vit dis ting? It iz... not a veapon, iz it?"

"No doll, it's a strategy game."
Gently taking the chessboard, Rilissa sets it on a nearby table. She retrieves the rest of the parts, and sets up the board. She spends the next couple hours teaching the big lug the basics of chess, and explaining the history behind the pieces and why they move they way they do, and the tactical signifigance of them. She specifically stresses the importance of the knight, and the importances of it's movement, knowing that will garner Ignatz's full attention.

 

[jbear]

The Cursed One, with the help of the friendly sailor gets a rod lined, hooked and baited.
He is quite content to sit for the next two hours fishing. During that time he doesn't catch a thing. He does however snap the line three times, lose 4 hooks and two sinkers. At one point when casting he manages also to somehow hook one of the crew walking behind him's earlobe. None of this seems to ruffle him. It actually seems if he is thoroughly enjoying himself.

 

[WEContact]

Gently taking the chessboard, Rilissa sets it on a nearby table. She retrieves the rest of the parts, and sets up the board. She spends the next couple hours teaching the big lug the basics of chess, and explaining the history behind the pieces and why they move they way they do, and the tactical signifigance of them. She specifically stresses the importance of the knight, and the importances of it's movement, knowing that will garner Ignatz's full attention.

Ignatz is so focused on learning chess that he forgets about being a lady's man. He's still a slow learner, but he's not terrible. By the time the first hour has passed, Ignatz can remember how all the pieces move. By the time dinner rolls around, he can play without help. He can't for his life keep all the possible lines of attack in mind, or guess at what his opponent will do, but he plays with a surprisingly strong (though entirely intuitive and unmeditated) sense of board control and momentum. Rilissa often cuts Ignatz slack early on in a game by abstaining from taking pieces that he hasn't noticed are in danger, but she soon finds that when she does so, she winds up struggling to move aggressively. Of course, when she does take advantages of his short-sightedness, he's a pushover, unable to ever mount a coherent defense or stay on the attack. He gets frustrated when this happens, and finally (with about half an hour til dinner) he abandons the chessboard and walks around the room, stretching. "Oof! Hy iz exhausted! Too much tinking for vun afternoon," Ignatz says, and he cracks his neck. "Vake me op vhen dere's food, hey?" With that, he stretches out on the training room floor (or wherever he and Rilissa were playing chess) and naps.

 

[Medina]

Corragan stays on deck for the couple of hours before dinner, quietly looking out to sea, his face calm as he keeps his thoughts to himself, worrying the troubles Cadalis may have brought them.

 

[Son of Meepo]

Dina spends the next few hour studying. Before she leaves, she purchases a few components from Cadalis.

OOC: 40 gp worth of rare herbs (Nature), 40 gp worth of alchemical reagents (Arcana)

 

[CrimsonFlameWielder]

It doesn't seem like long before the dinner meal is served in the rather spacious galley. Dinner is served by seemingly no-one, as Cadalis utilizes the unseen servant spell to great effect. The meals, while simple, seem to cater to each of the adventurer's tastes. And although the contents of each adventurer's plate is identical, each adventurer tastes their favorite meals (possibly different) with each bite.

"Now to get down to business," Cadalis says, sitting at one of the empty seats. "First, I'd like to tell you what I...we... know about your mission. As you may or may not know, the IAC is a group of magic users who have come together to further the use of magic, make more accessible to those who have the gift, ability, or knowledge to use it, and make the magic user witch hunts from the ignorant stop. To facilitate such actions, the IAC is in need of information, funding, and people willing to help them out. In some cases, the best method to get all of this is to acquire rare magic items and artifacts, that if placed in the wrong hands, could do some serious damage and hurt the reputation of magic users. Such is the case with your mission.

"As I stated before, you will be seeking an item that has recently come to the attention of the IAC call the Dragon Whisper. It is a large crystal sphere roughly the size of a human's head, perhaps a little smaller. We don't know of its exact whereabouts, but one of our most knowledgeable diviners had a vision of the Dragon Whisper in the hand of some magic user and used it to devastating effect against Bacarte and Daunton. Needless to say, the IAC does not want this to come to fruition. Although a diviner's visions are sometimes scattered and prone to metaphor, this is what I was told of our diviner's vision:

Six by sea, a motley crew
Atop a serpent, morning's dew
Valley bound by wooded hand
Underground, from quickened sand
Bow to Queen, her hive and horde
Within her home, rock singed and scored
Treasure, sphere, debris discarded
Crimson, claw, appears, departed
Jungle humid, tracking, eager
Whispered words, defenses meager
Mountain giant gently slumbers
Magic bubbles, wakens, lumbers
Wake the Dragon's Whisper does
Foe of fire, ancient, was
Fight they must, those six by sea
Eliminate catastrophe

A bit long winded, a quite cryptic, but there you have it. The IAC was able to track the magical signature of the sphere to this island, but they weren't able to find its exact location. Three scouts have been sent out to determine its exact location, but none of them have returned."

Taking a few bites of his food, Cadalis allows the adventurers a few moments to absorb everything he has said.

 

[Son of Meepo]

Dina listened to Cadalis' tale intently. When he finished, Dina shook her head.

"I find divination only provides clarity in hindsight, Cadalis. For the future is like the unborn child. It only takes but a small change in the course of events, but a small slip, a twist of fate, or even, as you put it, a catastrophe, and never shall it see its existence come to pass."

Dina pushes the food about her plate.

"But all we can do is try Cadalis. Try and find and overcome what may come. For that as Wise Mireva had said, is the Way to Wisdom."

OOC: I've changed around Dina's wishlist a bit. Also, Dina received her second approval, so now everyone in the adventure is fully approved for their level.

 

[WEContact]

Ignatz's attention is divided, and dinner has the lion's share. He follows the conversation loosely, however. "vot see sad," he manages around a half-chewed dinner roll. He swallows, takes a second stab at coherence. "Vot she said. Hyu prophecy or vhatefer it iz dun make no sense. Ve already knew ve vas gunna go find some magic orb ting and kill ennyting vhat tries to kill us. Simple."