D&D 5E (IC) Rise of the Dracolich

[Ancalagon]

Kalorn snorted.

"A sell-sword never avoids free food when offered - unless it might be poisoned, of course. You never know when the next job will come up".

Reaching under his cloak, he grabbed one of the bread rolls he had grabbed fro the buffet. He wasn't *that* desperate for free food... but you never knew when you needed a quick piece of bread. Made for bribes for urchins, distractions... or jokes.

Tossing it at Primus, he added

"Catch! You can never have too many bread"

 

[tglassy]

Primus caught the bread.

“No worries, old friend,” he said to Imani. “I didn’t think about food until I got here. I have a tendency of forgetting about food until I’m going to need it. I can go without it indefinitely if I won’t be straining myself, but when I need my focus elsewhere, the lack of nourishment catches up with me.”

He nodded at Kalorn, taking a bite of the bread.

 

[gargoyleking]

After about half an hour of being out, Mord returned, leaving his guards out front of the building each sporting a new pack full of adventuring supplies. The Warlock seemed impatient to be off on their mission.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Once shopping was done, Isteval, Imani, and Jekk bade the group good travels. Loklafd led the way past the shipworks, through the River Gate, and down the bank to a small community that lived outside the town walls. The riverfolk were friendly, and it was obvious that many of them knew Loklafd, as the big northman waved and nodded to them as he made his way to his stash of kayaks.

Pulling a dirty but beautifully woven wool blanket aside, Loklafd revealed a set of five kayaks - unusual boats to the eyes of those living this far to the south. They were a light wooden frame wrapped in water-tight seal-skin. Each was comfortable for two paddlers with gear stowed between them, and the group quickly worked out, with Loklafd's advice, how best to arrange each man, woman, pack, and undead guardsman.

Carrying the kayaks down to the river, the group manned their paddles and set out, soon passing under Tyndall's Bridge, which spanned the shallow ford that gave the town its name: Daggerford. The river ran slow and deep on either side of the ford - deep enough for much larger watercraft than the kayaks, but the ford itself made it impossible for large craft to travel the whole length of the Shining River.

It did not take long before the paddlers got the hang of the unusual boats, and they headed west at a comfortable pace, dipping their paddles steadily.

 

[Prickly Pear]

Sesto found himself sitting in a kayak again. It was an unpleasant feeling since the water seemed to be to close for comfort. Just a piece of seal skin between you and the deep! Luckily, Sesto had the opportunity to learn how to swim back at the temple in Neverwinter. Although he wasn't very good at it, he could manage it quite well. Still, it was an unpleasant feeling. You never knew what was hidden down there in the dark.

It wasn't very hard to work out how to paddle the kayak. Stirring, though, was a bit tricky. And the kayak seemed very unstable. Like it would tip over at any sudden movement. Sesto would have preferred a sturdy rowboat but those were apparently not available.

Before they all had set off from Imani, Sesto had received a couple of scroll of Water Walk and a potion of Water Breathing. He kept them secured in his belt for easy access in case any of them would fall in the water and needed help. Loklafd had laughed and said that he certainly didn't need any "Water Walk". A Reghedman knew how to swim! Well, so be it. All the others in the group would be protected, if necessary. Tomorrow, he would pray to Lathander and be granted to use the spell Water Walk without a scroll. That would come in handy for the trip on the big and sturdy longship later.

Sesto was paddling in his armour. He didn't like taking it off to often. He felt vulnerable without it. His shield was stowed together with his backpack and other gear. He wasn't surprised to be in a kayak again — they used them at the last mission too — but what did surprise him was that he was sharing the kayak with one of Mord's guardsmen. They stank of death and the masks could not possible fool anyone. Still, Sesto wanted to get a closer look at these creature. To understand them better. It was something unholy about using creatures like this but it may be forgiven if they are used for the greater good. He would need to speak to Mord soon... and pray to Lathander for guidance.

 

[gargoyleking]

Mord watched bemusedly as Sesto climbed into a kayak with one of his minions. He smirked a bit, bemused by the priest's willingness to come so close to one he had obviously, to mord's perception, determined to be an undead creature. He climbed into the middle of another kayak, opting to let his other two guards do the work while he did his best to keep watch.

 

[Ancalagon]

Kalorn zig-zaged on the river. This was less difficult than he feared - the boats, although flimsy looking, worked. He was heartened by some of the discussions on tactics his allies had been having. Teleporting a boarding party on an enemy ship? Now that was the stuff! Frankly, he hoped it wouldn't be needed, but it was good to talk these things out. No time for it when hacking limbs.

He was amused by Mord's servants and Sesto's reaction to them. Not everyone had caught on yet. But time to focus.

Once again, he made sure that his sword was accessible, and that the potion Imani had given him was in easy reach. He had no intention of drowning, and if Sesto's spell didn't work, he would drink the potion and walk to shore. If Sesto's spell worked though... ha. The notion of running to an attacker's boat and kicking the sides in was amusing. One had to enjoy life's small pleasures after all.

(OOC: I had assumed that Kalorn would have taken one of of the Mordgard but it doesn't look like it... who's pared up with him? His athletic's check make him decent at boating)

 

[tglassy]

OOC: Primus could go with him.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

True to his word, Loklafd led the group some eighteen miles down the Shining River in just over four hours. Asking after the Frostskimmr in the small hamlet of Rock Tower, Loklafd was told that the Longship had been spotted less than an hour ago, heading south-west into the Lizard Marsh. It was decided that it would be easy enough to catch up, and the group passed a spot where the river split around an enormous protrusion of stone, atop of which stood the old stone tower that gave the neighbouring hamlet its name.

Soon, the Shining River split again and again until there was no main flow - instead, as it eventually worked its way into the Sea of Swords, the river's waters spread out over a vast morass of swampland.

"This goes for thirty miles or more before it reaches the sea." said Loklafd, swatting a biting fly. "Let's find the Frostskimmer and be away."

 

[gargoyleking]

Mord looked a bit queasy as he muttered the words to the same spell once again and touched the shoulder of the masked figure before him. The minions had taken woodenly to the work and seemed perpetually out of sequence with one another despite the warlock's best attempts to sort them out.

He glanced up at Loklafd's voice and grimaced slightly.

"Yes, lets. The sooner the better."