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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4601616" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 16, Part 1</p><p></p><p> Urblabetha motioned for the rest of the shoal to move up to the surface craft. She surfaced a ways away on the night waters and watched as her kind began climbing up the sides of the craft. For a while, she thought that they might make it undetected onto the deck, but then one of the land walkers called an alarm. With practiced skill, the Locath dispatched those on the deck and Urblabetha thought they might take the ship uncontested.</p><p></p><p> Then there was a roar and a member of the shoal flew arcing off the ship and into the water. Then there was a flash of flame and a half a dozen more shoalmates fell to the deck smoldering or sailed into the water trailing smoke and fire.</p><p></p><p> Urblabetha dove under the surface and swam farther away to get a better view of the ship. When she resurfaced, she saw that her shoalmates were being annihilated. A landling archer was firing rapidly, dropping one of her kind with every arrow. A figure in a brown cowl hurled magics, bringing hateful fire and tearing arcane forces to bear. A short, bearded landling used its under-developed landling flippers to crush and break. A huge landling with a metal-wrapped arm and a double-fanged blade slashed and cut. A strange metal man stood on the craft's aft-castle, hurling lightning from his eyes. In mere minutes, the fight was over and Urblabetha's shoal sank to the deeps or lay gutted on the craft. </p><p></p><p> She watched for a few minutes as the landlings moved amongst the dead ones. Then she nodded in satisfaction and dove beneath the waves.</p><p></p><p> ***</p><p></p><p> “So, anyone know what these things are?”</p><p></p><p> Everyone on deck glanced around at each other, meeting only empty expressions and shrugs. Ragnen knelt next to an especially large one wearing strange metallic armor that lay face down on the deck and rolled it over.</p><p></p><p> It was fish-like, but with legs and hands that ended in flexible fins. The armor covered most of its body, including a bulbous helm. Its trident was still gripped in a hand-flipper. A strange multi-eyed skull-like shape was branded into its armor in several places.</p><p></p><p> “Don't remember it's name, but these fish-things live down in Landspear Lake. Shipping sometimes has trouble with them, but it's pretty rare,” Ragnen said. He snapped his stubby fingers. “Locath, that's what they're called.”</p><p></p><p> “Hm...” Kezzek said, tugging at a tusk before pulling out his Greywarden journal, mumbling to himself as he wrote. “Unprovoked... Locath... pirate... Landspear Lake.”</p><p></p><p> “How are they organized?” Harold said, staring out ahead of the ship.</p><p></p><p> Ragnen shrugged. “I dunno, never run into them before myself. As I said, they're mostly in the Landspear Lake and we've mostly run the Crystal Deeps.”</p><p></p><p> “And what does this symbol mean?” Suniel said, tapping on the Locath's armor.</p><p></p><p> “The ship is stopped,” Keeper said, walking up to the cluster that gathered about the body.</p><p></p><p> Suniel squinted at the symbol. “Must be some bizarre, alien hieroglyphic system if it means that. I would have thought it was a caste mark or some other organizational-”</p><p></p><p> “No, he means our ship isn't moving,” Harold said, walking quickly over to a railing and peering over.</p><p></p><p> Suniel looked up and blinked a few times as the entire crew stopped policing bodies and ran to the railing.</p><p></p><p> “Over here,” Harold said. “There's something, stuck to the side of the ship.”</p><p></p><p> They gathered around Harold and stared down at a large bulbous shape stuck to the side of the ship. “Ok, anyone know what <em>that</em> is?” Harold said.</p><p></p><p> There was a long mement of silence, then Kezzek sighed and said, “I'll go check.”</p><p></p><p> Suniel joined the group at the railing and watched as Kezzek cast a rope over the side and climbed down. Gingerly, the half-orc stepped on the strange pod, then shifted his weight a bit and looked around the sides of it.</p><p></p><p>“It's spongy and slimy, has some sort of vines running from it deep into the water. Looks like there's some blackish substance holding it to the side of the ship. Kinda like tar. Someone drop me a plank and I'll pry it free.”</p><p></p><p> Kezzek tied the rope about his waist as he waited, then a crew mate tossed him down a piece of lumber. After positioning it carefully between the pod and the ship, the Greywarden pulled, first gingerly, then harder, until he was straining with all his might. Finally he stopped and tried to pull the plank free, but it was stuck as well.</p><p></p><p> “Looks like some sort of natural adhesive,” Suniel mumbled. He turned to Keeper. “Go to my carriage and get the green flasks.”</p><p></p><p> As Keeper walked to where the carriage was lashed to the deck, Suniel leaned over the rail. “Kezzek, hold there, I might have something that will help.”</p><p></p><p> Keeper returned with four greenish flasks. Suniel motioned for Kormak to bring him a nearby bucket and then carefully set the flasks inside and tied a rope to the bucket handle. He lowered it carefully, wincing every time the motion of the waves knocked the bucket off the side of the ship.</p><p></p><p> Kezzek took the bucked gingerly and looked up. “What's in these?”</p><p></p><p> “Acid. Strong enough to eat through wood. You'll need to apply it very carefully where the black substance meets the wood. Try not to get any on the ship's hull itself. The concentration should be enough that the water doesn't dilute it too much before it reaches the tar.”</p><p></p><p> They watched for several tense minutes as the half-orc carefully unstoppered a flask and poured it here and there on the tar. The black tar bubbled and sizzled as the acid hit it. “Smells awful,” Kezzek said as he poured the last of the first flask. He grabbed the plank again and strained against it again, planting both feet against the side of the ship for extra leverage. There was a popping, tearing sound and the pod tore free, sending Kezzek and his plank plunging into the water.</p><p></p><p> The crew laughed as they hauled the spluttering Greywarden up the side of the ship, but it was good-natured and they patted him heartily on the back when he reached the deck.</p><p></p><p> Suniel handed the bucket rope to Keeper. “Raise these very carefully and return them to my carriage. Place them securely back where you found them. Wouldn't do at all to have these come loose in the carriage during a storm.”</p><p></p><p> Keeper took the bucket and looked Suniel in the eyes. “Verily,” he said, then turned and walked across the deck.</p><p></p><p> Suniel watched him go and wondered again whether the construct had a sense of humor hidden somewhere beneath his metal skin.</p><p></p><p> His musings were interrupted by Ragnen's approach. “We'll be at the Crystal River in two days, weather permitting.” He paused and looked at the deck. “Lost four crew to the attack.”</p><p></p><p> Suniel nodded to him and sighed. “Carry on. Finish getting these bodies overboard. We'll have a ceremony for our dead at first light.”</p><p></p><p> He watched as the crew set to work, tossing Locathi bodies back into the Deeps. <em>Everywhere we go we bring death</em>, he thought. <em>Is it our curse together or mine alone, still following me after all these years?</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4601616, member: 60965"] Session 16, Part 1 Urblabetha motioned for the rest of the shoal to move up to the surface craft. She surfaced a ways away on the night waters and watched as her kind began climbing up the sides of the craft. For a while, she thought that they might make it undetected onto the deck, but then one of the land walkers called an alarm. With practiced skill, the Locath dispatched those on the deck and Urblabetha thought they might take the ship uncontested. Then there was a roar and a member of the shoal flew arcing off the ship and into the water. Then there was a flash of flame and a half a dozen more shoalmates fell to the deck smoldering or sailed into the water trailing smoke and fire. Urblabetha dove under the surface and swam farther away to get a better view of the ship. When she resurfaced, she saw that her shoalmates were being annihilated. A landling archer was firing rapidly, dropping one of her kind with every arrow. A figure in a brown cowl hurled magics, bringing hateful fire and tearing arcane forces to bear. A short, bearded landling used its under-developed landling flippers to crush and break. A huge landling with a metal-wrapped arm and a double-fanged blade slashed and cut. A strange metal man stood on the craft's aft-castle, hurling lightning from his eyes. In mere minutes, the fight was over and Urblabetha's shoal sank to the deeps or lay gutted on the craft. She watched for a few minutes as the landlings moved amongst the dead ones. Then she nodded in satisfaction and dove beneath the waves. *** “So, anyone know what these things are?” Everyone on deck glanced around at each other, meeting only empty expressions and shrugs. Ragnen knelt next to an especially large one wearing strange metallic armor that lay face down on the deck and rolled it over. It was fish-like, but with legs and hands that ended in flexible fins. The armor covered most of its body, including a bulbous helm. Its trident was still gripped in a hand-flipper. A strange multi-eyed skull-like shape was branded into its armor in several places. “Don't remember it's name, but these fish-things live down in Landspear Lake. Shipping sometimes has trouble with them, but it's pretty rare,” Ragnen said. He snapped his stubby fingers. “Locath, that's what they're called.” “Hm...” Kezzek said, tugging at a tusk before pulling out his Greywarden journal, mumbling to himself as he wrote. “Unprovoked... Locath... pirate... Landspear Lake.” “How are they organized?” Harold said, staring out ahead of the ship. Ragnen shrugged. “I dunno, never run into them before myself. As I said, they're mostly in the Landspear Lake and we've mostly run the Crystal Deeps.” “And what does this symbol mean?” Suniel said, tapping on the Locath's armor. “The ship is stopped,” Keeper said, walking up to the cluster that gathered about the body. Suniel squinted at the symbol. “Must be some bizarre, alien hieroglyphic system if it means that. I would have thought it was a caste mark or some other organizational-” “No, he means our ship isn't moving,” Harold said, walking quickly over to a railing and peering over. Suniel looked up and blinked a few times as the entire crew stopped policing bodies and ran to the railing. “Over here,” Harold said. “There's something, stuck to the side of the ship.” They gathered around Harold and stared down at a large bulbous shape stuck to the side of the ship. “Ok, anyone know what [I]that[/I] is?” Harold said. There was a long mement of silence, then Kezzek sighed and said, “I'll go check.” Suniel joined the group at the railing and watched as Kezzek cast a rope over the side and climbed down. Gingerly, the half-orc stepped on the strange pod, then shifted his weight a bit and looked around the sides of it. “It's spongy and slimy, has some sort of vines running from it deep into the water. Looks like there's some blackish substance holding it to the side of the ship. Kinda like tar. Someone drop me a plank and I'll pry it free.” Kezzek tied the rope about his waist as he waited, then a crew mate tossed him down a piece of lumber. After positioning it carefully between the pod and the ship, the Greywarden pulled, first gingerly, then harder, until he was straining with all his might. Finally he stopped and tried to pull the plank free, but it was stuck as well. “Looks like some sort of natural adhesive,” Suniel mumbled. He turned to Keeper. “Go to my carriage and get the green flasks.” As Keeper walked to where the carriage was lashed to the deck, Suniel leaned over the rail. “Kezzek, hold there, I might have something that will help.” Keeper returned with four greenish flasks. Suniel motioned for Kormak to bring him a nearby bucket and then carefully set the flasks inside and tied a rope to the bucket handle. He lowered it carefully, wincing every time the motion of the waves knocked the bucket off the side of the ship. Kezzek took the bucked gingerly and looked up. “What's in these?” “Acid. Strong enough to eat through wood. You'll need to apply it very carefully where the black substance meets the wood. Try not to get any on the ship's hull itself. The concentration should be enough that the water doesn't dilute it too much before it reaches the tar.” They watched for several tense minutes as the half-orc carefully unstoppered a flask and poured it here and there on the tar. The black tar bubbled and sizzled as the acid hit it. “Smells awful,” Kezzek said as he poured the last of the first flask. He grabbed the plank again and strained against it again, planting both feet against the side of the ship for extra leverage. There was a popping, tearing sound and the pod tore free, sending Kezzek and his plank plunging into the water. The crew laughed as they hauled the spluttering Greywarden up the side of the ship, but it was good-natured and they patted him heartily on the back when he reached the deck. Suniel handed the bucket rope to Keeper. “Raise these very carefully and return them to my carriage. Place them securely back where you found them. Wouldn't do at all to have these come loose in the carriage during a storm.” Keeper took the bucket and looked Suniel in the eyes. “Verily,” he said, then turned and walked across the deck. Suniel watched him go and wondered again whether the construct had a sense of humor hidden somewhere beneath his metal skin. His musings were interrupted by Ragnen's approach. “We'll be at the Crystal River in two days, weather permitting.” He paused and looked at the deck. “Lost four crew to the attack.” Suniel nodded to him and sighed. “Carry on. Finish getting these bodies overboard. We'll have a ceremony for our dead at first light.” He watched as the crew set to work, tossing Locathi bodies back into the Deeps. [I]Everywhere we go we bring death[/I], he thought. [I]Is it our curse together or mine alone, still following me after all these years?[/I] [/QUOTE]
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