(Adventure) A Tidy Profit... [Judge: Uriel]

[Jack Haggerty]

D'Artagnon freezes, then turns around towards the scene. He draws his rapier, and and begins rapidly walking back up the dock towards the fallen, in full view.

Zhang runs trying to keep up with his longer legged companion.

D'Artagnon heads up the dock, with Zhang in tow. Neither of them spot anyone in the area. Though, Jo's eagle can be seen hovering in circles above the water nearby, making a squawking racket. The bird flies over to D'Artagnon and Zhang, buzzing them low enough to make them both duck and back over to the same spot in the water, where in seems to dive-bomb what looks like two bundles of laundry slowly sinking in the water.

OOC: You mean by the time an eagle had a chance to divebomb the thug(s), it would already have been apparent that Jo was dead? OK then...

Anyway, if Haisi has a plan, he's a wiser eagle than I, so I will not question his motivations.

IC: glug glug glug

OOC: As the PHB suggests, Haisi is still an animal, and reacts as such. So, while his trained instinct is to protect you (or your body), his natural instinct is to protect himself. It would be difficult for him to protect you or find help if he dies. The thugs got the drop on you, and Haisi got a bad initiative roll.

Jo slowly begins coming back to his senses...

Someone is screaming.

It is cold.
It is wet.
It is dark.
It is difficult to breathe.
Your hands and feet are tied.
You are falling... slowly.

Water.
Rope.
Darkness.

 

[The Goblin King]

Zhang picks up a piece of broken wood from the ground. He closes his eyes and says a prayer. The end of the scrap begins to shine with magical white light. Zhang tosses the wood into the water at the spot where Haisi was directing. A look of horror passes his face, then steels into determination. Slipping off his backpack and dropping his weapon Zhang begins unfastening his armor. He says quietly, "Shural protect us." To D'Artagnon, "I hope you can swim. You may have to save me as well."

OOC: I am assuming that Zhang puzzles out what is going on, yes?

 

[Scorpio]

[OOC- how far from the dock are these two 'sacks'?

"Hold it there," D'Artagnon barks, as he throws down his knapsack and pulls out a coil of silk rope.
"Take one end with you"...

 

[Jack Haggerty]

OOC: I am assuming that Zhang puzzles out what is going on, yes?

The scrap of wood burns with the revealing light of the wisdom of Shural, illuminating the nearby flotsam. Zhang recognizes the cloaks of Jo and Atella amongst the bundles of clothing in the water. As the two bundles slowly sink, one turns over, and can see a pale, blank face gaping back at him.

He begins unbuckling his mail as quickly as possible, but by the time he removes it, it could be too late!

[OOC- how far from the dock are these two 'sacks'?]

The two bodies can't be more than five yards away from the dockside. A good running jump would bring someone within reach of them.

~~~

Jo becomes suddeny and fully aware of his surroundings as a bright flares somewhere behind him. He slowly drifts around to see a fluttering blue-white light glowing above him. The wavering image of a great bird of prey swoops and soars about the light. Another person, seemingly alseep, drifts alongside Jo.

Jo cannot take a single satisfying breath... nothing but thick, salty water fills his mouth.

 

[The Goblin King]

"Hold it there," D'Artagnon barks, as he throws down his knapsack and pulls out a coil of silk rope.
"Take one end with you"...

"Yes. Okay." Zhang gives up on undoing his armor and ties the rope around his waist. Moving back as far as possible he holds his knife in his teeth pirate-style. (arrrr!) Zhang surges forward and leaps into the water.

 

[Pbartender]

As he ties the rope about his waist, Zhang notices, oddly enough, a plate of cookies lying nearby.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Weighted down by his scaled hauberk, Zhang doesn't jump off the pier so much as he simply runs off the edge. Fortunately, he builds up enough momentum from his running start to carry himself a full three yards out from the dock. Plunging into the water, he lands nearly on top of one the bodies, entangling himself in a water-logged cloak. Between the armor the cloak, and clinging to the drowning body, Zhang cannot keep himself afloat. He quickly sinks beneath the water with the body in tow.

~~~

Jo can see a vague silhouette suddenly appearing nearby in a crash of bubbles and foam. The shrunken, humanoid form grasps at the body that floats nearby, dragging it down to the murky depths below.

 

[The Goblin King]

((OOC: wheeeee! run gobo run! Ummm...now would be a good time to pull me up.
I didn't know Cookies were a playable race? I guess I should have made my character a Christmas Fruitcake so that I would be inedible to dragons and such.))

 

[Scorpio]

[OOC-I'll ignore the cookie business....
BTW,D'Artagnon's STR is 13....Dex is 17

D'Artagnon for a split second thinks, "Er, Armor first?" and then quickly glances around the dock area around him. Holding onto the (no doubtless) unravelling rope. He is looking for a pier nearby, and will wrap the rope around the pier to give him leverage as he tries to stop the rope paying out, and then start to pull it back in. It's silk rope, so it *should* not catch too bad on the pier...meanwhile looking around in immediate vicinity for barrels, boxes, crates, anything that might be of use...

[OOC-It appears at the moment that he is only person on the dock???

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Using a nearby post as a makeshift pulley, D'Artagnon manages to slowly heave Zhang and the waterlogged body of Atella up onto the dock. He doesn't seem to be dead yet, but he's certainly not nearly as healthy as he could be.

D'Artagnon can see several coils of tarred rope nearby, along with several long poles tipped with boat hooks and what looks like a water barrel.

~~~

Gasping for air that isn't there, Jo watches as the shrunken man seemingly drags away the body nearby. They drift off into the gloom and disappear.

OOC: Anybody know where everybody else went? We've got a couple of players who haven't posted in quite some time.