Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="nonamazing" data-source="post: 2042843" data-attributes="member: 12118">It doesn't take you long to get back to the ship.  There's a gradual slope to the land which eases your travel--the sled covers ground much quicker going downhill.  The snow has picked up quite a bit, and is beginning to interfere with visibility.  Luckily, you can follow your own tracks fairly easily. Soon, the great black prow of the ship comes into view, and the awful stench of the Whale's Carcass assaults you a few moments later.  You can see the shillouette of Captain Gravan up on the prow and just beside him, the tip of what must be Quentin Voddlegrok.  The two appear to be arguing--you can just make out Voddlegrok's tiny hands dancing in the air.  Finally, you see Gravan hand his spyglass over to Voddlegrok, and a few seconds later the gnomish scholar cries out in surprise, loudly enough for you to hear even over the noise of the storm. Gravan and Voddlegrok meet you outside the ship.  Before you have a chance to say anything, Voddlegrok rushes forward, clearly very excited.  He runs immediately to Floe, and stares at her in wonder.  "Oh, mm-my!  I can hardly believe it!  Gravan told me that you were bringing, um, someone back with you.  I insisted on seeing for myself, and yes!  You have brought back proof that the fabled Faries of the Ice are indeed real!  Oh, our expedition is a success!" Behind the excited gnome, Gravan mumbles to himself, "Yes, I'm sure they'll put that on our graves.  I couldn't be happier." Voddlegrok ignores the captain, all his attention focused on Floe.  "I wonder if she can understand us?  Hello," he says, speaking as one would to a child, "my...name...is...Quentin.  Do...you...have...a...name?"  He then starts repeating his test sentence in a variety of different languages, oblivious to the rest of you, while Floe looks somewhat skeptical and amused. Gravan turns around to face the rest of you.  "Well, I didn't expect to see you again so soon.  I'd glad to see you're all okay--we caught sight of the ice creatures that were chasing after you.  I'm anxious to know what happened to you, but I'm sure you'll tell me in your own good time.  But before you do, I've got to tell you about what's been going on around here.  Flamesaxe found out we had a stowaway aboard the ship, and she's managed to charm the ears off of the little runt."  Gravan gestures toward Voddlegrok, still babbling away.  "Now, she's going to be down here in just a few moments, Flamesaxe is with her, and I just wanted to warn you that-" But before Gravan can complete his warning, he is interrupted by a sudden crackle and flash of light.  "A teleport spell!", shouts Karthak, and you all begin reaching for your weapons. An elegantly dressed man, well-groomed with long black hair, has suddenly appeared, along with a slightly bent, elderly-looking warforged carrying a large pack.  The man seems just as surprised to see you as you are to see him.  He is unarmed, although you do notice a well-crafted mace at his belt. The dark-haired man looks confused for a moment, then spots Voddlegrok, who stutters, "Why, is that you, B-balthazar?   W-what are you doing here?  And how did you manage to get access to a teleport spell?  Don't tell me those old men at the Wayfarer's Guild have that sort of influence, hmm?"  Voddlegrok suddenly notices the tension in the area, everyone's hands still on their weapons.  "Oh!  Oh, my, it's quite alright, my friends.  Lord Balthazar and I are quite well acquainted.  But I must say, I haven't the foggiest idea what a gentleman such as himself might be doing here." At that moment, Flamesaxe climbs down out of the ship, followed shortly by a pale-skinned woman wearing an intricate, organic-looking breastplate.  Flamesaxe spots the elderly Warforged and stops, pointing.  "It's you!" The elderly Warforged looks up at Flamesaxe.  "I am terribly sorry young master, but I do not believe we have met before." Before Flamesaxe can reply, Captain Gravan suddenly shouts out in rage.  "What exactly is going on here!  This...ponce...appears out of nowhere, and all of you act like it's the most natural thing in the world!  Meanwhile, I've got this, this...werewolf running around my ship--don't try to tell me differently, lady, my grandmother taught me how to recognize your kind--and monsters made of ice coming out of the sky, and cute little blue-skinned girls--does anyone care to explain any of this to the captain of the ship!"Okay, the new characters have entered the story.  This is the time for each of the new players to make posts introducing their character, and for the other characters to get to know them.  A few snippets of private information follow:[Floe] - [SPOILER]The small person is certainly strange.  He looks sort of like a dwarf, but a bit smaller and not quite as stocky.  You might think he was a Dwarven child, were it not for the white hair and wrinkles around his eyes.  The way he is looking at you makes you nervous--there's an odd gleam in his eyes.  It's hard to tell, because his accent is so bad, but you think you heard him speaking Sylvan at some point, before you were interrupted.[/SPOILER][Mong] - [SPOILER]Whoever this 'Balthazar' is, he doesn't seem like much of a threat to you.  But you find yourself almost instinctively disliking the woman in the dark armor...something about her seems familiar...[/SPOILER][Rigel] - [SPOILER]You've just followed Flamesaxe off of the ship to meet the other explorers.  You saw Balthazar appear out of nowhere, and you are surprised to find that there is something oddly compelling about him.  You can't quite put your finger on it.  Oh, and since you were discovered, the captain has thought that you were a lycanthrope.  You have no idea why.[/SPOILER][Balthazar] - [SPOILER]What an odd group!  This bitter captain fellow certainly seems on edge, but Quentin looks fine.  You expected to arrive on the ship while it was still at sea--you're surprised to find it has landed.  That's a bit ahead of schedule, then.  Damn, but it's beastly cold out here.  And what is that horrible stench?[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

Verification