Malvoisin's Savage Tide, Act 1 - There Is No Honor

[Voadam]

With a slight bow of his head and a twirling gesture of the hand not holding a wine cup, Kalen smiles and says "Indeed you may, milady. We will see what can be revealed and recovered from your craft."

 

[Tonks]

As the Lady Vanderboren glanced in his direction, Damash saw the others looking towards him as well. He would help her in this matter, the coin was certainly needed, and the more he dwelt upon it, the more certain he was that he had worked for her parents aboard the ship earlier in the spring.

'The tide comes and goes tracing its patterns in the sands...'

"I shall lend what aide I can in this matter. For the sea will judge them for their actions.."

Stopping the phrase before he allowed it to finish, Damash looked away from the table and towards the water.

'...and Istishia shall call them below for the eternal embrace.'

 

[stonegod]

"I shall lend what aide I can in this matter. The sea will judge them for their actions.."

Stopping the phrase before he allowed it to finish, Damash looked away from the table and towards the water.

Picking bread crumb out of his beard, Col seems absorbed in himself. As the young dock worker finished his agreement, the man paused for a moment with a crumb halfway to his mouth. Then, with a shrug and a shake of his head, he continued his grooming.

OOC: Col's the paranoid one, and that sounded almost like an invocation to a deity. So, to make things interesting, he'll do a Knowledge (religion) check to see if he recognizes the phrase and the deity that goes with it.

 

[Malvoisin]

Picking bread crumb out of his beard, Col seems absorbed in himself. As the young dock worker finished his agreement, the man paused for a moment with a crumb halfway to his mouth. Then, with a shrug and a shake of his head, he continued his grooming.

OOC: Col's the paranoid one, and that sounded almost like an invocation to a deity. So, to make things interesting, he'll do a Knowledge (religion) check to see if he recognizes the phrase and the deity that goes with it.

[sblock=Col, Knowledge Check]Col thinks that he might have heard a similar phrase once, made by an adherent of Ishtishia, the elemental embodiment of water. This is an enigmatic and unstable deity with a small following, so it seems odd to hear this unspoken phrase come from Damash's mouth.[/sblock]

 

[Malvoisin]

Lavinia beams with joy as Damash's words make the group's decision unanimous. "Truly, I have chosen well in whom I invited to my home. I appreciate your help, and I hope that you'll be able to resolve this for me quickly. Ah! Dessert!"

The servants enter once more with bowls full of a luscious treat made from wild cherries and custard. It's truly delicious, and a wonderful way to cap off a splendid meal.

With the dinner winding to a close, Lavinia says, "You may avail yourselves of my hospitality as long as you wish, but I think I will retire soon. Do you need anything else from me before I say good night?"

(OOC: The time has come for any final questions or comments for your hostess, and then it's on to the docks to see about the Blue Nixie. Will the group go tonight, or wait until the next day (or later)? Any particular strategies to employ or preparations to make? Please discuss in character, and I'll move to the next scene when I have a good idea of what you want to do.)

 

[stonegod]

After dessert, Col leans back and enjoys a pleasant burp, pounding loudly on his chest to complete it. Afterwards, he clumsily knocks over a knife to the floor next to Damash---a very clumsy move or a distraction, which seems much more likely due to the older's man lack of subterfuge. Picking it up, he whispers softly to the young docker.

"...and Istishia shall call them below for the eternal embrace, eh? There be more to you than's on the surface, ain't there?"

He then straightens up, a pleased grin on his face, and adds to the group, "I no be ready for this tonight. I must prepare the rituals needed to do this task. I be no healer, but I got various secrets that could be o' use---a conjuration here, a divination there. What say you we do this on the morrow's eve, give us all time to prepare. Maybe give some o' you others a bit of time to be findin' out what we can about this here boat."

OOC: Col's spells are not really up to it today; he'd swap out comprehend languages for something else (prolly shield of faith). I would recommend some do some Gather Info checks and spy out the boat to see what's going on and what the general motions are before we go in.

 

[hafrogman]

Keoni shrugs at Lavinia's question.

"If we can find the boat, and you said that you don't know exactly where the ring is. . . I cannot see of more information we need. I say first thing tommorrow morning we go pay a visit, and see what we can find."

 

[Tonks]

After dessert, Col leans back and enjoys a pleasant burp, pounding loudly on his chest to complete it. Afterwards, he clumsily knocks over a knife to the floor next to Damash---a very clumsy move or a distraction, which seems much more likely due to the older's man lack of subterfuge. Picking it up, he whispers softly to the young docker.

"...and Istishia shall call them below for the eternal embrace, eh? There be more to you than's on the surface, ain't there?"

While Damash tried to keep his surprise hidden that the old man knew the ending to one of Istishia's sayings, he dared not return eye contact with the man. Thus far he had not met another of his order in Sasserine and had ceased attending the Azure Cathedral when those who claimed to watch over the seas seemed far more interested in watching over his purse.

'He watches all through those mismatched eyes...could he be the one who truly brought us here with Lady Vanderboren being the lure to keep us distracted from the real hook?'

"If we must go after them with force, it should be when the night turns the water to the shade of black. Eyes grow weary watching the waves and ears follow suit to the melody of the tides, and with both to mask us, we would be upon them before they knew it."

 

[stonegod]

Col puts his hands together as his thinks aloud. "Then, it looks like I'll take the evenin' to prepare some appropriate carses and such. I'd suggest Kalen do the same. The talky folk---Kalen and Anar---could ask around about this thar Nixie while Keoni and Chongo and sit and wait and watch. We all be meetin' at the Drunken Bear at the death of day and walk from there."

The old man then takes a moment to look at each of the companions int he eye, a forceful gaze. "Under no circumstances are we to be approach'n the boat without all the others. Saftey do be in numbers."

His gaze once again becomes neutral and looks over the rest. "That be a fine plan? Any other notions?"

 

[Malvoisin]

(OOC: Gonna keep things moving along, here...)

There are no objections to Col's summation of the group's plans, and so, with the evening getting late, the dinner party adjourns with words of thanks. Lavinia retires, leaving Kora to show everyone out. Col spends the evening in meditation, preparing such spells as he thinks may be useful for the coming day.

The next day, Keoni, Damash and Chongo pose as dock workers and scout out the pier area in the northern Merchant's District, to get some idea of the goings-on aboard the Blue Nixie. Unfortunately, the plan hits a snag right away, when they arrive at pier 5. The Blue Nixie, is in fact, not docked at the pier, but moored to a float some 100 feet from the pier's end. From this distance, it is hard to tell what is going on aboard the boat. The three scouts spend the majority of the day dallying around the pier area to see if anyone disembarks, or shows interest in the vessel, but no one does. All in all, their day's work is not particularly fruitful.

Kalen and Anar spend some time in the local taverns (The Ticklish Ogre, Gregair's Place, and The Drunk Bear), asking about Soller Vark, or the Blue Nixie, to try to get an idea of what Vark may be up to. They get quite an earful about Vark...it seems he is a disagreeable lout with a scar on one arm that he claims (dubiously) came in a fight with a hook-handed pirate. But, there is no buzz about his current affairs or what may be going on with the Blue Nixie.

It seems a more direct investigation will be in order to get to the bottom of this....

The setting sun finds the six adventurers huddled in the corner of The Drunk Bear, sharing their findings, and discussing what they should do next.