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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2267186" data-attributes="member: 1210">Trouble At SeaTimbers shatter!  Wood splinters!  Water surges, sloshing into the guts of the ship!  Our soundtrack is the terrified screams of sailors laid over the background noise of the sea.  And over it all, the singing of the feyipus- an enchanting, alien sound that wraps the sailors’ minds around it like a bandage bound tight to a festering wound.  A pair of great slimy green tentacles is wrapped around the foredeck of the ship, cracking the planks.  Martini takes careful aim as his friends desperately try to scramble to their feet, and then he lets his shaft fly!  The arrow sinks fletching-deep into the feyipus’ tentacle.  The greenish flesh quivers for a moment, and the singing stops for a moment.  Then the monster utters a terrible howl that kills several sailors.  Most of our heroes are caught by the blast as well, and the terrible cry smashes into them in a wave of loud agony.  Then Arthur On-Tap gives a despairing shout as he is plucked from the deck and dangled in mid-air by another of the tentacles!  Our heroes have begun to fight back, unlimbering axes and firing magic missiles, but the monster proves somewhat resistant to both blows and magic!  Beau starts to sweat as his spells bounce off it, and Jawbreaker curses when he discovers his bow isn’t going to hurt it. Then he rushes forward with a howling scream.More tentacles are smashing, grasping, taking sailors.  One wraps around Ezeekiel and jerks him into the sea.  “NO!” cries Hortense, “We have to save him!”  Humphrey blasts it with an ineffective flame strike.Martini fires another ranged precision shot, opting to try to inflict as much damage as possible in one shot to penetrate its ability to shrug off weapon damage.  He springs aside as a tentacle lashes out at him, but it grabs him around the leg and pulls him off the ship!  Now the monster has Arthur, Ezeekiel and Martini in its grasp.  Seemingly satisfied with its meal- or perhaps unhappy about the number of blows that have wounded it, mostly from Martini and Jawbreaker- the feyipus starts to withdraw, loosening its hold on the badly damaged Sea Snake.  “Don’t let it get away!” cries Hortense.Arthur has been squirming in the monster’s grasp for a while now.  He’s terrified- Halfings eat octopus, not the other way around! he gibbers inwardly- but that actually helps him.  As it squeezes him again he vomits up a gout of the rum and fishy stew he’s been consuming on the ship and uses the added slipperiness it gives him to slip free of the feyipus’ grasp, dropping into the ocean gasping for breath.  As the monster is distracted by Arthur’s escape, Martini manages to force its tentacle to release him, as well, as he falls into the water with a splash!Zeke is being squeezed incredibly hard.  He channels, establishing divine vigor, choosing to attempt to sustain himself rather than to try to break free- something he seriously doubts he can do.  On the deck, Federico is screaming at the sailors, “The hull’s breached!  The hull’s breached!”  He’s running around with his hands in the air in a near-panic.  The feyipus- Ezeekiel firmly grappled by its tentacle- descends into the water, which promptly turns black as the monster releases its ink.  “No!  We have to save him!” cries Hortense.  “I’m on it!” cries Humphrey, casting water breathing on the party.  Then he turns and leaps into the water, wild shaping into a dolphin as he enters the water.  Jawbreaker dives into the dark water, but the feyipus has already jetted away.  Spluttering with anger, the barbarian begins swimming forward, strongly, hoping to spot it.  He looks left and right constantly.  Hortense has leapt into the water as well, attempting to use detect evil for guidance.  Beau swims slowly out too, wondering if this isn’t the most foolish idea ever.  He is ready with a shocking grasp, but there is no sign of the thing...What’s that light?That light is a daylight spell cast by the druid Humphrey.  The last, final, desparate attempt to save Ezeekiel begins, but the thing is deep and Humphrey can’t get quite close enough.  The feyipus is interested only in going away and having dinner, and Humphrey can’t really blame it.  By the time the distance is short enough to see Zeke’s head, he is not moving or breathing.Heart heavy, Humphrey returns to the surface and to the ship.  Federico has organized ropes and helped Martini get back aboard, and Arthur has already quaffed a potion of fly and returned to the ship as well.  Several sailors are dead, and Humphrey returns empty handed.Hortense bursts into tears.  She wails, “I wanted to have his baby!”***10/23/269 O.L.G., 1 p.m.The Sea Snake limps to the nearest natural harbor and the ship puts a large crew ashore to gather enough material to effect repairs.  Hortense stays on board, unable to stop weeping.  The others try to comfort her to no avail; she is heartbroken.  It seems that a strong secret fire had burned in her breast for Ezeekiel all along.  Now her heartfire has gone out, at least for the moment, and all she can do is cry.The repairs take most of the afternoon; though the Sea Snake needs a significant amount of work to be in good shape again, she is at least seaworthy now.  And so the vessel sails on through the night, finally reaching Sritivara at noon of the next day.Next Time: Our heroes stumble into a chance at one of their collective long-term goals- a halfling war wagon!</blockquote>

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