Four Elves Take A Ship

[Auroa]

Auroa smiles down upon Kal'esril knowingly. Having heard the same arguments from the younger dedicates within the temple when she was going through her training. The star elf waits till Kal'esril enters reverie then she focuses on her plate trying the foods in many different ways to work out the most beauty from the meal she can.

While the others speak of rest, the cleric's mind sighs restlessly as she fights the urge to pull up her walls. Thinking of the sadness that must dwell in one's heart to view life so darkly. 'That poor elf' she thinks to herself as she works over the last thing Kal'esril spoke before he entered into reverie. She had no doubt about his meaning but the power of beauty is that it can sprout forth in many forms. Her smile glitters as she thinks of the beautiful songs of fallen hero's, of the lives that they saved lives which later created much beauty themselves, and the beauty of dreams, lovers, and life. As the lavender one slowly eases back into reverie she prays;

'Lady of the golden heart guide my hands to soothe the hurt in others, to forge bonds stronger then mitheral with my companions, to spread good will, and to fill this ship with beauty.'

(( I want to roll diplomacy checks on all companions especially Kal'esril in order to gain insight on how to proceed. So I can steer their outlook of Auroa in as favorable of a direction as possible.))

[Warlord]

((OoC)): Sorry about the long wait.

The sounds of running feet, the muffled cries of the Officer of the Watch, and the sounds of wood on wood as portions of the deck were covered, opened, or merely pushed aside. The ship listed heavily but in a leisurely way that said high seas but that the storm had passed. No, something else was going on and the tone of the Watch Captain's voice said it was serious.

((ST)): There is a new posting order based on ST rolled initiatives. Lysan, Kal'esril, Auroa, then Illyrana. Familiars and Companions act on their relevant character's turn. Welcome to your first combat challenge (yes, there have been other challenges before this one)!

[Lysan Cloud]

The noise, shouts and increased activity topside bring Lysan out of Reverie in a snap. Almost without thinking, he grabs his new bow and sets an arrow as he turns to face the door. Without looking to see who was already moving, he says, "Sounds like trouble. Should we go topside?"

[Kal'esrïl Melarn]

Kal'esril and Fir'us were both moving right along with Lysan. With Lysan closer to the door Kal had to come up on him from behind, just in time to hear his question. "Yes, they would have awoken us if we were about to be boarded and there would be an alarm bell if they had been boarded by surprise and were now in combat." He paused as he reached for the door, looking back at Lysan as his hand made contact with the latch. "And if they are preparing to betray us... well, I do not want to be in an extra-dimensional space when that happens, do you?" He smiled a predator's smile and exited, Fir'us woofed at Lysan before following Kal out and toward the main deck.

[Auroa]

Auroa's eyes snap open at Fir'us's bark. The cleric sits up straddling the hammock. She dismounts gracefully and without a word. Her smile still upon her face but now it seems muted like a candle beneath a shade. The rest of her appears a little translucent as her body seems to sparkle. A lavender hand goes toward the golden pendent, while her mind readies itself to enter the chaos outside their room. She silently glides after the dog.

[Ilyrana Sevayni]

Ilyrana was torn from reverie by the sounds of life, or rather the potential end of it coming from above them. Thank goodness the wizard hadn't engaged some charm to make the sounds of the ship disappear to make the place more hospitable, or else they might not have heard at all.

Seeing the others rise, she did too, taking the staff in hand without a word. She did send a nudge to her companion though. In case you are interested, there's more than seagulls and rats running amok to sink your teeth and claws into.

She took a slow breath and calmed herself enough to focus as she followed the others. She wasn't sure at all in regards to any of their combat abilities nor their abilities to work together in combat, but what better time to test them now, in open waters and with little chance of tactical retreats?

Postive thoughts Illyrana- she told herself. She sent a prayer to Rillifane Ralathil that she didn't die before getting a chance to truly regret this endeavor and brought up the rear of the party as she went up.

[Warlord]

On the deck of the ship it looked like somebody had kicked over an ant hill. Sailors, more than they had laid eyes on thus far, were moving in a choreographed dance of preparations. The captain, for all of his lack of size, was bellowing from the quarter deck for the sailors to move faster and to attend to what ever detail had caught his attention at the time. There was a Half-Orc standing at mid ship, dressed almost as well as the captain, with his hands folded calmly behind his back while a half dozen men in leather armor baring swords and bows stood at attention before him. The Half-Orc and his marines were waiting patiently in the only spot that didn't seem to be a center of activity for the sailors. Half-elves and Humans clamored into the rigging while larger Humans and Half-Orcs hauled on lines.

The Captain disappeared from the railing as he drew out a spyglass. Moments later he could be heard, even above the clamor of wind, men, and rigging, cursing at no one in particular but with passion. A particular small human atop the main mast can be seen looking toward the rear of the ship through another spyglass. "She's attempting to steal our wind cap'n, and she's running out oars." The human cried down, to be answered with, "I CAN BLOODY WELL SEE THAT!!! FIND THEIR WIZARD!!!"

[Lysan Cloud]

Seeing the activity and hearing the urgency in the captain's voice, Lysan heads toward the rigging, thinking to head up toward the crow's nest, if there is room.

"Captain, who are they? Pirates?", he calls out on the way.

[Kal'esrïl Melarn]

Kal'esril started toward the Marines but stopped short during the shouting. They were being pursued by a ship, not being attacked by an aquatic threat. He pulled a hard about face and neatly danced through the moving sailors he had found himself amidst. Kal quickly made his way to the quarterdeck via practically jumping up the steps three at a time until he stood beside the captain. Sharp crimson eyes looked out through the gloomy blackness of night on the dancing water, keeping his balance on the rocking deck almost instinctively. A massive red flag waved in the air over the heads of the Drow and Half-Drow, baring the symbol of House Melarn upon it.

The smile that blossoms on Kal'esril's face is as predatory an expression as anyone had ever seen. His voice was quiet, and wouldn't carry to the rigging where Lysan was, but the captain and anyone else on the quarterdeck could hear him if they were listening. "No, not pirates. Much better." He turned and leaped from the quarterdeck to one of the aft rigging nets, swung to shed some momentum, and dropped to the main deck back on his path to the Sergeant at Arms and his Marines. Kal looked more alive than ever.

[Auroa]

Auroa finds herself admits a swelling mass of chaos finding one of the few places on the deck where she is not in the way. Her ghostly grey eyes slowly gaze around surveying the panic around her trying to locate the healer/ medic and where to put the wounded. 'Avoiding this confrontation seems impossible' the star elf thinks as her gaze falls upon the soldiers. While she catches a flitting movement out of the corner of her vision as the boys(kal'esril and lysan) play on the rigging reading for battle.

((st: spot check to find the medic))

[Ilyrana Sevayni]

Ilyrana headed up the stairs to the main area without looking back to see if Nikxor followed. He was his own creature, and when she remembered that, they worked well together.

It was confusion and mayhem up on deck. People running everywhere. It seemed a bit....too much chaos. Her own tribe would have been more level-headed, at least she thought they would. This wasn't their element at all.

But.....it appeared to be Kalesril's. She'd not seen him so enthused before this. No doubt fighting was what he lived for. Not pirates, but better? What was better?

She frowned, but it seemed everyone else was finding their places of use. An so should she.
When Ilyrana heard the call for someone to locate the other ship's wizard, she moved to the railings to search. Her teal colored eyes narrowed as she did her best to scan the ship. If she knew where the wizard was, maybe she could stop them quickly.

(Spot check/Search to see if I can locate the other ship's wizard.)

[Warlord]

The captain looked out past Kal'esril as the Dark Elf made his proclamation and flitted off. The captain could only sigh at the confirmation of his suspicions. "Aye lasses, not pirates." He breathed the words at Ilyrana before turning to address the winged one. "Zhentarim lord Lysan! Pirates know better!" He turned and stepped to the quarterdeck railing. "That's right you dogs, we have volunteers for a sound drubbing!" The cheer that went up from the crew sounded both more confident and less than they looked, being given without pause in their preparations as it was. He turns to Ilyrana and shrugs. "A group of beings with more power than compassion. Always a bad combination."

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Nikxor was quite suddenly landing on Ilyrana's shoulder, his head tilted and his jewel like eyes directed at the pursuing ship. His scales flushed to match the color of Ily's skin beneath his prickling claws as he turned dubious in his serpentine features. "I don't like this Zhentarim. They smell.... wrong. Like bad water, or turned wine." He wrapped his long tail around her neck for security. "More than one wizard, maintaining more than one spell."

Fir'us, as one could probably guess, sat at Kal'esril's heels as the Drow turned his focus to the armed response to this pursuit.

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{{DM}} Spot Check Result (Medic): There is no medic on deck, nor are there any obvious preparations for a triage point.

{{DM}} Spot Check Results (Wizard): Exceeded challenge by 5+. Multiple Wizards, standing on the approaching warship's forecastle.

{{DM}} There is space in the crow's nest so long as Lysan is mindful of his wings while maneuvering.

[Lysan Cloud]

Reaching the crow's nest, Lysan finds that he has enough room to maneuver if he keeps his wings close in.

Lysan remembered the captain sounding distinctly agitated when wanting to find the enemy wizard, and from the sound of the crew and the captain, these were true enemies, indeed.

Lysan draws his bow (st: quickdraw) and looks down the arrow for the enemy Wizard(s). As soon as he sights one that may be casting or concentrating, (drawing on his experience from the guard. Almost NOONE goes to war/battle without a wizard), he aims.

With a breathed, "Correllon, guide my hand!" he fires at his chosen target.

[Kal'esrïl Melarn]

The Marines began spreading out, their commanding officer toward the rear of the ship and Kal'esril toward it's front. He drew forth the two short blades that he kept strapped to his legs with a twist pull from their sheathes. Fir'us followed close on his heels as apparently was always the case, the hound and its master both moving low to avoid becoming obvious targets for enemy archers. Once there, Kal'esril backed himself into the shadows of the forward rigging lines and attempted to disappear along with his animal companion. Apparently he had an ambush maneuver in mind.

{{Declaring a Hide Check}}

[Auroa]

Auroa noticing there is nothing set up to heal the ugliness about to come forth looks within. She takes a moment to think upon the words of the lady. 'The Ugliness of confrontation can not always be avoided but it can be lessened. While no battle is best a quick one is favorable to a long siege.' The sparkling lady resigns herself 'I can at least help the others end this swiftly.' She wades to the center of the amassing force and readies bless.

{preparing to cast bless when the crew engages the other ship's crew}