For the second time in two days, Irene set out from the Elucidate. For Arzin it was his first time stepping out into this strange new world. At first blush, it was not as alien as one expected. The Elucidate jutted up crookedly from what looked very similar to earth back in Aleteros. The surrounding terrain was rocky and barren and while a geologist may have pointed out a dozen oddities, to the layman's eye these rocks and boulders were no so different.

While there was no trail left by the mage Faldra they were following after, the smoke on the horizon served as a clear beacon for where they were going. So they marched. There was no path and the two scrambled over rocks and gulleys, but thankfully their path did lead to any cliffs and for Arzin it was an easy enough hike even in his rattling layers of metal. Irene, her feet still sore from all the walking the day before, found the hiking no easier today and it was slow going. (OOC: Sorry, Irene! Low physicality does not make for speedy travels!) The only saving grace was that the mages they were following were likely no athletes themselves so they likely weren't losing ground. Ahead of them the rising plume of smoke grew closer.

It was late afternoon when the two climbed yet another rocky hill and before them spread out a valley and the surprising source of that smoke. Below them a valley of jagged rocks spread out before them and marooned upon those rocks was a great metal vessel. It looked much like a ship for sailing the seas, but its hull was metal and not wood. There were not masts and a sail atop it, but instead two tall chimneys and from one of them was rising up the dark black plume of smoke. This ship did not seem to be a new resident of this valley, its hull was a deep burnt orange from rust and the earth all about the ship was stained the same color. The sides of the ship were gouged, as though it had been dragged across the rocks, and left jagged black holes leading deeper inside the vessel.

This was also where they found the first signs of their fellow mages. On the rise beside them the air held a hazy circle of mist. Down below they could just make out an identical hazy circle on the deck of the ship. It looked like the mages had taken a more direct route onto the vessel. Waving a hand through did not make it react, it appeared that only the mage who created it could use that route. It seemed they would have to take the hard way.

Climbing carefully down the rocky slope, they reached the bottom of the valley, the ship was now looming over them. The size of the thing was staggering up close. The Elucidate could easily lay comfortably inside it. But there was a more pressing concern. As they neared the ship movement caught their eye. Along the gutted bottom of the ship, two shapes emerged from the jagged holes in the hull. They looked human in that they had two arms, two legs, a head, but the way they moved was like an animal. They crept along the ground on their hands and feet, they scratched at the earth and raised their heads to sniff at the air. Their skin was a mixture of deathly pale where they weren't smeared with soot. What little clothes they wore were tattered rags.

Yes, the members of the Elucidate were certainly not alone in this new world.

OOC: I also forgot to mention it in the other thread, but go ahead and declare your spellbook that you've prepared for this adventure in your first post.

~No two ways about it -- being outside and on the march again feels good,~ Arzin thought to himself as he trudged along. Admittedly, the fact that the sun was shining and was not so strong as to be scorching his metal breastplate played a rather large part in the ex-soldier's good humor -- had it  been rainy with a cold, biting wind that found all the nooks and crannies in his armor, there likely would have been a scowl instead of a smile on his face.

Arzin himself would be the first to tell you that he was no tracker. He had heard tell of men and women in the army who had been assigned as scouts and pathfinders (who had likely been poachers and backwoodsmen in civilian life) who could, as the story went, track a lizard across a bare rock. Arzin thought that most likely such tales had grown with the telling (after all, why let Truth get in the way of a good story?), but there was no denying that the scouts and pathfinders had possessed a talent that he did not.

Luckily, (at least in that respect) no tracking was necessary, for the smoke that they could see made a great smudge in the sky, and gave the twosome an easy aim-point. Of course there was a possibility that Faldra had changed her mind -- military campaigning had taught Arzin that circumstances often had a way of altering even the best thought-out plans -- but he reckoned that he and Irene could not know whether the other mages had indeed aimed for the source of the smoke without first going there and seeing things for themselves.

It had not escaped Arzin's notice that Irene seemed to be a trifle sore-footed (undoubtedly  result of her previous day's exertions) and that she was seemingly not accustomed to setting a fast pace. But he knew that she was doing the best that she could, and that was all that one could ask of another.

Unsure of whether the female mage would accept his assistance, he offered her his hand whenever the going became especially rocky or when they needed to make their way down one side of a ravine and up The Far Side OOC: (sadly, not finding any wonderful cartoons there, for their amusement), leaving it up to Irene as to whether she would take advantage of his offerings.

The sun had not yet touched the horizon, although it was definitely on the downside of its daily journey across the sky, when Arzin halted atop a hillock that he had just climbed, and gazed down into a valley laid out before them. He looked on in wonder as the glimpsed the great metal vessel that was the source of the smoke that they had seen, and took in its rust-laden and weathered condition.

"Well . . ." he muttered to Irene, "mystery solved. At least one, although methinks we may well discover more before all is said and done."

"I wonder how it came to be here," he continued, "and how long it has been here? It seems that it had no way of returning to whence it came."

Arzin noted the odd mist that occupied a portion of the hillock where he and Irene stood, and spied a similar circle of mist down on the deck of the great vessel. ~Mage-doings, no doubt,~ he thought to himself. ~Irene knows more about such things than do I, I feel certain.~

"Let's get down there," he said to Irene, "where we shall see what we may see . . . and learn what we might learn."

Once down on the floor of the valley, as the twosome neared the vessel, things became even more interesting -- if one enjoys a frisson of danger as a seasoning to flavor their exploration, that is -- as the two humanoid-looking, animalistic-moving figures burst out of a hole in the vessel's hull and loped towards Irene and Arzin.

"Get behind me," he hissed, quickly slipping the leather straps of his shield onto his left forearm, then drawing his blade with a sibilant, rasping hiss of its own -- not unlike a fast-striking snake issuing from its burrow -- and taking a step towards the new arrivals.

"Let us see if cold steel gives them pause . . . at least, until we see whether they mean us harm."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Sat 09 Mar.

Irene hated the ground. And her feet. And most of all walking. She didn't understand why she just had to know what was producing the smoke. Maybe Irene had hoped it was some sort of mass sacrifice she could draw power from or other mages that had intentionally traveled to this plane some years  back? She'd have to check her notebooks cause she certainly didn't recall thinking this to be a good idea. Then again nothing had left like a good idea since the expidtion had gone sideways [aside from her circle of course, that was a great idea].

At first Irene would glower at each of the Solidier's offered hands. Yes, he had better physical prowess then her but he didn't need to show off! She was a great and powerful mage! If she was at full power, she could have made him rot and feel every second of it till he was just goo! However, her tune changed when they were further along and she was incapable of getting over without help. All the while Irene's face remained as plain as a human's [or corpse's] face could be. Not showing Arzin even the slightest hint she was insulted by his help; other than the fact she didn't except it.

Upon arriving at the craggy ravine Irene would whip out a notebook and peacock quill. She'd furiously scribble down her musings, questions, and its general look. She was vaguely aware of the Soldier having said something when she closed it. "hmmm? I-" Irene would try to think of something generic to say the would hopefully fit what he said. "I wonder if its the work of mages. I can imagine a few working something like this for defense."

Getting down was almost worse than getting there in the first place. They thankfully made it, but Irene felt like a casting circle stretched too far.

Upon seeing the creatures Irene's immediate reaction was to push the solider forward, run a distance, and construct her circle. It came as a shock to her when the solider pushed him self forward. Irene was further surprised with the eloquence in which the solidier spoke his plan. She wasn't one of those mages that automatically assumed commoners were less then her for not having magic. But it was definitely odd for one to speak like that. "Seems ideal, perhaps we should attempt greeting before stabbing?"

Declaration:
Decay
Don't break the circle
This message was last edited by the player at 05:22, Mon 11 Mar.

There was a brief moment of hestitation to see if these...people? were friends or foe. That was quickly answered when one of the things came loping at them at a sprint, its hands and feet kicking up rusty dust in its charge. The other raised its head and gave an undulating cry from its throat. Moments later this was answered by another, then another, then another, till a whole chorus of warbling cries filled the air. The other voices seemed to be echoing out from the gutted vessel. It seemed that these two were alone, not by a long shot.

The one charging at Arzin reached him and lunged. Up close you could get a better look at this thing and any urge to call it human dissipated. Its face had all the proper features of a man, but the snarl twisting its visage wiped away any semblance of humanity and those eyes held only savage rage. Dark ichor stained its lower mouth and jaw and continued down its chest, one shuddered to think of what substance that might have been. (Well, perhaps Irene did not so much shudder.) A few dirty rags hung off the creature, but seemed less garments then cloth detritus still clinging  to its body. Those hands outstretched towards Arzin had sharpened nails ready to tear into his flesh, but a quick slash from the soldiers blade sent the horror falling back. A clean slide now ran neatly from the creatures collarbone to its rib cage and bled freely.

Falling back, the creature regarded Arzin with a new wariness, but no fear. Only hungry calculations as it now took the sharp blade into account. So perhaps not entirely mindless, which was all the worse.

The second creature had lowered its head and ceased its cry and was now loping forward to join its comrade. In the background the warbling cries were dying away one by one, but the growing quiet did not offer any reassurance.

Combat

Strange Savage - 3/5 HP
Strange Savage - 5/5 HP

His face fixed in a rictus of repulsion, Arzin met the creature that charged at him with the blade of his sword. Longswords -- the ex-soldier's weapon of choice -- could be used for stabbing, but worked better when used to slash at one's foes. Arzin, of course, knew this, and he used his blade accordingly.

~I need to dispatch these two quickly,~ he thought to himself, ~considering that I hear more of these things nearby -- most likely within the hull of the vessel. Irene and I need to be be gone from this spot afore those others arrive. If we can accomplish that, mayhap the late arrivals will fall upon the bodies of these first two and gorge themselves, rather than pursuing us.~

"Irene -- we can't be caught here, in the open -- by the others that we can hear answering the calls of these two. 'Twill be the death of us, if that happens. Can you see if there is a way for us to get up onto the deck of the vessel, along with the other mages?"

"Failing that, see if you can spot a good defensive position down here on the ground -- something that will limit how many of the things can come at us at one time."

Arzin could spare no attention for such things, however, for he was too busy with his blade-work and shield-work, alternately striking out with cold steel and blocking with his shield in an effort to keep the slavering jaws of their foes away from his flesh.

When the opportunity presented itself, he pressed one of their attackers aggressively with a strong attack, intending to kill it outright -- or, at the least, put it out of the battle.

~If I can kill one -- or at the least, severely injure it -- mayhap its erstwhile companion will stop and feed upon it, rather than pursuing us . . . low-hanging fruit, and all that.~

---

OOC: Arzin will mount an "Exploit the Weakness" attack, hoping to kill one of his attackers outright. Since this is a powerful Move, he will strike at the uninjured attacker.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:53, Tue 12 Mar.

Irene wasn't particularly fond of her companion stating the obvious as if she were some silly frightened mage. But he had a point. Irene would begin her search for a an entrance to the boat. Maybe I can locate some easier-to-scale spike in this sea. Irene would search hard as well as looking at the bases of the spikes, anything that would make for good cover, but wasn't just them backed against a wall.

"We're likely to be surrounded soon so if theres a possibility you could rush your knife games, that'd be great." Irene didn't mean her words to be a jab; more of a request since she wasn't aware of Arzin's level of talent. Though this was hard to decipher so there was no tone to her words.

OOC:Irene looks for usefulness in their surroundings.

Displaying his prowess, Arzin met the charging savage with an expert swing of his sword. In one precise slice he dropped the beast-man. It stumbled past him, carried by the momentum before it had fully realized it was dead. The wounded savage was worked into a lather from its injury and heedless of the death that had been so expertly administered, it launched towards Arzin's exposed flank. Its scrabbling claws raked across the thick plate armor and while it found a few chinks to scratch at soft flesh, it only managed superficial damage (-1 HP to Arzin)

Leaving the mundane violence to the soldier, Irene looked for points of ingress. There was a wealth of options available, it was only a matter of choosing.

The Gutted Hull: The easily and most obvious entrance was the torn open hull of the ship where these savages had come out. It was also where the answering cries from presumably other savages had come. It would be an easy matter to walk in, but who know what awaited them in the darkness.

Fallen Anchor: Near the front of the ship an anchor had been dropped and the great iron hook sat on the rocky valley floor. It's chain offered a way to climb up onto the ship, though it would be a challenging physical endeavor.

Rusted Ladder: At the back of the ship there as actually a ladder built onto the metal hull of the ship, presumably for anyone who happened to fall overboard. It would be a relatively easy climb as it was intended for just that purpose, but the deep orange hue of the rust thickly coating the vessel made one wonder how safe those rungs were.

Combat

Strange Savage - 3/5 HP
Strange Savage - Dead

~One down, one to go,~ Arzin thought to himself as his sword-stroke nearly took the head off of one of the creatures that was attacking him.

His hope that the second creature would decide to feed upon the carcass of its companion did not come to pass, and he grunted in pain as his foe found a spot where its talons could reach his flesh.

"Forgive me, Princess," he retorted when Irene exhorted him to kill their foes more quickly. "Sorry to disappoint."

It reminded him a time during the war when a young, full-of-himself lieutenant upbraided him for slashing a foeman a bit too strongly with his blade, "Because, don't you know, old chap, this is a brand-new uniform, and I did so wish to keep it clean -- and blood is so, so difficult to wash out of fabric. So bloody difficult, one might say, ho ho!"

"If you can spot a way into the ship or up onto its deck -- or a defensive postion --  go ahead and move to it. I'll be along as soon as I finish up here."

---

OOC: Arzin will try to finish (or drive off) the remaining attacker with a "normal" attack (i.e., not expending one of his "Combat Move" attacks this Round).

It seems to me that Arzin's attention will be fixed on the creatures that he is fighting. Accordingly, he will follow Irene's lead in picking a means of entering the ship (or climbing up onto its deck) :).

With the hole in the side of the ship looking too dangerous an option, Arzin and Irene fought their way to the ladder at the back of the ship. The savage hounded each step, warily hanging back and then lunging forward any time it thought Arzin's attention had wavered. This tactic was a mistake though. The savage in its covering of rags and soot made for a far easier target than Arzin in his second skin of metal plating. While he managed to land a few more scratches (-1 HP Arzin) it ultimately cost him his life and one of the thrusts from the blade struck true and the beast collapsed to the ground.

Reaching the ladder, Arzin and Irene hurried up hand over hand. Irene had gone first as Arzin had been dealing with their harrier, even with her skeletal frame she could feel the metal of the bars have an ominous give. Behind her the metal groaned in protest at Arzin's considerably heavier bulk. Halfway up they froze as beneath them the situation changed. A half dozen more of the savages poured out from the vessel. They darted about the rusted fields, hurrying over to the bodies of their fallen compatriots. There Arzin's suspicions proved true. They didn't check on their fallen allies, or try to tend to them, they set upon them with tooth and claw and voraciously started to devour them. The feeding frenzy lasted a few minutes and gradually tapered off. Then they dragged what remained of the bodies back into the belly of the ship. They hadn't even bothered to look up.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Irene and Arzin resumed climbing. They were near the top when disaster struck. Grabbing a rail, Arzin felt the metal give way, only his quick reflexes allowed him to grab the next rung up. That one too started to give away. The two were left scrambling to climb higher. They eventually heaved themselves over the railing of the ship. Behind them four rungs were either hanging from a few bolts or torn away entirely. There was no going back that way.

Atop the ship was deserted. There were a few doors that seemed to lead towards the interior of the vessel and what looked like the captains deck was a raised vantage not far from them. There was still no signs of Faldra or the other mage, given the enormous size of this vessel that was unsurprising. At least the magical shimmer at the opposite end of the ship provided a starting point for the search. But was finding the mages the only priority now? Were there answers that could be found as to why this great vessel was even here in a dry rocky valley? And how much time was there to search for either the mages or those answers? Give the size of this ship, it seemed highly likely that there was more than just six more of those savages.

Irene would slightly raise her eye brow at Arzin's comment. "I've had people assume I'm a noble but royalty is a first. Despite your upbringing I would hope you'd know the royal family and their basic descriptions. Also theres no disappointment, I was merely asking a question." the raised eyebrow was the only thing that really suggested confusion. The rest of her was as remarkably monotone as ever.

After Arzin told her to go without him she would respond. "Alright then theres a ladder in the back of the boat that seems like our best bet, I'll be headed there."

Once up the ladder, Irene would collapse to the ground and breathe deeply. That had been a little too trying on her extra air inhaling lungs. After a moment she'd pull herself together and sit up. "I think we should search the upper area first since those imatative humans were pouring out from beneath the boat. How about you?" Irene would ask. Had she actually expressed emotion, Irene's face would be smug. See solidier? This is how you work with others, you don't just give them orders.

Arzin was breathing heavily by the time that he reached the deck of the big ship. It was not so much that he had gone up a ladder, pulling up both his own body-weight and the weight of his armor . . . aye, he was heavy, but after wearing his armor day in and day out for as long as he had, his muscles were used to it.

No, it was feeling the rungs of the ladder giving way under his feet. Well, that and the mental image of himself falling backwards, falling to the ground below. He knew that he would land heavily -- it might kill him if he landed badly, but it would almost certainly knock the breath out of him.

And those . . . creatures, whatever they were -- they would swarm all over him before he could get to his feet, or do anything else to defend himself. And they would rip, and they would tear . . .

Luckily, however, none of that came to pass. Arzin was able to haul himself up onto the deck just as another rung of the ladder had given a loud metallic groan of protest and twisted under his feet. He slowly made his way over to the rail of the ship and sank down onto the deck where he sat down, using the rail to brace his back.

Irene had selected the ladder out of the various options that were available to them, and once he had thought about it a moment, he had agreed with her choice. He still did, even after the struggle to haul themselves up and reach the deck -- the other two options seemed even worse, to his way of thinking.

"The upper area -- oh, by all means," he said in reply to Irene's recommendation as to where they should begin their search. Arzin glanced towards the odd shimmering down at the far end of the deck -- it put him in mind of heat waves rising up from sand dunes on a blistering-hot summer's day.

He nodded in that direction with his head. "I'm guessing that Faldra and the mages who are with her had something to do with that heat-wave-looking shimmering over there. Do you know what sort of magicks would have caused something like that?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Sat 16 Mar.

The top of the ship was vast, but flat and held few features so that made the choices for searching it simple enough. The raised deck where the captain commanded the vessel was the most obvious starting place. Climbing a set of creaking metal steps, they entered a sheltered compartment that looked out over the front of the ship. There had likely been protective glass there before but it was long gone and had exposed the deck to the elements leaving it in as bad of shape as the rest of the vessel.

But was this truly the head of the ship? There was no wheel to steer the vessel. Instead at the front they found a rusted panel that was covered in buttons and levers.

There were connected quarters coming off this main deck at the back of the chamber. Clearly living quarters, it was a safe guess that they once housed the captain of the vessel based on the single bed and spacious area, though wood paneling in the room had dried and cracked, curtains had rotted and windows had shattered leaving only a ghost of its former self.

There were drawers to be found in a haphazardly leaning desk and poking inside these did turn up some documents. Most of them crumbled away at the slightest touch, but one leatherbound tome was sealed up on all sides. Carefully undoing the clasp, it opened to reveal a mostly intact document. The language it was written in was indecipherable, the lettering was like nothing they had ever seen before, but there was no doubt it was words. It seemed to be a log book of sorts. Deciphering it may shed some light on the mysteries of this place, but it would take considerable effort to do so given how utterly strange those shapes and symbols were.

Anything else of value here had been consumed by time and neglect.

Leaving the captains quarters and heading back out onto the deck, the two walked the great length of the ship towards one of the doors leading below. On the way they saw some remains of rotting rope still tied off, bits of canvas or cloth here or there. It looked like there had once been more features on this upper deck, but they had been scrubbed away by wind and rain. Even the door leading below was missing. However, the plume of greasy black smoke rising up from one of the chimneys said that not everything here was dead. At the top of the stairs they could hear creaking, rattling, dripping and the occasional muffled bang echoing up from below.


Descending a few paces, you find yourselves on a catwalk. It stretches off to the left and right, then branches again, and again. Dull orange lights were intermittently scattered throughout these catwalks and offered some light, but left sizable pools of darkness. This continued far below you, it was almsot like looking down into dull stars below. The size of this ship was staggering. It could take weeks to explore. But exploration wasn't their purpose for being here, not this time.

However, there were two things that caught your attention and offered places to begin your search:

The Dull Rumble: Somewhere near the back of the ship you could hear a rumble. It vibrated up through the metal scaffolding and certainly drew ones attention. This steady rumble was pervasive and impossible to miss, it might have caught Faldra's attention and perhaps inspired her to investigate, perhaps she could be found there.

Bang!: In the opposite direction, towards the front of the ship, there came a suddenly loud bang, it almost sounded like some sort of hollow metal being dropped on metal. A few moments later there came a terrible scream that cut off almost as quickly as it started.

Arzin had to remember to close his mouth several times during his and Irene's exploration of the great vessel, in that he was prone to jaw-dropping amazement. Not only was it massive in size, but there were things about it that hinted at advancements that were far beyond anything that the man-at-arms had seen before.

Up at the front of the ship, for example, instead of finding the remnants of a great wooden wheel that the helmsman would have used to steer the ship, there was a rusted steel panel that contained an incomprehensible series of buttons and levers. Shaking his head in wonderment, Arzin could not begin to comprehend how such things might be used to guide the vessel.

Arzin had entered what appeared to be the Captain's cabin with high hopes -- hopes that were dashed upon the rocks of disappointment, as the twosome found neither great riches nor further amazements therein. They did, however, find something that might, in time, offer much to the discerning reader -- unfortunately, not at the present time, however.

"Gibberish!" Arzin announced after carefully examining a few of the pages that had apparently been kept safe from the elements by their leather cover. "How very rude of these people to use a language -- or a code, mayhap -- that good, civilized folk such as us cannot comprehend."

After allowing Irene an opportunity to examine the book to her heart's content, he said "Mayhap the best thing to do is to carry this volume back to the Tower. Mayhap one of the other mages might be familiar with the gibberish that is written in it. Or . . . are there magicks that would allow someone to read or understand languages that are otherwise unknown to them?"

"In any event, unless you wish to lug this volume hither and yon, I shall just place it in my backpack, for safekeeping."

Heading down into the darkened innards of the ship gave Arzin pause, but after a moment's thought he concluded that there was naught else up on the top deck that was worthy of further exploration. And oh, by the way, they had seen no further signs of Faldra or the other mages whom they had been sent to find, so the ex-soldier concluded that their quarry must have come to the same conclusion about traipsing down into the interior of the vessel.

"I'll take the lead," he offered just before heading down a short flight of stairs that gave access to a catwalk that disappeared into the dimness. As Arzin proceeded (and preceded), he found strange lights that gave a dull orange illumination to various portions of the metal scaffolding upon which the twosome walked -- whether they were fashioned from magicks or by means of some manner of advanced craftsmanship with which he was unfamiliar, Arzin had nary a clue -- he knew only that he was grateful for the (admittedly infrequent) pools of light that they provided.

Soon enough Arzin's forward progress came to an abrupt halt as he heard two very different sounds -- a persistent dull rumbling that sounded as if it came from the back end of the ship, and a loud, metallic-sounding  "Clang!" -- quickly followed by a blood-curdling scream -- that, as near as Arzin could tell came from the other end of the ship.

Arzin's left hand flew up into the air in a universal "Halt" signal (well . . . universal amongst soldiers of all nations), and he froze in place. He cocked his head in the manner of a hound who had heard an odd sound that he could not place, and listened in silence for a moment. The dull rumbling from the rear of the vessel continued, but there was  nothing further to be heard from the other direction.

Turning to face Irene, Arzin said "To my way of thinking, that scream demands quicker investigation than the dull rumbles that impart no great urgency, it seems to me."

"What say ye?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:48, Sun 17 Mar.

"I believe that is the working of Fadra's crew. Its a form of teleportation magic, likely how they got over. Its also aviavlble for re-use so its probably there escape plan as well." Irene would say, answering Arzin's question.

Irene would search the deck throughly for anything of use, and for the most part there seemed to be nothing. She supposed it made sense that just about everything would be mulch, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. She couldn't deny the spark of excitement she felt when they did find something. However Irene's joy was quickly squashed by the solidier.

"Don't judge the gone so harshly. Tis not their fault you can't read the script. And I highly suggest you don't lump me in with 'good folk' such as yourself." Irene didn't know why but something rasied her ire upon being called 'good, civilized folk'. Mayhaps it was the fact she'd spent many a year cultivating a reputation as a horrifying mage that wasn't to be trifled with.

"Yes I think there is somebody that could cast something and translate this gibberish." Irene would say this and nod her agreement with the idea of him putting the tome in his backpack.

As they walked cross the decks and towards the stairs, Something would catch Irene's eye. Scratch marks-nay, tallies, tallies that stretched far too long for her liking. They had an eeriness to them that would usually comfort Irene, but they didn't. Irene thought she could brave whatever horrors this plane threw at her. Seeing as how she'd seen them all back on her home plane. But the more those things happened, the less... right, they felt.

Irene would take a moment to study the tallies, see if there was any other kinds of scratches that might be of use. If there weren't, Irene would go down the stairs with Arzin.

While Irene was fascinated by the dull thrum and wanted to investigate it far more then the terrified scream. But she knew that they should probably focus on thier real task of finding the other mages. "I say your a dreadfully frustrating solider and you should lead on to the trouble."

Deciding that a scream was a more pressing cause for investigation, the two made their way towards the front of the ship. It was a long trek and dark in many places where those cold orange lights were gone out. Several times they heard other things moving in the dark, but they did not encounter anyone else before they found what they were looking for. It was the mages they spotted first. Two huddle forms leaned over the catwalk and intently watching below. Faldra's silver eyes were distinct, even in the dim light. The pair didn't notice Arzin and Irene till the two were nearly upon them, then flinched back and cold white light flared in Faldra's hand and illuminated the four of them brightly. Her face was a mask of frantic panic and it seemed she was moments away from unleashing that destructive power directly into Arzin's face before she recognized him. It was probably fortunate that he had gone first and not Irene with her deathly visage. The light winked out and Faldra took a few shaky breaths. Not saying anything, she motioned the two to look below.

Across from them and lining the walls were rows and rows and rows of metal capsules, each with a glass front. Was that a shadow inside? Yes, where the orange lights fell more brightly upon the capsules you could make out what appeared to be a silhouette of a head and shoulders. Each one seemed to hold a person, and there were hundreds upon hundreds of them. Down below the floor in this chamber was obscured as it was covered in piles of these capsules that seemed to have fallen down. However, unlike the ones suspended above, the ones on the floor were open. Bones were scattered amongst the capsules and one of the ones on top held a freshly mauled body. It was little more than bones and viscera. A few of the savages that Irene and Arzin had met earlier were still picking through the remaining bits of meat. It seemed easy enough to guess what had happened, but Faldra left nothing to doubt.

"They ate him," she hissed, "the thing fell down, the lid popped open and at least a dozen of those... those things, they set on him like wild dogs! Some of them even turned on each other! And there are more of them, this ship is infested! Tell them!" The last was directed at her compatriot.

The other mage cleared his throat and in a barely discernable whisper said, "I cast a spell, one for quick estimations, there are hundreds of them. Hundreds on hundreds."

"And we're less than a days walk away from the Elucidate." Faldra said, her voice thick with intensity, "And if Eldereth had us sitting on our hands we'd have no idea there was a horde of hungry monsters sitting practically on our doorstep!"

The mages had been found, but more importantly, so had the terrible discovery of this ship and its horrific cargo. First flesh hungry spirits, now flesh hungry hordes. This 'uninhabited' realm was proving quite crowded, but what everyone seemed to have in common was an appetite. The mission was complete and now it was a matter of getting this information back to the Elucidate.

New Place of Interest is now Available for Exploration!

The Beached Ship: A landlocked ship that has been ravaged by the elements, but still holds treasures inside. Whoever built this seems to have progressed along a very different path than the Aleterans and who knows what goods are hidden away there. However, the ship is riddled with cannibalistic people. Exploring here will involve great amounts of physical danger and the chance of being overrun if you're not careful. Come prepared with combat and attention avoidance spells!

The Spoils of the Beached Ship

Flintlock Splendor: Amongst wreckage of the ship you come across a device that fills your whole hand with a trigger that fits neatly into your finger. Pulling that trigger is like unleashing an avalanche and the whole thing kicked hard enough in your hand to leave it numb while the end spat fire and metal. Truly a grand, if ineloquent, weapon.
Enchantment Slot: Black Powder Pistol - Once per adventure you can fire a shot that does devastating damage. You must return to the Elucidate to reload it.

Distraction, Distraction!: Exploring the beached ship and discovering its terrible occupants has driven home that sometimes its better to avoid a fight than meet the enemy head on. A well placed distraction can be just the thing to avoid unwanted attention.
New Spell (or Move): Create Distraction - You create a distraction of some sort to divert attention. You may determine the flavor of this distraction on a case by case basis. (This spell/move is more effective than doing so without it)

Soft Shoed: Hearing the quiet 'thump thump thump' of things moving about in the dark has brought attention to your own clanking and banging. Sometimes the best defense is to go unnoticed. You learn to take extra care to mask your sounds and avoid attention.
Passive: Quiet Step - You move quietly. You're move likely to catch enemies unaware and to avoid notice.

Rusted Gears and Weathered Bolts: The composition of the ruined ship was wildly different than anything that the Aleteran mages had brought, but that meant there was value in the exotic elements and goods.
Materials: Gain 3 Materials for projects.

"Most of it is not mine," Arzin said, waving a hand towards the streaks of blood that stained his breastplate.

"But I am touched by your concern," he added with heavy sarcasm. Faldra, of course, had shown no concern whatsoever upon sighting him -- indeed, he suspected that she had been a few short heartbeats away from setting him on fire -- or whatever sort of nasty magicks she had come very close to unleashing on him.

The scene below brought a scowl to the ex-soldier's face. Apparently one of the capsules that appeared to contain people had been breached, and the feral creatures that had attacked Irene and him had simply devoured the poor unfortunate who had been inside. ~Like ravenous foxes getting into a henhouse and breaking open the eggs,~ he thought to himself. Arzin assumed that the sounds that he had heard not so long ago had been the container breaking open, and the screams of the victim as he had been set upon and torn limb from limb.

~The poor fellow was eaten alive -- not a good way to go.~

"Aye, we need to bring all that you have discovered to the attention of Eldereth," Arzin agreed after Faldra had spoken. "Discovering all this was well-done on your part."

"Now, then," he continued. "I have two questions. Did you discover any trace of the two Navigators whom you were seeking? And can your teleportation magicks get us back to the Tower, do you suppose?"

"I am loathe to travel by foot with those creatures down there possibly trailing us, unless it absolutely cannot be avoided."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:35, Tue 19 Mar.

Irene would look down at the body, fingers twitching. It was a perfectly good corpse just... lying there. Begging to be resurrected, but she couldn't do it. When she tried to cast resurrection, the staple spell of necromancy, nothing happened, the fingers not so much as twitching. "stultus, putris, fera magicae victum meum exterminans." Irene would vibrantly cuss, the only real sign of her anger at being unable to do her job.

"I agree with th-Arzin. Though I would prefer we leave this place before we start any proper disscussion." Irene would say, telling herself it was safety reasons and not because of her magic issues. To help convince her self it was because of safety Irene would go up the stairs as quietly as possible, as if she were soft shoed. Despite the fact that she was wearing hard leather boots.