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 Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:11 pm
Skye returned to her usual perch up on the mast, she preffered being up there so she could see everything going on down on deck. Settling once again, she surveyed the few new additions to the crew. She wondered if these new people actually knew much about being on a ship. Cain, she was sure would be an excellent first mate. She wasn't so sure of the mecenary though, she seemed capable but Skye wondered how much the lady really knew about how a ship was run. She shookd herself from her wonderings, reprimanding herself for judging people before she really got to know them, "Shouldn't I know better by now?" she asked herself quietly. She looked out to the open sea and wondered how long it would be until they set off. She also wondered what edventures were in store for the rest of the voyage.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 5:59 pm
Rhiannon let her smirk settle into a soft smile as they walked along the deck, a little sheepish to have been so bold to suggest accompanying him. True, she was anything but timid with her sword in hand, but she had always been too busy to care about men. And, she scolded herself, I still don't have time to be bothered. But she would be polite, and she would try to make up for her mistake. And she didn't think she minded his company that much.
"We have only been sailing for a little more than a day, sir. We have only come up from Port Vane, you see, and we have had a favorable wind at our back - magically compelled to continuously fill our sails." She looked up to the many billowing sails, standing gloriously above the deck. This truly was a magnificent ship.
Then her attention was drawn from the ship and the elf to a woman who approached them with a curtsy. She dipped her head in return to the gesture, and tried to smile kindly. Normally, she would not make much effort to appear nice, but Cain's presence made her a little more conscious of her manner. Besides, the girl was polite.
"Greetings, Lila. I am Rhiannon Deleste, and this is our new Quartermaster, First Mate Cain."
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Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 4:20 pm
Ava approached the trio of the Patroness, the mooncalf of an elf lad, and yet another female member of the ship with a calm tolerance. It was a ship, not a miracle, and making friends of those of higher rank was highly overrated. Prove you are an invaluable asset and you will want for little no mater your position.
"Patroness," Ava interrupted in her calm manner, "First Mate," she adressed the young elf with a nod of the head to aknowledge his rank, "I wish to stow away my things. As you know I require lodgings near the main stairwell and access to the weapon holdings of the ship. In addition with my lodgings I would also find the ships current logs and maps most interesting." Her face remained unmoving but her eyes were steely. Aware that the Patroness was in a favorable mood that would be punctured by Ava's mere presence she added, "As requested from my Patron, the Lord Deleste." She realized that this might compromise some of the standard security measures already in place but cared little. A hold near the stairwell insured that she would not become easily trapped within the warrens of the ships bowels in the event of an attack. As far as the weaponry went she was sure that she would find little more than she suspected but needed to asses the defenses. There were several pressing measures to attend to and the detailed schematic of the ship was burning a hole in her pocket.
Fyn, chattering on her shoulder quietly, trained her gaze upwards on the dragon perched upon the mast. The little kufka was adept at keeping track of everything that was not imediatly within Ava's line of sight, but held a special fear for potential enemies at an elevated height. She knew that Ava was empowered with at least one special gift in both sound and sight but she took her partnership as seriously as any small creature could.
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:56 pm
Luft's beak cracks open in a birdy smile. She bobs her head in agreement to Tanyeera's joy. The gryphon rears on her hind talons in excitement and tenses her body to spin around. A flare goes off in her mind, if she twirls then her talons could ruin the deck's wood. Dark brown tipped wings rise to the sky, a feathered fan-like tail balances itself slightly. Luft gently raises her hind legs and seems to hop as she spins, lightly landing all of her talons down. Gray feathers ruffle up and make the aerial huntress appear very fluffy. She raises her legs at a certain angle as the distance between herself and the hertasi. Once Luft is near a sheep she speaks to him, slurring due to her excitement.
"She hasss agrrrrreed to take one. Now I would like mine."
The pupils of her eyes have enlarged due to her focused intensity on the baaing, nervous sheep. After ignoring the lizardman's remark, Luft rises on her hind legs once more and extends her front legs with her talons spread. The long feathers around her neck are raised like a set of defensive pins on a porcupine. Snatching the sheep by its sides, the gryphon chitters before lifting off into the air. She left the dragoness's sheep alone unless she preferred to give in to her more primal instincts.
Gesten hisses softly as he runs a claw through the thick wool of the sheep, watching Luftie lazily. Seeing her approach and having witnessed Tanyeera's glee, the hertasi lets the rope of a sheep slip from his scaly hand.
"You are going to grow fat. Then I shall truly see you as an overgrown pigeon. Don't shred it up too much, I'd like the wool!"
He flinches a bit when the sheep emits a sudden, distressed bleat as it gets hauled into the air by Luft. The hertasi now turns his head to look at the dragon and bows his head in respecting invitation to come get her meal.
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:44 pm
Tanyeera saw Luft wing off with one sheep and hungrily approached the other, just barely managing to control herself and bow back to the hertasi in thanks, before seizing the sheep in her claws and flying up after Luft. She didn't want to get blood all over the nice clean deck of the Seraphim after all.
Once in the air and over the sea, she ignored the sheep's frantic bleating to joyfully chomp into its neck. Sweet land-animal blood flooded into her mouth as well as... fluffiness. The sheep's wooliness was getting in her way.
Hurriedly unclenching her jaws from around the sheep's neck, she spent the next few moments trying to spit the wool out of her mouth as the sheep's struggles grew weaker and weaker. She chided herself for not remembering that sheep were a lot furrier than most other prey and there was a special way of dealing with them.
The now-limp sheep was abruptly tossed high into the air with a quick heave of Tanyeera's forearms and, before it could even start to fall back down, was blasted with a very precise burst of fire from the dragon's maw.
Swooping down after and snagging the now roasted and hairless sheep caracass, Tanyeera ravenously tore into it and closed her eyes in ecstasy. Ah, sweet landfood at last, with the taste of crispy fire on the outside and warm, sweet bloodiness on the inside. Bliss!
After the first few bites, it occured to her to wonder how Luft was getting on. Surely the gryphon was also having trouble with the wooliness? If so, Tanyeera considered volunteering her services to remove the wool as she had done for her own sheep. If Luft did not want her meal fire-touched, Tanyeera thought she could control her flame quite carefully to at least reduce the wooliness.
She looked around, sheep still clutched in her claws and dripping blood into the ocean, to see how the formell was getting on.
((A formell is like a tercel, except female. Usually used for hawks or gyrfalcons, I thought it might work for Luft.))
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:26 pm
Before Cain could reply to Rhi his attention was drawn over to Lila. She seemed fairly nice, according to her introduction. Of course she was talking to the two people that had seniority over her. It wouldn't do her any good to be rude to them. Of course Cain wouldn't much mind. He wouldn't appreciate it, but he wouldn't really care. Rhi might be different than him though. She would probably get mad at the sudden outburst. It was a good thing that that didn't happen. Cain didn't feel like taming anyone on his first day on the ship.
Cain's attention, yet again, was drawn away from him. Now another woman was talking to Rhi and Cain. What was this? She wanted to inspect the weaponry and logs of this ship? Tch. "Unfortunately I have just come aboard this ship. I do not know of your role upon this vessel. However, your lodgings are not of your exact control. And why is it you need to see the weapons of this ship? Furthermore, the logs of this ship are not for your eyes to see. If you needed to ask to see them, you don't need to. However, I can grant you a map of this ship." Cain said. He wasn't exactly sure who this woman was. By her current requests though... They seemed fishy. Cain had had several bad experiences in the past about things like this. He was probably being overly cautious.
A similar experience had plagued his past thought. The person asked for the logs of the ship, some quick maps and access to the weapons. That person had nearly killed everyone on the ship. He had used the logs to inquire on the crew. He had used their own weapons to kill them. Cain narrowly escaped death that day.
Oh well, that was in the past. He was just insuring that nothing similar would happen. "Hrm. I suppose you can have your room near the main stairwell. I really could care a less. That is if you can find and empty one. When you're done come back and find me. By that time I'll hopefully have your map." His focus was brought back to Rhiannon. "Any objections?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:53 pm
Ava smiled grimly at the First Mate, seeing a troubled look in his eyes. He dosen't trust me, she thought. Well no loss there. "Unfortunately First Mate, a map of the ship will not be required and my requests shall need imediate attention." Casting a meaningful look at the Patroness Ava went on, "I am under orders of the Lord Deleste and my requests stand as his orders. I understand your reluctance but I can assure you that your fear is unwarranted. I pose no threat to the Seraphim or its crew. I need to asses and enhance the state of the ships artillary and security. As for the logs and maps I shall not disclose the information to any others if that is why you hesitate. I simply need to asses your crew as I do the safety measures of the ship" Knowing that she had divulged as much information as she could she refrained from saying more, waiting for the Patroness to infrom the First Mate of her unique status. She knew that Cain would only respond to the words of Rhiannon anyways.
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:55 am
((Sorry for the long disapperance, I'll be back later today or tomorrow to post))
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:46 am
Skye watched averything going on down on deck, "It's busy today isn't it?" she said to no one in particular. She swung her legs a bit and turned her attention to the open sea, she was eager to get going. Looking back down at the deck it seemed as if everything was going fine, the crew was getting along well enough, the new firt mate seemed to be handling his position alright. She smiled, continuing her observations of the crew, she kept her eyes and ear open for anything that might be amiss, it never hurt to be watchful.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:05 am
((Geez, sorry about me. I think once I post this, I'm going to jump ahead, like I've been meaning to. I was trying to give new comers a chance to get to know people, but it's obviously done with. If your character didn't meet anyone, just assume that they haven't. The ship is big, and it's not really likely you could get to know everyone, or even remember names for that matter.))
Cain was handling things fairly well, and Rhi was glad that he had taken up Ava's questions. She didn't really trust herself to talk civily to this woman. She shook her head when Cain asked of objections, even if she did have something to say. Rhi wanted to see how this Merc would answer to a higher authority. Obviously, not well. Rhi studied Ava a moment after she finished her reply, then let out a long breath. She looked at Cain, somewhat apologetically.
"My apologies, sir, I should have informed you of our Guardians. Ava, here, is one of them, and my father has placed her as something of their leader. Many of the deckhands are also Guardians, accomplished with sword and magic both, and my father has asked that Ava oversee them in a fight. In the case of a battle, her orders to those fighting are only below the Captain, you and myself." She was not pleased with this set up, but it had all been instructed on the paper Ava had produced. She would have a few choice words for her father when she got home.
"It is true that Lord Deleste has sent her to us with these 'requests', and we must honor them. I am also in charge of her doings about the ship, as Patron over her in my father's place. You can be sure that she will not turn against us. If she does, she will face a penalty of death, as per the agreement. For now, she is on our side." With this, she sent a pointed look to Ava. Of course, the mercenary knew all this already, but Rhiannon took pleasure in pointing it out.
"As for artillery, Ava, you must know that we have no cannons on this ship. We have, however, three armories throughout the ship containing all manner of swords, axes, shields, and light armor. It is sufficient for our needs in battle. I will give you a roster of the crew members listed as Guardians, so you may know how many will be at arms in a battle. You will have to speak with the Master Mage, Rosette about increasing security of the magicks about the ship. She will be happy to help strengthen the ship, if that is possible. The logs and maps are all kept safely locked in the Captain's Cabin, and only he has access to them. You must inquire of him to obtain that information. Come, and I will show you the armories and we will find Captain Zeiser" Without waiting, Rhiannon turned purposefully towards the nearest ladder to go below deck, expecting both Ava and Cain to follow.
((Alright, assume that Rhi gave you both the 'tour' and found the captain and Ava got all the info she needed. I'm going to jump a few days now!))
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:08 pm
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
The first day out of Port Rekitose was uneventful and busy. The crew spent the day reorganizing, and the Senior Officers took most of the day to get things running smoothly. The second and third days were also uneventful, and brought them away from Rishvell for good. The ship was now heading straight through the heart of Kilmer's Neck, the stretch of sea between Rishvell and Bellos Raydor, the Elven continent. A route is plotted to stop in Silimaure, and find an old explorer there who might be able to give them information about the Waning Islands and the Isles of Gills, and perhaps even the Blessed Land itself. From there, they will determine the best way to continue.
It is now the fifth day of the voyage (determined since leaving Port Vane) and so far Kilmer's Neck has been gentle, the skies bright. Today, though, the darkness has come early. A storm boils angrily on the horizon, moving quickly towards them. It will be a long night for the crew, and they are all preparing for the storm, and anything it might bring. The tempest will be brutal, but any seasoned sailor knows that it is not the weather you must fear. It is anything the weather may bring up from the depths.
In these waters many strange monsters of the sea are attracted to storms, and often come to the surface. They usually have little interest in ships, but if you get in their way, it could be deadly.
An uncommon silence has fallen about the maindeck as the wind begins to blow fiercely, heralding the coming tempest. Men work quietly and purposefully against the gale, trying to calm their hearts and imaginations. Below deck, murmurs and mutterings leave fear and anxiety in their wake, words competing to be heard above the screaming wind uptop. All they can do is wait.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
((Map updated, by the way!))
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:32 pm
Rhiannon took the news of the coming storm with barely contained dismay. She, of course, really had nothing to do but wait, or tell crew what to do. She was below deck, wandering the halls, looking for someone, though she didn't know who. Perhaps she would find Rosette. She was Master Mage, for haeven's sakes, she had to be on top of things. Hopefully Ava had looked into the security and stability of the ship and improved anything that could be improved, hopefully the mages had remembered to doublecheck the spells. Her thoughts roiled around her head as she shoved past a stationary group of crew, muttering between themselves.
"Get back to work, you lazy dogs! I don't want to see you standing around again, there's work to be done!" She huffed past and they jumped, startled by her tone. They looked at each other and quietly shuffled away. Rhiannon didn't know what to do with herself. All crew who weren't able to help above deck were to stay in their rooms unless a battle signal was sounded, but Rhiannon couldn't just sit on her cot and wait. She changed direction sharply and turned the corner towards the ladder going above deck. She had to see what was happening. The rain hadn't started yet, but the wind was making enough of a ruckus to wake the dead.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:43 pm
Captain Zeiser stood atop the quarter deck with the pilot. As the wind tugged ferociously on his coat, he stood like a stone sentinel, calmly observing his crew. If anything, the Captain could at least give them confidence in his ability to withstand the storm, and a role model for them all to follow. Briefly, he turned his gaze away from the crew to the pilot at his right. "How do you think this will affect our course?"
The pilot began gesturing with his left hand, the right still firmly clamped on the wheel. "Well storms always through it off at least a litte. The waves are the biggest problem seeing as the ship will have no trouble with the wind. At least, that's the word."
"How much do you think it will be affected?"
"Well, I can't really say. The whole navigation thing isn't my bright spot, but I'd say we'll probably come out a few degrees farther west than we plan." He shrugged. "But that's just my guess. You'd have to ask the navigator for a better estimate."
Zeiser nodded coolly and looked toward the storm. Indeed, they would be in for one hell of a night. So long as nothing too large sprang forth, though, he didn't believe that it would be much of a problem. As a deckhand passed him, Zeiser stopped him with a hand. "What is your task at the moment?"
"I, eh... Well, I was headin' below deck for m'break, sir."
Zeiser nodded. "Good. While you're about, I'd like you to summon Rosette, the Master Mage, Chrono, the Navigator, and if you see Miss Rhiannon, her as well." The deckhand nodded, then went on his way to summon Rosette, Chrono, and Miss Rhiannon, if he chanced to see her on his way.
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Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:30 pm
Tanyeera was in her cabin/stall, wings folded and ears pricked for what might be going on. She heard the eery moan of the wind building outside the ship and shook her head sadly. Alas, not even a mighty dragon would be able to surf this storm. It was a pity, she'd much prefer to be out there rather than in here.
She remembered the sheep Luft had brought her with wistful fondness. She'd kept the bones to gnaw on and remember the sweet taste of landfood but tossed them overboard as some people started complaining about the reek. She herself couldn't really see that it smelled that bad.
Shifting restlessly, she resisted the urge to go up on deck to see how the storm was coming. If she went as she was, she'd gouge the planks, but if she went in human form, she'd be well-nigh useless. Her problem with her gait had still not yet been solved, and she was liable to bounce right off the ship in this weather, with the roll of the waves adding to her already jerky movements.
Sighing, she started giving serious thought about if there might be a way to solve her problem. Hey, it was a way to pass time, not as though she had anything better to do.
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Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:31 pm
[Sorry for my absence. Good word Tanyeera, "formell". ^ ^]
With the ewe gripped in her talons, Luft gives an exuberant screech before spiraling up into the air. She made sure to keep behind the Seraphim as she soared upwards, the thin air choking the sheep. The female gryphon grips the sheep's front legs in her upper talons to force it's belly to face her. Luft curves her lower talons up, settling them on its chest. Surging the talons in the sheep's chest, Luft screeches once more before dragging her talons down, gutting the sheep like any would a fish. Vital organs dangle and are pecked at as the Gryphon Sentry hovers in the air. Once all organs have been guzzled down she carefully moves her beak in the hollow carcass to eat the muscle. Gesten would get his wool later.
That had been the scrumptious meal of Luft's, that had been a few days ago. Now Luft is on the main deck, cupping a few sailors in her wings to help push them along to their work. After a few moments they appear fine. The gray gryphon feels the wind toying with her feathers and she grinds her beak in agitation. Swiveling her beaked head about, she cannot find Tanyeera and muses that the dragoness is most likely down within the holding stalls for the more larger guests. Knowing the crew would be fine, Luft clucks as she wanders in the lower deck. She passes resting sailors and takes a right in the wooden hall, entering the corridor of stalls. Spotting that her friend is already there she eases into her own stall next to Tanyeera and emits a few trills.
"There iss no rrrrain jusssst yet, but plenty of wind...sssstorrmss make me nerrrrvousss..."
Gesten had stored his wool in his room and he yearned to go turn it into a new jacket. For now he is trying not to get tripped over, weaving under ropes and fastening the masts. He spies Luft slinking off and withheld any words, knowing the gryphon would be too distracted and that his words would only get lost in the wind. The hertasi hisses as someone steps on his clawed foot. Roger gives an apologetic look and hands him a few more ropes, to which Gesten smiles and takes them, swiftly binding them tight in an organized pattern. He has been doing this for years, household work such as knitting makes all of the rope tying seem like one big draft of a quilt to him.
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