Welcome to Gaia! ::

Luft is greatly pleased to have helped her friend and is even more delighted once Tanyeera gave her very formal, endearing gratitude. Her nares darken in humble modesty. The female gryphon can only deduce that the draconic female has been plagued by being in such a foreign form from the original. Softly chittering friendly grace upon the dragon's rushed departure, her own tufted ears have failed to hear anything that might cause alarm. Knowing Tanyeera would've roared if any danger sprung up the huntress decides it's nothing to worry about for now. With a light sigh she clucks and nestles into the hay stall once more. Blanketing herself with her downy wings Luft folds her scaly legs beneath her feathered mass. Turning her neck the gryphon rests a large beak beneath the curve of her wing. Slowly closing her weary dark eyes the huntress soothes herself to rest at least until after the storm.

Peter is at an utter loss, he was shooed away by a few burly looking men. Failing to recruit the known mage he instead goes down into the ship's quarters. Rummaging in his own trunk he finds a healing potion and hopes that getting a lizardman to drink the bitter stuff is easier than getting any other man to. Getting himself back to a wheezing Gesten the deckhand swiftly delivers the potion to scaled lips. Gesten sputters a bit but soon understands and nods to Peter with grateful eyes. Drinking from the long bottle until his side ceased throbbing and his breathing became somewhat normal the lizardman drew away. Wiping his mouth with his arm he gives Peter a weary smile and reassures the other deckhands.
"Now that that's over with, we have a ship to tend to. I can only see one Sentry though..."
Venturing down, Gesten looks into a stall and spots his feathered friend dozing.
"No, no, no. You have work just like the rest of us, birdy."
The lizardman chuckles while Luft looks at him blearily with a narrowed eye.

Tanyeera eyed the boy with renewed interest. She wasn't that good at differentiating humans by their features, and all the rain was messing with her sense of smell, so she could not have been completely certain that the boy was not a member of the crew that had been swept overboard. But if even Rosette, a human herself, could confirm this boy to be not of the crew... Tanyeera bent close to the boy, and suddenly noticed the bedraggled stuffed toy that he continued to clutch. That decided her. "It does not matter, a youngling is a youngling. Hurry to your quarters, I will come with you and you can save your magic for when you truly need it. Come now." So saying, Tanyeera kept her arm firmly wrapped around Rosette and the boy while trying to make sure her chains did not jab into them as she shepherded them to their quarters.

((sorry about not posting sooner))

May listened to the dwarf and had calmed until the jerking of the ship sent her flying. Embarrassed that she had rolled from her spot sitting against the wall, she dusted herself off.

"What are you smoking?" she asked trying to change to a topic she was sure the dwarf would be interested in. She wanted to learn so much on this trip, about everything. It was never to early to start.

((Well well... you kept it alive! I'm impressed. =] I guess that means this thing really is worth saving. Shall we then? Let's get this story rolling!))

It was a nightmare... the storm, the noise... overwhelming. Rhiannon had retreated away from the railing, now clutching some rigging that had been tied around the mast. Sea spray was stinging her face and eyes as the tempest was raging around the white ship. And they would soon only be a ghost ship... they were going to drown. Her pulse thumped loudly in her ears, her breath coming short. Dear god... she was scared out of her mind.

A great shrieking gale suddenly shook the ship, the entire atmosphere around them. No - not wind. The cry of a beast. Rhi squinted through the rain at the darkness that oppressed them, seeing nothing. The shrieking roar still shuddered beneath her feet. Then lightning slashed across the sky, lighting it for a few precious seconds - and her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.

The massive head of a serpent was craning towards the sky, its jagged mouth opened as it made that bone shattering sound. It's neck was as thick as ten masts, atleast... who knew how long it was beneath the waves. Then it ended, and darkness surrounded again. Rhi looked about - others had seen it too. Crewmen were pointing, shouting, terrified of the beast that hovered around them.

Then more lightning flashed, and all around them were coils of serpentine bodies, roiling in and out of the waves. There were many of them... riding up to feed off storm's power. She gaped, mesmerized by them. The lightning came almost constantly now, as if supercharged by the presence of the dragons of the depths.

Rhiannon closed her eyes against the sight. Perhaps they were not here to destroy... they probably didn't even know the ship was there. Still... to get in the way of one of those mighty coils - it would cracked them in half. Trembling, Rhi pushed herself off the mast and began running. Where, she didn't know. Just...

Then a loud crackle shook the air as two lightning bolts collided in the air before her. She stopped abruptly, a tall figure suddenly standing before her on the deck where the bolts had hit. She stepped back and stared up into an unfamiliar face. Impossible... she recognized everyone on the ship. This man was not one of them. But he did not look at her - he was staring at the serpents around them, taking it all in.

"Who - who are you?" Rhiannon had to practically shout. She looked closer at him when he didn't acknowledge her. He was very tall, his entire body covered in symbols. She recognized them as Magical Writ, very powerful. His eyes were pale, as if a second eyelid covered them with a milky sheen, and his ears... well they looked like those of the serpents in a way.

Finally he turned his head towards her, and she felt an unnatural chill as his eyes met hers.

"I am free."

Brakus cocked up a furry eyebrow and looked at the girl. He stared at her for a minute before looking down at his smoldering pipe. Seeing that the bowl was nearly empty, the dwarf fumbled for his tobacco pouch at his side. He sprinkled a few of the crushed leaves into the smoldering embers and smiled as smoke once more steamed out of his mouth.

“Lassy, it’ obvious ya havn’t been out in ta world much.” Brakus rumbled as the ship listed again, his hammock swinging wildly, much to the dwarf’s distress. “This here be ta finest tobacco leaf in all tha world it be. Grown only up inta mountains in secrets places known only ta that dwarves. Almost impossible ta find outside tha dwarf strongholds it is. It’s called Mertun Weed, named after tha dwarf that first decided ta smoke tha stuff. Nothing in this world is sweeter or smoother.” Brakus sighed as the ship once more sailed steady and he reached into a nearby satchel that hung from the roof. He dung around the bag for a moment before pulling out another pipe and offering it to the young girl.

“Care ta give it a puff lassy? Might help with tha sea sickness. It does me for certain.”

Melanie looked at the pipe and then up at Brakus.

"I don't believe my father would approve. He doesn't even let strangers older than himself smoke in his restaurant." She hesitated then she nodded. "I suppose trying it won't hurt." She took the pipe and wait for him to light it.

"My father used to say my mother was probably a smoker by now. I always wondered what he meant by that. He always said the sea did crazy things to your brain."