Duty Session 164: Still Water Bandits

Schneider has gathered everyone together to put paid to another group of bandits that have been terrorizing the local villagers. The bandit camp stands out against the pale sand and rolling waves of the sea shore. Long pillars made from trees form a barrier around the camp, protecting it from prying eyes. Smoke rises up from campfires, making the air taste like sea salt and ash. Out in the nearby water is a single ship, though the distance from shore is too far to swim. A matching pirate flag with familiar skull and crossbones waves over both the ship and the camp. Inside, there is the sound of shouts and general chaos seems to linger around the camp at all times of day or night.

"Well," says Schneider, "If we can take these fellows out, the local area will be much safer, and the Landers ought to be more favorably inclined to us players, yes?"

    The necromancer looks out across the water and winces a little, " You know when they said bandits, I had really hoped we would be staying on the ground. I mean I was an ok swimmer in the before time but I can't promise otherwise." Looking at the others Setsuna adds, " I assume we have to take the ship right?"

"I swear, you take down one band of bandits and two more seem to spring up and--" Prophylaxis pauses, then squints, "...Huh. Deja vu? I guess I /have/ been chasing down quite a few bandits lately." The Doctor of Tolbana shrugs and gestures vaguely in the direction of the bandit camp, "Watch out for sentries. We don't want to alert them to our presence *too* soon."

Beat.

"Nah, not necessarily," he asides to Setsuna, "I don't even know the first thing about sailing so there's little chance we'd be able to haul it back to somewhere we can moor it. Just focus on disrupting the bandits as much as possible and make their presence here expensive."

Vertina rolls a shoulder to crack her joints. "Well, that just means we keep smashing their faces in until they learn to stay down." She has no problem with getting in another brawl with wannabe pirates.

Schneider shakes his head about the ship. "No one said anything about that. And it's too far to swim. I think if we just take out the ashore camp, then whatever skeleton crew is on the ship will get the hell out of dodge." He nods at what Proph says, "I doubt they're going to stick around." He gives Vertina a thumbs-up.

Schneider says, "All that as it is, it'd be better if we can get close without alerting them." Schneider then points out a nearby ruin, that might, if we're lucky, back into the camp. Going there to check it out, there is a locked gate, and a bunch of stones with runic markings. Maybe a clue?

Vertina huhs, walking over to where Schneider is indicating and crouches down. Holds a hand out towards the stones... but they don't react to either her Earth attunement or her diviner abilities. So she just picks one up and looks at it. "... I have no idea what these markings are, but there's nothing hidden under it." Discard. Picks up another. "Nope." Discard again. Yeah this isn't getting her anywhere.

Prophylaxis, too, squints at these strange stones with their odd scrawl and spiderwebbing penmanship. The doctor grimaces, then shakes his head as well. "Either this is just some kind of crude graffiti, or I don't recognize the pattern. I'm betting the former-- wouldn't put it past bandits and pirates to scribble and scrimshaw everything they can get their hands on."

Or maybe they're just... missing some critically important clue...?

    Setsuna follows along happy to hear this quest doesn't involve swimming, " Good, I can only imagine how well I would do if I had to swim." As he looks at the wall and shakes his head. " Maybe its like those old haunted house movies, with the secret door. " He begins to seach for a hidden switch but really has no idea what he is looking for and is grasping at straws.

Try as the party might, searching the ruins and puzzling over the runes, none of us can divine any way through or find some secret entrance to the bandit camp. Schneider nods to Proph, and he can pronounce a couple of the runes, but no full words or clues. Setsuna's search turns up naught, no does Vertina's attempt at deciphering the runes.

So, forced to find an alternate entrance, Schneider leads the way though a part of the bandit camp off at a different side, and ... it seems this is the beggars and pickpockets' side of camp, filled with children who seem more nervous and uncertain than anything. They could call an alarm, but they're crafty, themselves, and one of them wonders, "Do you have any food? Coin?" Seems there's a cost to their silence.

Vertina frowns at the alternate part of the camp they find themselves in. "... Do these jerks make KIDS go do their dirty work for them? Disgusting." But instead of mugging them the kids start begging for food and money. "Ah, hold on." Being a Hunter Vertina pulls out several chunks of meat from animal drops. Holds one up. "Okay!" Breaths fire on it as Salamanders can do.... and burns it to a crispy char instead. Not to mention she just BREATHED on it technically. Even the most sickly kids are wary of that.

Maybe someone else should do something with the rest of the meat drops she has.

Seeing children treated like this-- serving as the veritable dregs of bandit society-- it's enough to make his stomach turn. But... they need to get through somehow. It'd be better if they can avoid doing anything violent, though. Prophylaxis side-glances at Vertina's attempt of cooking... Then nods. "It's not much, but if it's just a matter of cooking food..."

Prophylaxis kneels over and begins assembling something out of the rubble and detritus. Soon he's got a makeshift charcoal grill that he ignites with a flick of his fingers. "There, barbecue. Pass me some meat?"

It's not going to be the /best/ but it'll still be a damn sight better than what these kids are eating. Maybe a full belly will be enough to win their favor?

    Looking at the kids Setsuna steps upm, he was a dad, he could talk kid. "Now look here kids, we are doing some adult things so if you can just stay quiet I will give you this shiny coin." Moments later the taller one kicks him in the shin while the short one grabs the coin. " Hey wait thats not how it work, where are you..." As he chases the kid another one sticks there foot out and down he goes. Yep he can talk kid.

Vertina's cooking skill will become legend someday, the kids want nothing to do with it and won't even go near it. Alas, Setsuna's degree in child psychology turns out to have been fraudulent. Schneider strikes a bargain that will see us through if we can feed the children, and Prophylaxis manages to satisfy the children's hunger, though, his own cooking passing muster, and the party is allowed to proceed through to the interior of the bandit camp.

In the interior of the camp now, it's not guards the party encounters, but the bandits' bar. But only the bartender is there. No fight is in the offing, then, but the fellow pours glasses of a strange, greenish liquid. "Hah, drink," he calls, his accent thick. Who knows what this strange barman wants, but if he can be kept from shouting an alarm, the party will be better off.

Booze?

/Free/ booze?!

Prophylaxis is absolutely silent as he moves to the bar and somehow even /more/ silent when he gingerly lifts the cup off the countertop and gives it a gentle whiff. He rolls the fluid around in its glass, taking in the aroma before taking a small sip-- just enough to coat his tongue.

At last, he swallows and nods. "Absinthe...! With notes of star anise and peppermint? I never thought there'd be any around in a place like this." Where in Japan a doctor might acquire and regularly sample absinthe to the point that he can identify it with a single sip!? "Where did you find the ingredients? Vertina, you should brew some for the tavern in Tolbana...!"

    Setsuna looks to the others as he approaches the bar and stares at the drink intently. Taking a look at it , its like this quest has put him up against his worst enemy. Taking a deep breath he tries to cast a spell under his breath. The first spell he learned was the water to wine spell. Instead he tried the opposite to turn his cup into water. However as he takes the shot , well lets just say what ever water was in it had been turned to alcohol and the man has to cough and over reacts by spitting the shot out to the ground. Looking at the bartender he says, "Sorry forgot I was the designated driver. Do you have a coke?"

Vertina lets Proph take the rest of the meat and at least make the kids a reasonable meal. They'll be full even if it isn't the best tasting, and that's something the bandits can't use to gload them into theiving if they're not hungry, right? Moving right along...

The group comes to a bar set up in middle of the camp. "I knew pirates preferred rum, but..." she pauses as the barkeeper comes up, his own speech slurring in what she can't tell is an accent or he's been testing his own wares. Either way... a scaly brow raises as the green liquid he's pouring out. Raises it even more when Proph identifies it. Then she manages a toothy grin. "Tell you what, let's make this a fair trade." She pulls a bottle of liquor out of her inventory, holding it out between her hands like putting it on display. "I will trade you bottles of hearty ale for a few bottles of your fine blend there. Brewer to brewer."

The barman likes the deal that Vertina offers, and seems quite pleased. "Very good. Much good!" Accented or drunk? It's hard to tell, maybe some of each? Proph impresses the barman with his knowledge of drink, and Schneider shows his own knowldge of boozery as well. "Is it legal? Well, in a game, who knows?" Alas, Setsuna's efforts to water down the harsh liquid are misguided: water makes the stuff worse!

But with the barman satisfied, the party is able to proceed deeper into the camp, and there is a small, bird-like monsyer hopping from foot to foot while strumming a catchy song on a lute. The song, though, is ... maybe a bit too catchy. In fact, it's hypnotic...

    This song's gonna get stuck inside yo', This song's gonna get stuck inside yo', This song's gonna get stuck inside yo' head. Really Setsuna had to agree it was rather catchy and the easy lyrics and cheerfulness. He had to give credit where credit was due. It takes a moment to realize though he is standing around just listening to the music and 'singing' along. "This songs gonna get you , devoured by the earth." He spins his staff and hits the ground with the staff as the stalagmites come up out of the ground like teeth trying to impale the singing bird.

Quality spirits aren't necessarily hard to come by in the new world, but finding anything of that sort of class in the possession of a Lander isn't exactly common! Now that they can't just Menu Brew, the actual process of making booze is something that needs to be relearned, and absinthe is an excellent place to start in Prophylaxis' opinion!

But first.

There is a familiar song in the air. The doctor's ears twitch, antennae-like, towards the source of the sound. The spell is on his lips before his eyes can even be certain of what they're seeing...!

And just like that, a veritable storm of arcane projectiles rain down upon the guitar-strumming flamenco parrot. "Not this time, you little bastard! These magic missiles don't miss!"

Vertina tucks the new bottles into her inventory, and stands up to bow properly to the barkeeper. "A pleasure doing business with you." Then as the group continues on their way she nods to Proph. "I should be able to break down a few samples to figure out what they use--"

She stops as they again come across the bird bard. "Oh NO! NOT THIS TIME!" Vertina forgoes the fancy tricks this time, she just starts kicking rocks, empty bottles and other random debris off the ground at the annoyance before he can get too into his song. "NO ONE LIKES YOUR MUSIC GO AWAY!"

Setsuna's stalagmites come up under the bard, and he squawks, flapping into the air as he continues to play that catchy, catchy song. It's mind-numbing. Prophylaxis's magic missiles send the bird flapping for more altitude, a few feathers falling, singed, and Vertina drives it back further. Schneider's Flame Wall pens it in, though, holding it in place for the party's projectiles to that annoying damned song.

That leads the party, through an odd, circuitous route, to where the bandits' boss abides. Cutting the bandits off at the head will certainly break them! The boss is a large, muscled lizardman, who growls, "You've caused me a bit of trouble." Maybe he's making assumptions. Or maybe he -really- liked that bard. No accounting for taste. "But your journey ends here." He draws his weapon, the edge of it igniting with fire as he sweeps it in front of him.

It doesn't matter how, all that really does is that they made their way into the boss's area, and it's not the same fight they got last time. "Alright! Now this is what I'm talking about." She watchs the lizardman draw his weapon, and it ignite into flames. Oh, that might be trouble for others. So the Salamander leaps headlong into the fray.

"SHIELD OF LIGHT!"

Not to immeadiately strike him, but to throw up a barrier of channeled chi energy to intercept his flaming weapon. Clawed feet dig into the floor to brace herself. "GET HIM!"

"Bards that don't know when to shut up are the /worst,/" Prophylaxis says with a soft, triumphant huff as the bird bard disappears into a haze of red pixels. "I think I can see a path toward the ship from here. If we can burn it down, we might be able to put a more permanent end to this particular band of pirates...!"

Or they can first reach the apparent leader of said pirates. Prophylaxis' nose wrankles at the sight of the mighty lizardman-- and his burning sword. "Watch his weapon," the doctor advises, his staff whirling in the swirling dance of a Wave Art, "I'll give you all an opening. Take advantage of it!"

Suddenly, just as the lizardman goes to swing that burning blade, he finds his arms and legs arrested by a tangle of translucent, thorned brambles. They're not just restricting his movement though--

The moment anyone scores a hit, those brambles explode violently, inflicting a tremendous amount of extra damage! It's every enchanter's staple support spell, Thorn Bind Hostage...!

    Setsuna looks at the lizardman and shakes his head , " I prefer the boss who just screams in our face. " Watching the thorns erupt Setsuna begins to cast as well. " Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, the spirit of the dead take your revenge." Skeletons erupt from the ground and charge towards the bound lizardman trying to add this man to the land of the dead the quickest way possible.

Vertina's Shield of Light protects the party as the boss tries to beat down on it with his flaming sword. The effect impresses Schnieder, who often does much the same thing, but this time, it's shielding magic, to back up Vertina when the boss's strikes threaten to overwhelm the Shield of Light. The two shields together hold through the whole fight. Proph's exploding binding brambles give the boss a great deal of difficulty, reducing the effect of the heavy blows on the shields, costing him health every time he strikes a blow on the shield or on one of Setsuna's summmons, who meanwhile dogpile the boss, and he goes down in a pile of flailing limbs, his health bar draining like a morning fog, evaoprating in the heat of the day. And then it is done.

"I'm glad those undead are on our side," Vertina murmurs as the lizardman is surrounded by skeletons, which seem to work really well with the volatile thorns to wear down the big lug of a reptile.

Alas, his cool flaming sword didn't survive the fight.

But there's shards, one which she yanks out of the ground. If it's a piece of the sword or just what spawns as a drop when he does, she doesn't know and isn't picky enough to care. "Metal is always good to have on hand in this fantasy age," she murmus, and drops it in her inventory.

    Setsuna dismisses his warriors and returns them to the ground. As he watches others pick up the weapon grade metal he picks up a piece and pockets it to. " They do certainly make life a little easier. " Looking around at the path they went through he shakes his head. " Appreciate all the help from everyone. Making it through this without y'all would have been impossible. I swear I am good at things, usually when quests take place in graveyards."

Prophylaxis feels just a little bit sorry for that poor lizardman. It wasn't so much a 'fight' as it was just letting the poor bastard flail at an undying army while blocking every attempt he made to fight back. All in all, a gruesome way to go.

The doctor adds a shard of that metal to his inventory as well, then gives Setsuna a nod. "You did fine. Though I must ask, those skeletons you summon, are they always so badly armed when you're not on a burial mound or something? It may be worthwhile to figure out how to summon stronger undead."

    Setsuna nods his head, "I'm working on things like that. However at the moment to be fair it is my best offensive spell. It just doesn't have other applications, I'll get there though." He looks at the path they came from , "So shall we get out of here?"