Duty Session 340: A Distant Voyage

    It is after some deliberation that Baroness Wake decides that she is needed more in a far away land than back at her home. The potential of making peaceful, first contact with new players is enticing. Knowing that she understands Chinese customs as a player and has a considerable amount of etiquette skill in the game are of meaning, as well. She even took pains to ensure that gifts are packed. Mosty food and the best sake that Wake could procure, but there were a few other things.

    It is by this ship that the Baroness waits for others to join her. She knows from those who have crossed already that this is not going to be smooth sailing.

    Though all the worry for precision does set her posture to somehow even more precise degrees of perfection, she is wearing the ghost of a smile on her lips. Well, at least those who know her well might think so.

Goldenblade is here to help Wake, because if Wake doesn't have her building tnings back home, maybe there'll be things to biuld over in this new place. She's got a few things going on, but she can spend a bit of time away, yes? And she can sail back if she's not needed, can't she? She travels light, so there's not much baggage for her, but she smiles as she climbs aboard.

    Rizadoman steps cautiously on to the boat again, he really hated this back and forth bit. If only there was a faster, meaner, better boat, that could deal with all the problems that this voyage had without trouble. Alas no one has figured out how to solve that problem it seems. If only there was some puzzle solver to solve this puzzle but nope. Anyways he at least would find time to do his guild's paperwork on this voyage. Seven days of boredom after all.

Hey so guess who has two thumbs, a terrible reputation for causing trouble without even being anywhere in the area that it occurs, and a desperate need for something located far across the ocean?

HINT: IT'S THIS GUY:

                  =============>PROPHYLAXIS<=============                  

"Baroness," the Doctor says with a cheerful smile like he isn't the defacto leader of a band of raiders who are looking for secrets to bypass an awful, awful boss encounter and potentially bring about the end of The World as everyone knows it. "I heard you were heading across the sea," he says, inclining his head towards the one he's accompanied, "I don't suppose you have room for a couple more, would you?"

SpritesHero is, for today at least, playing the role of the dutiful minion to the leader of a band of raiders who are looking for secrets to bypass an awful, awful boss encounter and potentially bring about the end of The World as everyone knows it.

What this means in practice is that he remains behind and to the side of Prophylaxis, where he lingers with a pleasant sort of smile, letting his boss do all the negotiations. Which is to say that he's totally found an excuse to have Prophylaxis do all the work, while he just enjoys the sun and the sea air. Again.

Did someone mention puzzles!? There's a puzzle-solving Imp /right here/-oh, wait. You mean logistics puzzles. Everyone hates those. Proteus has a great deal of suspicion about the situation. This is not the first time she's heard the mention of the Palace Lands before, and the Imp Archaeologist has some measure of reticence about leaving Yamato behind at such a critical juncture.

But the situation calls for it. The Imp arrives, cloaked and hooded as always, tipping her head in greetings to Wake. "Baroness. Good to see you." There is a chuckle. "You know I couldn't possibly allow you to get into trouble without company." The last is delivered in Proteus' teasingly sardonic tone, with a toothy, sharp smile. "I guess we'll have to resolve another puzzle before we can get back to the ones currently bedeviling us."

The Imp looks towards the Shady Doctor, and her brow arches, a small frown creasing her face. But she says nothing about that. Instead, she simply says, "Hello there, Prophylaxis. Do try not to burn down the boat."

So do you take Wake and Prophylaxis across the river first, then come back and pick up Proteus, then drop her off and take Prophylaxis back, then grab Rizadoman and Goldenblade, leaving Prophylaxis there before you...

Ugggggggggggggh.

Tenko being who she is, she was bound to wander her way to a whole new land. She had been lingering around the port for a few days, helping the local Landers with various tasks they needed doing, and waiting to be able to book passage onto a ship headed for the new world.

When Baroness' offer for those to join on a voyage comes up, Tenko is swiftly there, sitting cross legged on the railing near the aft of the ship, probably meditating. She'll help, she's no stow away.

It's not the first time Kauchemar has made the trip to the other region/server/whatever. As a Messenger it's her job to take messeges between the Lander operations since they don't get the fancy chimlinks to talk over long distances on. Fortunately with her elemental kitout she's right at home on the waves, for the most part.

Granted this time is a little more important in making the repeat trip, since a certain someone has asked for her help.

Or she's just here to annoy her counterpart. Like the playful nudge she gives the kitsune. "Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll mistake you for a hulijing and play nice."

    "I have room for more, provided they are here to support the work of the New World Alliance. We go to assist their mission and-should we encounter other players from another server-to build inroads to a peaceful co-existence." Or else.

    The Baroness' tone is even, calm, relaxed. She demands it to be that way. This is too important for small matters to distract her.

    "Robert, how good of you to join this voyage. I trust you to keep your mind sharp as ever. We'll be needing it on the way and after we arrive." Wake inclines her head politely and smiles.

    Proteus is greeted with a laugh, "Trouble? We will hopefully be preventing fires, not lighting them. And who knows? Perhaps on this voyage something even more miraculous will occur."

    "Kauchemar, dear, how good of you to join this trip as well!"

    As is her custom, Wake glides into a graceful curtsey. "As many of you know, I am Baroness Wake. I appreciate you coming along. We shall have a difficult ride and many challenges. All of you have an important role to play in this work, though you are unlikely to know just what it is yet. So please, be welcome and at ease while the winds allow."

    At first, the winds do allow peace, if not warmth. It's a chill set of regular gusts that sends the ship speeding on its way. It isn't long, however, before the ship appears to have struck something. First there is a thunk, then scraping, and finally a rather wrenching full stop.

    Before the crew can react, strange monsters pull themselves aboard, their bodies formed of numerous tendrils. They have bulging eyes and little else can be said of them, except that they show no interest in conversation!

Goldenblade is underway with this mixed crew. She smiles to the Baroness, as she greets everyone. Though she knows jack about operating a sailing ship, she mostly spends time on deck, taking the air, enjoying the breeze, and standing lookout. She's not particularly keen-eyed, either, but she tries. Looking out over the waves, she hrms as the ship lurches to a halt. Well, this isn't good.

She rushes to the gunwhale as the monsters try to board, swords drawn.

But it's not sword she uses on the sea monsters. Fire, on the other hand, is also something Goldenblade has tons of, and each strike of her blade smashes with burning fire, setting the target ablaze, to burn with intense blazes from every wound.

The voyage starts out quiet enough... But it's not going to last like that. You don't need Divination to see that ahead. Or to have done this before. That's just how these Duties go, most Adventurers should be use to it by now.

Though with familiarity comes Kauchemar being not at all shocked with the invasive boarding happens. "Ah! Unexpected guests!" She raises her palms as ghostly flame-like sparks ignite from her eyes. "And by unexpected I mean -completely expected-!" She unleashes the spectral energy in a surge of darkness!.. But the eye monsters manage to close their eyes first because of her posturing while charging. "Oh come on!"

    Rizadoman watches the arrival of the scale members and then sees Proteus and , oh Rizadoman thinks it would be best if he got off the boat. Yep better to take the next boat, oh wait the boat is already leaving. Rizadoman watches land grow further and further away and looks back really considering making the swim back before he sighs and accepts that this will be the longest seven days. So he will just try to hide behind a monster attack, monster attacks work too. Moving towards the monsters he begins to enjoy the monster as he takes them on bare claw'd , or lizardman claw in this case

"Trouble has a habit of finding us regardless." There is another grin from Proteus at that. "After all, Prophylaxis is here, isn't he?" She gives Kaucehmar a nonchalant wave as the nightmare bard makes themselves known.

"A wonderful introduction, Baroness. But I am fairly sure not even you know how some of us might be helping. After all, I'm just an archaeologist." Another chuckle, and she sweeps on board.

SOME TIME LATER...

Proteus is brooding near the prow as she is wont to do on ships. Thankfully, she's not right there on the prow else she'd have been pitched overboard. "WAGH!" She yells, completely ungraceful as the surprising assault begins. "Agh! Oceanic tentalce creatures...? This isn't takoyaki day!" She cries as she begins sketching a quick Ability to drive them back, but soon she's being rushed down, forcing the Imp to focus more on 'not dying' than offense.

The attack by the sea monsters is something that should be expected. Tenko quickly snaps into action, throwing herself into the fight. She does a decent enough job holding her own, until there is a misstep and she slips on the wet deck, getting thrown off balance.

Her being off balance is all it needs for one of the monsters to smack her over the side of the ship. If she hadn't managed to stab her wakizashi into the side of the ship, she'd proabbly find herself respawning back in Yamato.

SpritesHero's lips twitch, hinting at a real smile that is rapidly shifted back into polite smile mode. "Baroness. A pleasure as always. I promise not to pretend insight into things I know nothing whatsoever about." With which declaration he hoists his luggage over his shoulder and makes his way onto the ship.

It is for precisely this reason that he can be found, the next day, swabbing the decks. He doesn't sail. He doesn't row. He doesn't navigate. He (mercifully) has been kicked out of the kitchen. And so (at least when he's not tucked himself off somewhere out of sight, doing paperwork) he is swabbing the decks ad nauseum, with a pail of water and a mop in hand and a stupid smile plastered on his face. He's clearly not paying much attention. He's in autopilot mode, his mind happily engaged elsewhere to escape the voyage's ennui.

It takes a moment for him to recognize that something has changed. That something is in the form of a bulb-headed octopus-like creature that blinks at him. He blinks back. It blinks yet again. His lips tighten, his mop glows with Pure Darkness. He brains the critter with his infused mop-handle, sending its unconscious, jelly-boned form flopping back overboard, where it disappears with a 'sploosh'.

Being helpful, he then leans against his mop and surveys everyone else, looking to see if anyone needs help. Or maybe he's just amused by watching Proteus dart back and forth, pursued by sea creatures. He'll step in if things head too far south. Probably. Maybe.

"Oh, yes, sure, I believe my goals in the area won't have any intersection at all with the goings-on and doings of the NWA, so it should all be fine and dandy, ahahaha~!" Prophylaxis laughs, then looks to Proteus and gives a little finger-wiggle of a wave. "Don't you worry, I promise not to set our boat on fire. Intentionally."

It'll be fine. It's not like Prophylaxis has a track record of accidentally causing disaster by doing his best to set things on fire elsewhere. It's fiiiiine.

But then, it seems the doctor's promise will soon be put to the test. The ship runs into... something. It lurches and grinds, the wood of the hull groaning and creaking in worrying ways. It's an omen, as it turns out, of something... fishy.

"What the devil," the doctor mutters, moments before... /tentacle monsters/ leap on deck. Not even the /fun/ kind of tentacle monsters. These are monsters... MADE of tentacles! "Oh, nope," Prophylaxis decides, "We're not dealing with this. It's time I channeled the spirit of my ancestors..."

Is he, too, going to turn into some kind of lizard-person!?

No. The doctor instead dumps... a pile of soil and gravel onto the deck, then taps it with his staff. Clods of earth rise into a tight orbit around him as the doctor clears his throat and fastens an eyepatch over one eye. "By the spirit of the Portuguese who came across the sea and sewed their wild oats across the Japanese isles in the before times, behold the wrath of one who may or may not by sheer probability share blood with those ancient mariners-- and regardless, whose ancestor once served aboard the good ship Kongo!" Each of those floating lumps of earth begin... glowing, bulging and pulsing as if filled with a deep, inner light.

"Targets locked on!" The lumps freeze in their orbit, each turning in paired batteries toward one or more of the swarming sea-monsters. "Coordinates set! All cannons...!" Prophylaxis sweeps his hand forward, and roars, "FIRE!"

There's a sound like thunder! Bursts of shrapnel and dust! Bolts of concentrated earth and flame erupt and blast through several of the creatures, sending them tumbling back into the sea before exploding a second time! Prophylaxis laughs as he loads and fires a second volley, apparently enjoying this engagement a little... too much.

But... why the eyepatch, you ask?

Well, one can't be a proper cannon-toting sea-farer without an eyepatch, peg leg or parrot, right?

    "That didn't take long," says Wake. The lurching of the ship sends her skidding forward, but it does little to disturb her. The right clothes today might seem unusual for a voyage, but it's clear that the elaborate kimono does nothing to impede her, as she makes the skidding look more like a cinematic choice than an actual issue.

    For a time she is utterly still, drawing out a fan of all things that she expands with a flick of her wrist. When the monsters appear, she almost dances into the melee, striking with feet, hands, and fan in a silent dance.

    Nearer to midships, Goldenblade reveals that these sea creatures are remarkably vulnerable to fire. Clearly they don't fit the stereotype, and in moments Goldenblade's foe is letting out a keening screaming and bursting into pixels.

    Not so far away, a trio of the monsters confront Kauchemar. Their menacing approach breaks off as they have to close their eyes. By good fortune, they open their eyes just in time to see what's coming. It's Rizadoman. And his claws. Though their many tendrils reach swiftly, the attacks of the lizardman first blind them permanently, then send one after another to their doom.

    Things go less well for Proteus, whose brooding may have been just distracting enough to leave her on the defensive. Eventually Robert does help, though! Or at least, his bucket does. Combined with the slippery deck, it is enough to send a racing tendril monster flopping towards the bow of the ship, where Wake pointedly stomps it into submission. The Baroness just gives the man a look. "You missed a spot."

    Though Tenko doesn't have the best of luck in this first round, it is a pretty dramatic way to save one's self, dangling from the hilt of a short blade as she is.

    This is about the time when Prophylaxis dons the eyepatch and calls upon the spirits of his very distant, very probably not ancestors. Regardless, there are explosions and the deck of the ship turns into a reenactment of a Civil War battle. It's unclear if the tendril monsters were cast into the sea or simply vaporized, but they are very, very much gone.

    Wake brushes a bit of soot off her shoulder and smiles at Prophylaxis, "This brings back memories, you know. Simpler times."

    Even after the first melee is done, victory only wins a respite. It becomes something of a tireless journey, with the Baroness taking charge in the organization of rotating defense shifts. While she does ensure that the shares of these are fair, she has something of a knack for always being there when they start. Either weird luck or she just really, really wants to hit something.

    One thing that she cannot punch, kick, or cut to ribbons is weather. That's what proves to be the next major challenge, as a thick clouds bring a darkness like night to the day. Their wicked winds bring the seas to life, threatening to cast everyone overboard and break the ship up.

    Rizadoman looks into the sky as it darkens , "Just a little rain." Then there is a loud clash of thunder and then lightning so what does the lizardman do? He grabs himself someones sword and begins to climb to the top of the crow nest. As he uses the sword as a lightning rod his scales shift to a stronger level as he turns blood red, pulling as much of the lightning to himself. As he holds the sword up into the air and is struck by lightning, he really feels like he should be shouting something about having the power.

To be fair Kauchemar is often a better diversion than she is a direct assault, so kudos to the lizard man for capitalizing on it. And with the enemies now blinded it's easier for her to help pick them off. Or chase new ones off the ship before they can make a bigger mess of things. The on-off-on-off methods do get a bit tiring, but that's just how we roll. Or sail.

Eventually the stronger salty winds start to blow through her mane, drawing an annoyed snort from the nightmare. "Seriously, that storm must just front over this one large section of ocean. What's the saying for this situation? Batten down the hatches?.. Oh, I know what would work."

She snaps her fingers, summoning her Binder Shield and then slipping her arm into it's straps. Digs her hooves into the deck, and brings up the shield to use as a buffer against the winds so the actual sailors can do their job of keeping the ship in shape without being blown off the deck.

o/~ So hoist up the John B sails... See how the main sail's set
Call for the Captain ashorrrre, let me go home o/~
A great swell of water surges over the deck, but before it can sweep anyone away she thrusts into it with the shield, parting the waters away from anything or anyone vital.
o/~ Let me go home... I wanna go home, yeah yeah
Well I feel so broke up... I wanna go home! o/~

Goldenblade doesn't so much run out of fire, but she runs, eventually, out of monsters that burn. Or the flammable ones are specific to the one region, and we are travelling along. But once we sail past those threats, the sea does not grow kinder. The weather indeed starts to get rough, and our relatively tiny ship is tossed. Luckily, our crew is fearless, or our ship would be lost.

Goldenblade is stuck helping with the more physical efforts, hauling damaged debris away and carrying up supplies and shoring kits and other things needed for repairs, helping out the crews as best she can by working hard and tirelessly.

Prophylaxis may or may not have Deutsche and/or Portuguese ancestry, but he's certainly the descendent of some kind of gunnery goon on the Kongou! Cannons are (in some distant, tangential way) absolutely in his blood. "Hmhmhm, none can match the might of superior firepower...! It may not be a 14 inch gun, but it's still got more than enough punch! Ahahahahahaha!"

Beat.

Prophylaxis looks to the Baroness and flashes a mighty smile, "Ah, yes indeed. It reminds me of the good old days, back before all this got so complicated. Sailing the seas, blasting tentacle monsters, not caring about political alignments, it's a nostalgic feeling, isn't it?"

But with the battle won, the ordinary drudgery of taking care of a ship takes precedence. For a while, it's a matter of doing chores, fixing broken boards, and occasionally swabbing the poop deck between mealtime and lazy chats. At least, until the storm hits.

Within the blinding wind and rain, one could almost lose track of the magus lashed to the mast. He grits his teeth and holds his staff high, Stormsong singing as wind blasts through channels in the wood. This time, he's /not/ responsible for conjuring the storm. Instead, he focuses its power to weave a barrier of screaming gales /around/ the ship, protecting it from the worst of both wind and wave.

He'll end up soaked by the end of it, but it's damn better than going down with a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean.

The fight is a rough one, but thanks to the combined efforts of the group, the monsters go down. While still holding on for dear life, Tenko manages to pull herself back up on deck, brush herself off, and return to her post-fight duties.

The approach of the storm, or rather their approach towards the storm, makes her glance at Kauchemar, who she knows has made this trip more than once, "You ran into this same system before?" She asks, though the answers may have to wait, as Kauchemar breaks into her shanty, and Tenko does what she can to make ready for the winds and rain. She'll hold on for dear life and hope for the best when the time comes.

Missed a spot? Distracted from watching Proteus, Robert paces, with mop and bucket in hand, on over to where Wake stands. He pauses, glances down, brightens. "You found dinner, Baroness!" he exclaims, bending over with good cheer to examine the critter. Indeed, he's just about to toss the whole drippy thing downstairs for processing, when its hp hits zero. It polygons and bursts, leaving behind a very disappointed, and possibly offended-looking Robert. Who swabs the deck. By Wake's feet. For way, way too long.

Come round two, Robert is below deck, sorting through paperwork. No doubt trying to puzzle things out. His work is most -rudely- interrupted by the incoming storm. His papers go flying. His pens go flying. His complexion turns a nauseated shade of green, and he stumbles his way out of his workspace, banging off walls and doors before lurching out onto deck.

Where he skids across the wooden planking, thunks into the rail, and noisily heaves the contents of his stomach overboard. He has the grace to limit his retching noises to between the lines of Kauchemar's tune. It's like a round. Only the words aren't the same. And neither is the tune. But it's not quite harmony either.

Clearly it is something new. And modern, very modern.

Well, the monsters are cleared away. Proteus remains unharmed by weird tentacle creatures, which is a relief. As she draws herself back up again, the Imp huffs and shakes her head. "Well, it's a good thing we had so many Adventurers coming with us today. I got caught off guard... I'll see if I can prevent that from happening again."

Of course, the other forever problem of sailors arises, the weather. "Tch. You think you're going to stop us that easily?" She asks, her hands twisting as she leans into the increasing winds: ^ S O

There is an explosion of air as Proteus sweeps her hands out, swirling it around and creating counterforces to stabilize their movement. "Keep things moving forward. I'll help where I can." She says.

    Storms and sails don't mix. They say trim the sails in this case, don't they? Isn't that what someone is supposed to be shouting? That seems like a thing. What isn't a thing, though, is having some crazy lizard person decide to tank the storm itself. There's a lot of lightning, and a lot of it is hitting Rizadoman. He survives. He may be steaming, but he is definitely not dead.

    Speaking of preventing death, Kauchemar does a really good job of that. Not being swept off the ship by enormous waves is a great way to keep the crew from suffering from low morale and/or certain death.

    Behind these shields, Goldenblade gets to work ensuring everyone has the supplies they need to prevent disaster. She helps lower the sail, as well. The ship certainly has no issue moving quite quickly in this storm.

    The ferocity of the storm continues to build. There's a rather ominous creaking coming from the mast as the wind sorely tests its strength. But the elements meet their match as Prophylaxis uses screaming winds as a shield, greatly reducing the threat of the storm raging around the ship.

    Things are not all so amazing for the team, though. Robert's rather avante garde contributions to the music are not being met with rave reviews. Tenko is fortunately not so sick, but once again is only just able to avoid falling into the ocean. But really, it is a very small ship and a big ocean, so it's quite understandable that it's hard to avoid.

    Proteus' magic adds just one more necessary ingredient to survival. Protection against the violent shifting of the ship as the waves lash at it. Mountains of water are ground down to rolling hills by the force of it. It's not a gentle ride, but it's swiftly becoming safer.

    For her part, Wake simply takes hold of the wheel and doesn't let go. Why she knows how to sail at all is something of a mystery. Perhaps she doesn't. But she does know to aim the bow squarely at the waves. It's not much to go on, but with all the help around her, it is enough to stay alive.

    But only just. The ship is in rough condition. The crew have many injuries. If these issues aren't dealt with, the voyage will certainly grow ever more difficult.

    "There is a considerable amount of damage and healing to be done. Let's do what we can to move forward with care, but our first priority is to get back on our feet."

    Wake doesn't like delays, but she'd rather abandon the mission than let Lander lives be lost.

Kauchemar promptly pulls a sack out of her inventory. "This time I came prepared." And dumps out a bunch of random mushrooms and plant trimmings. "Well, sort of, I have no idea what's what but there's got to be something useful here." She hffs as she discards the sack. "But no seaweed this time. Sailor's promise."

One of the Landers leans closer to her. "You're technically not a sailor, ma'am."

Kauchemar lightly but firmly pushes him back out of frame with one hand. "Don't harsh the mood."

Goldenblade is exhausted by the end of the crisis, having worn herself our assisting the shoring and ship repair teams to the point that she's all but passed out at the end. Unfortunately, the crisis is not over, and so she will drag herself along to try and help. But injuries and such are not subject to real-life remedies such as direct pressure and tournequets. She'll go to each victim that needs help, then, but just a verbal, 'hang in there,' is about the best she can do. This probably does not help much.

Healing magic? Herbal remedies? Bedside manner?

Nope. Nope. So, so far outside Robert's area of expertise that, after a few moments of trying to tell the difference between an ointment for bug bites, and an ointment for....facilitating digestion, he gives up on any hope of tending to the injured.

There is a silver lining to this. He fails -so- spectacularly that he doesn't waste time trying to make it succeed. So he does what he can manage. That's right. He swabs the deck. There may be some dead Landers, but there will be a very, very clean deck, for the good of all.

Except the ones who are dead.

Fortunately for Baroness Wake (and all the other people onboard, for that matter), they have an actual, honest to goodness doctor with them. The storm might have done a number to the boat, and the monsters to the crew, but there's at least one man present who is willing to work himself to death setting bones and mending wounds.

The real challenge is making sure Prophylaxis doesn't overdo it.

Nevertheless, he scrambles together a triage ward out of one of the cargo holds. Kauchemar dumps a sack and Prophylaxis snatches it up, quickly grabbing a handful of seemingly random mushrooms and crushing them into powder. The resulting medicine goes into a dozen or more different bandages and potions. Closing gashes, stitching worse, medicating and medicating and medicating, Prophylaxis works non-stop to get the job done.

And by the end, he's absolutely bushed, and seems to have passed out at the foot of a staircase, sanitizing a set of medical tools.

Poor guy.

    Rizadoman climbs down from the crows nest as his scales change back to normal , tossing the slagged sword away. He is definately smoking, smells like cooked lizardman in fact but overall he isn't to bad off. Taking another moment he tries to move over to one of the wounded sailors as he takes a deep breath. "Ok just stay still. Ancestors of the sea please heal..." He never finishes as he passes out , apparently dragon scale doesn't have as much lightning resitance as he had expected. Pretty sure he has a status or to on him too.

Tenko could help people if they needed a nice drawing done, or perhaps some kind of knowledge about samurai history.

In instances like this, she's unable to help much in the way of herbology. So instead of trying to find the right herbs and ways for treatment, she does the best thing she can do in a situation like this and gets the hell out of the way of people who are far better at it than her.

The storm ends, and things end up more or less as expected. People are hurt, some are critically wounded. Proteus is fortunate enough to not be excessively damaged, but she needs to deal with others who are not so lucky. The Imp moves amongst the wounded, trying to call up her Light magic... But for some reason, the energies just don't seem to be enough. "What's wrong..." She mutters, as she applies Fairy Healing and other spells. "It's not enough. I'm no healer. Prophylaxis, this is your specialty... We're going to need you for this." Semi-weird rivalry or not, Proteus does not question the credentials of the Doctor of Tolbana.

    Priorities are clearly set. Kauchemar sees to the first. One of the lander sailors was badly hurt during the storm. Even the strength of the adventurers isn't so great as to ensure that none are harmed. Fortunately, adventurer healing is enough to prevent his death. Some of Kauchemar's herbs stem the bleeding while the mushrooms ease the pain and speed recovery.

    Unfortunately, not a lot else goes right. Goldenblade's assurances and attempts to support those who are injured are appreciated, but in this world aren't helpful in restoring lost HP or dealing with conditions. Robert's swabbing, it goes without saying, does little to restore much but the gleam to the deck. If he doesn't ease-up on it, the boards may be entirely worn away before they even reach their destination.

    The key matter is Prophylaxis is there. Wake is glad he is. Not only for saving Lander lives, but for Landers and others to see him work tirelessly to do so. The Baroness wishes she could claim it was all her plan, but it was merely her hope that this voyage might forge relationships strong enough to withstand the gravity of war itself.

    The other efforts to tend the wounded simply fall short of the mark. Rizadoman's gently set aside to rest and recover. Any remaining smouldering is carefully driven away with a wet sponge by one of the grateful crew. Proteus' attempts at healing magic fall short of the mark as well, unable to lend further aid to the efforts of the others.

    There is a lot of work to observe, and a lot of motion. Tenko, who was simply watching, suddenly finds herself called into action as Wake throws herself into healing inspired to put forth every effort by Prophylaxis. She is no match for him, but in the heat of this moment, her light magic rises to the occasion. The Baroness relies on Tenko to ensure that she stays on her feet and keeps working through the remaining patients until there's simply no healing magic left to call upon and nothing remaining to help her gain more.

    What follows are more days of work and toil. Somewhat less than effective repairs of the ship that have to be repeated again and again to keep it seaworthy. The dead seas and the poor work combine forcess to leave the ship drifting slowly. Worse yet, nightfall reveals that they are off course. Lost. The right decision must be made.

Goldenblade is exhausted after the ordeal of the ship repairs and emergency treatment, but she sleeps fitfully knowing how many are hurt that she can do nothing to help. It doesn't sit well with her, but there's nothing she can do about it but offer more useless plattitudes and tell the injured, "Just a bit longer," until they're so tired of hearing it they tell her to just shut up.

When we are becalmed, her mastery of air magic is almost as great as her mastery of nuclear physics. Which is to say that she's pretty much useless. Eventually, she'll convince the captain to let her go over the side in a longboat, and tow the ship from the dinghy tied on by a rope. The pull is wildly tiny and not particularly useful, but it's the best she can do.

SpritesHero can be observed, at some point in the day, to be up in the rigging fiddling with the sails. Whatever it is that he was doing...apparently worked so fantastically that he has no need to refresh whatever enchantments he placed up there.

Just kidding. Whatever it was, he doesn't try again, instead opting for....you guessed it. Swabbing the decks. And occasionally tossing water on the sails in the hopes they'll catch even the faintest breath of wind. But mostly swabbing the decks.

Kauchemar trots, so to speak, up to the front of the ship. She rests one hoof upon the edge and turns her gaze up to the stars above.

She was no navigator, but she had a few other options in her bag of tricks. She stares for several long moments, unusually quiet at least for her, as she conversed with the darkness around her in a different manner.

One hand lower to her side, resting upon the Six Laws scroll tucked in her belt. Aetheric energy crackles to life, forming around her eyes in a shape resembling spectacles made of flickering ghostly flame. She stares. Her mane flutters a bit as others start conjuring up winds.

The stars twinkle back.

The silence is finally broken when Kauchemar lifts one arm to point. "Our fate lies that way. Though the path to the future is not yet clear of obstacles."

She doesn't clarify if that's the way to their destination, or just the next challenge they have to face.

Fate does not work in such clarities.

While Tenko does her best to assist Baroness with tending to the wounded. She's good at this kind of assisting, even if she can't do the healing herself. One day she may have to get around to learning first aid.

After a while, they find themselves trapped in the doldrums. A potentially deadly place for folks to get caught in when travelling the seas.

Tenko does listen when Kauchemar offers them a direction. She's aware of the abilities the Nightmare has, and she thinks it could work. She uses her fire abilities to conjure a pair of foxfire flames, which she levitates up to the sail, keeping it far enough away from the sail to keep it from bursting into flames, but close enough to heat the air and generatew some wind.

    Rizadoman looks at the sail as the wind dies down. " IF only there was a way to move the ship magically without needing to rely on sails. " With a deep breath he works towards the aft of the boat and does his best to summon any wind to move into the sails but really all he manages to conjure is a light breeze.

"I know, I know," Prophylaxis answers Proteus with a muttered mantra. "I'll do everything I can," And only hope that it's enough. Though he has perhaps taken the phrase a little too literally. He /does/ do everything that he can, working tirelessly to heal the wounded and cure the sick. Every so often, he plunges a syringe full of thick, green fluid into his shoulder-- high-intensity stamina potions, by appraisal-- to work just a little while longer.

For what it's worth, somehow, nobody dies. Even if the good doctor spends the better part of the next day absolutely exhausted.

It's only when he wakes up that he realizes the boat is stuck adrift in unfamiliar waters-- and within a sargasso sea, at that. Stifling a yawn with a groan, he blinks blearily at Kauchemar's declaration and heaves a shrug and hoists himself up on unsteady legs. "As long as we know where we're going..."

Stormsong is lifted again into the air. This time, Prophylaxis /is/ conjuring the weather that comes. What fills the ship's sails is a mighty wind indeed, a roiling orb of churning gales...

That also happen to be absolutely /frigid/ to the touch. It's as if the doctor had drawn a gust out of the upper atmosphere, or conjured a globe of winter to provide the push that the sail needs to get the ship moving again.

If only he could call /pleasant/ weather with that staff of his, but then it IS called Stormsong, not Wonderful-Sunny-Day-Song

Proteus, seeing her magic being insufficient, simply gets out of the way before long. "Good luck." She says to Prophylaxis... And there's no measure of scorn there, just a quiet hope as she turns away. She pays attention to other things. At this point, she steps out onto the deck and takes a deep breath, finding a spot to curl up under her cloak.

The next day, she paces the deck, muttering as she looks up at the sky and the ocean. "This isn't good." She mutters. With some effort, she pulls out some papers and spreads them across the deck, weighing them down with various objects. She sketches some things, consulting charts as she gestures with a hand: V N .

Nothing seems to happen... On the surface. Proteus tilts her head as if she's listening to something, and then she taps the charts. "Here." She says. "We should be around here." There's nothing on the charts there, but lots of math and approximations.

    For some of the adventurers, the RNG has been particularly unkind. It leaves Goldenblade and Robert with little to do that is productive. Which is why the deck is again wet and the crew is left watching incredulously as Goldenblade attempts to use a pair of oars and a small boat to tug the ship.

    Where the practical fail, the divine intervene. Though it is not the clearest of guides, the star-reading that Kauchemar performs is certainly welcome. Sometimes, after all, faith must substitute for scientific certainty.

    The Baroness watches her team work through the frustrations of the voyage. It pains her to see them struggle.

    "Thank you for your help with the wounded, Tenko," she says, directing her attention to the woman.

    When the direction is offered, Wake looks up at the sails, saying with a sigh, "If only there were some wind to follow that bearing now."

    Her words are almost perfectly mirrored by Rizadoman, and as if in answer, Tenko delivers a means of propulsion.

    "You are, Tenko, a very clever fox. That's perfect!"

    A moment later, and the air springs to life from the magic flowing through Stormsong. Together, the forces of chill wind and hot flame have the ship moving forward swiftly and smoothly through the otherwise still waters.

    Wake contributes a little of her own magic, but it's mostly to ensure the chill winds don't cause issues for the Landers. it's not much, but she imagines it's appreciated.

    Speaking of appreciation, with the divined path chosen, Proteus is able to ascertain the proper direction from more mundane means. Maps may be imprecise for this area, but combined with the stars above it's enough to find more exact bearings and get the ship on the best possible course.

    There's something about these challenges that always gets the mundane involved. In this case, it's apparent the next day that somewhere along the way, some of the food has been ruined. Okay, most of it. The Landers look at the adventurers hopefully, expecting them to simply food out of thin air. But inventory isn't infinite and there's simply not enough stored items to feed a whole ship. But there is an entire ocean's bounty out there to be called upon!

You know what the problem with spending a full day (or two!) doing nothing but healing people, the /previous/ day strapped to a mast, tanking a storm, and the day /after/ filling the sails with magic wind, is...

...Well. Prophylaxis is tired.

Dead tired, in fact.

So tired that he spends the Hungry Day passed out in a bunk, sleeping his fatigue away. Snooze well, Doctor Prophylaxis.....!

It takes time to continue the ship onward. But there's a faint hint of a smile on the Nightmare's lips as the small chain of atolls come into view. "You're welcome," she remarks. After being tossed and turned about and fending off monsters they were going to need supplies before they worry about venturing farther across the sea, that is what she had seen in whatever vision she conjured up.

That and it would give the navigators a bit more time to figure out getting back into course for the final length of the journey.

She hops over the edge of the ship, though there's no splash as she uses her ability to run atop water to make it onto one of the small land formations. Then summons her Tabby Slime to assist in hunting up some shellfish. Which seems to be going well... until the cat blob knocks a coconut crab right out of a tree. And the territorial tank of a crab just gets back up and knocks the Tabby Slime right out. Then glares at Kauchemar as if it's able to tell she's the master of the thing.

Though by that point the Nightmare has already dismissed the summon and is running back over the water to the ship. "THIS PART I DID NOT FORSEE"

Days pass. The ship keeps going. They keep going. There's no sign of their goal. Proteus paces more. Supplies are running low. The Archaeologist Imp clambers about, taking turns in the crow's nest as she begins calling out small atolls and islands that could have forage. Maybe some of that will help shore up the local stores.

She does, however, squint at Kauchemar. "When did you tame a Tabby Slime?" She asks the Nightmare Bard. "Was it a present from Uta?"

SpritesHero's morale is not low. Robert's morale is perfectly, completely, and utterly fine. And what was once drudgery is now comfort. Control. That little bit of 'things I can do' in a chaotic, unpredictable world.

In other words, the deck swabbing has become pathological. The mop and bucket have become new appendages. That gleaming, pristine deck an extension of his consciousness.

Someone, at some point, suggests that maybe he should go hunting. Someone, shortly thereafter, is given a thousand-yard stare. Followed by more swabbing.

Goldenblade is happy that the ship is still sailing, though she's kind of hungry by now. The party divides up the tasks of food gathering and prep, and Goldenblade's lack of skill is not exactly prepared for what's needed, but she can make cooking work with some effort. Amusingly, perhaps, she's holding a sword in one hand, and a pan in the other, using the flame from her sword to heat the pan. Of course it's a neat trick, but there's precious little to heat, and what we mostly eat is our dignity. And some muddy boots. They are not very good, though in GB's defense, they are cooked as well as boots can be cooked. Some of the others get some food, and it will have to be divided many ways, so we are all very hungry, but no one dies of starvation.

Tenko did not bring her bow! That is on her, she would leave it behind when shooting arrows into the water to catch game would be very useful.

The kitsune tries using magic to do it, but her efforts are met with less than stellar results, "Perhaps next time we should bring more food to begin with.." She muses, before trying again at another large fish just out of range.

    Rizadoman remembers the lack of food being an issue of last time and as the food complain about meager rations and everything the hero that is Rizadoman can not let it stand. So when they pull into a shallower depth the lizardman grabs a knife and dives in and comes back with....sea weed, not much of it either. Like a single leaf per person , if that. He saw so much but he couldn't catch any of it, and then at one point arrows even almost hit him. It was not the most heroic moment of the lizardmans career.

    Wake is many things. But her idea of hunting is sneaking up on monsters and hitting them so hard they leave the very universe behind. Hunting in the sea, with nets and all that? Not her thing. In fact, only after her first attempt does she realize that she's cast the net into the sea. Entirely into the sea, without holding a casting line. She does see some fish appear to be caught in it, but they are swiftly left in Wake's.. wake.

    "Perhaps I had best see to something else," the Baroness explains before turning away. The Landers nearby are too polite to say anything about the incident. Ever.

    The Baroness isn't the only one failing to make their mark. Kauchemar runs into issues as well. But the incident with the crab is likely to make a far better story in the end. Yet stories do not fill the belly.

    Proteus is better able to find some of the necessary staples by pointing out the few islands that the ship comes across. It's not enough to solve the problem, but with the help of others it will be enough.

    But the others are, alas, not terribly helpful. In fact, only Goldenblade is able to contribute, cooking up what they group has managed to gather into food that tastes all the better due to the hunger of the crew.

    As for the others? Well, none of them lose a perfectly good net. Though it seems Prophylaxis, who sleeps the entire day, matches the productivity. Tenko's attempt to catch a fish is so stealthy that even the fish is completely undisturbed. Rizadoman leaps head-first into the sea and single-handled killed a bit of seaweed. Robert.. Robert gets pulled aside for regular health checks by the Baroness. She quietly instructs the Landers to maintain a safe distance and to not mention the rathre distressingly-clean state of the deck until land is reached. And perhaps not then...

    This brings about the final challenge.. what else but a mutiny to keep things interesting? Is there ever a voyage in one of these stories without pirates or a mutiny? Or both? The Landers are getting very dispirited, and no amount of reassurances by Wake is setting them at ease.

    

Goldenblade is not particularly good for low morale, it seems, she's got any number of amusing and cool anecdotes, like the story of the famous Donner party, that's good and cheerful, and will surely put everyone in a positive mood. And ... and ... why is everyone looking at her speculatively?

    Rizadoman had been telling stories to the crew of his ancestors for the last six days. He swears he isn't the cause of any mutiny but he did come prepared this time as people seem on edge as he produces several bottles of alcohol. Yeah sure its not like he brewed it himself but he was wise to stalk up to begin with. So he shares it with the crew.

Kauchemar snorts softly at Proteus' question. "No, but it was one of the various ventures into the congested sewers to collect samples for her." She sighs, and retrieves her lute from inventory. "You'll have to excuse me, this venture isn't quite over yet." She sits herself down on a stack of likely empty barrels, and starts to play out a song.

o/~ Come and gather--*TWANG* She stops, staring as a string picks now to snap.

... And decides fuck it, and resumes playing, even with the busted string rendering certain chords unavailable. She still has her voice, after all.

o/~ Come and gather around, Join in the crowd
Singing the songs that we know
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago

We will dance through the night, in the candlelight
Warmed by the fires glow
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago

And we'll follow the stars, no matter how far
Wherever the wind may blow...
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago

When the sun starts to rise, We will not hide our eyes
We'll greet her with a kiss hello...
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago

All the memories we'll share, greet us everywhere
Along life's twisting road...
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago
We'll drink a toast to tomorrow and one to days long ago o/~

It doesn't have quite the same impact with the busted string, but goddamn it she is still going to put on a show. No performer backs down from a bit of bad luck.

Hey now, Prophylaxis has been plenty helpful! Or rather, at least non-destructive. When he wakes up again, he finds that the situation has... degraded somewhat.

Specifically, the rum is gone.

"Ah, well, this is a problem," the doctor murmurs helplessly. He thinks for a moment and then conjures a barrel of... /something/ out of his inventory. "I prepared some medical-grade alcohol, but like... I don't think it's something anyone would want to be /drinking/ under any circumstances, so..."

He shrugs???

SpritesHero's morale soars! His deck-swabbing is lighter, airier. More spirited. There's a spring in his step, a smile on his lips.

Never mind that he's down to nursery rhymes. Well, one wouldn't want him to try singing anything more complicated, right? Right. So nursery rhymes it is.

If only he'd pick more -pleasant- nursery rhymes. For example, he is currently swabbing his way up to a particularly mutinous-looking seaman. Where, with great spirit--too much spirit, really, and an anticipatory glint in his eye--he softly croons a tail of three blind mice. See, see how they run? But they all ran after the farmer's wife, who cut -off- their tails with a carving knife. Savvy? Savvy.

But regrettably not entertaining.

Tenko can't sing, and she'd be the first to admit it. She's a kitsune not a siren.

Still, she tries to help Kauchemar out by humming along to her song as best she can. She just hopes she doesn't end up ruining it with her humming instead of helping.

Proteus tries to tell a story to lighten the mood. Really, she does. Unfortunately, when she goes to use one of her Abilities in order to embellish the tale, she accidentally slips. ( ! J

A moment later, her mouth is locked shut with a runic seal, and she toddles back and forth, helpless for a time while the sailors get to amuse themselves at her expense by solving the cryptographic puzzle before it expires.

Her face is tinted purple in embarassment by the time she's free again.

    So it's not the prettiest ending to a voyage. In fact, it's a bit of a mess. The angry crew is offered up many a song, none of which is particularly satisfying. They have a broken instrument from Kauchemar (accompanied by the lively humming of Tenko), a rather alarming song from Robert sung with far too much intensity, Proteus' involuntary game of.. charades(?) and then the rousing tale of the doomed Donner expedition, which led to acts grisly and depressing and perhaps a bit too.. instructive considering how hungry the crew is. Goldenblade may want to sleep lightly tonight. Or not at all.

    Prophylaxis' suggestion of getting the crew completely destroyed on alcohol is something Wake considers seriously. But since they only just got back on course, this seems risky at best.

    Wake does have one thing left. Stories of her own. And so she calls the crew together and tells a story. Not just any tale, though. She tells the story of this voyage, of the challenges faced, the victories won, the disappointments and failures.

    She's paid remarkably close attention to the Landers along the way, and is able to incorporate their work into her tale, revealing an appreciation for what they have done and showing that even the seemingly mundane acts can be heroic when facing such dire circumstances. Of course there's a joke in there about how remarkably clean the decks are which lightens the mood and the very welcome drinks that Rizadoman brought pay considerable dividends.

    The crew is still quite unhappy, but the work of the adventurers does delay their anger boiling over, even if it fails to drive their disappointment and frustration away.

    The crew continues to grumble and things grow rather more dangerous as it becomes completely clear that there are not nearly enough supplies to go back and perhaps not even enough to last much longer on their current course. Is that night when the Land of Dragons comes into view at last and a relieved crew lowers the anchor into the water.

    Rizadoman sighs relief when he sees the camp, " It is a beautiful sight." He is eager and happy to get off this boat and back on land. Even the damn camp rations are something h is eagerly looking forward to.

Merciful, merciful land. Merciful land of spice and forests, of mystery and lore.

Merciful for those who were about to be engaged in an imminent mutiny, anyhow. Robert never did have to get around to "Ring around the Rosie", which is probably a good thing for everyone aboard.

At any rate, now that the voyage is over, Robert descends the gangplank, having taken up his position in that orderly line. The last thing that can be observed, before he heads out to explore, are twin flashes as bucket and mop vanish into his inventory.

Land ho! Somehow, against ALL ODDS, Prophylaxis didn't have to take extreme measures (or, more extreme measures) to ensure the success of the voyage. Which, honestly, doesn't really amount to /much./

Still, when the ship finally reaches the Palace Lands and the dinghies are away, Prophylaxis is among the first aboard. "If the flora is anything like stereotypical Chinese depictions, then we can probably find some lychees or kiwis to put off scurvy for at least a while."

There's a beat as he looks to the lizard and asks: "You wouldn't happen to know where a man could find a book, would you?"

Goldenblade does not sleep that night, not after the looks she got after telling the Donner party story. Maybe that wasn't the best story, at that. Hunger has affected her judgement, is her defense, but she does not sleep that night, and when she absolutely cannot stay awake any longer, she will impose on Wake, "Just keep an eye on me, okay?" And even then, she sleeps lightly and briefly. When we finally get to our destination, she breathes a sigh of relief. Which is brief when she sees what a high level area this is. There's no chance she can hunt here...

It's a close thing, but they narrowly avoid a mental break spiral that might have doomed the expedition. "You'd think if they did this trip before, someone would tell them to prepare better." Proteus might be heard muttering during one evening. "This is what, the /second/ time a critical situation with food spoilage in the middle of a trip leaves us hanging? I am going to have words with Olympus and see if we can get some better logistics handling out there."

The grousing does little to lift the mood, however, but at least soon enough they reach land. Proteus, when she hears the call, looks up and grins. "HAH! We made it!" She pronounces. The second thing she does is make another mark on her charts, trying to keep everything documented to make further trips less... arduous.

Also, so she isn't in the hock to New World for their charts. You know, the little things.

"Well, looks like it's time to have another new adventure." She says, grinning as they drop anchor. "Just like in Ezzo."

Once land has been spotted, and anchor has been dropped, Tenko offers her thanks to each of the crew members that she can. It has been a bit of a harrowing voyage to say the least, but she knows that once things have grown further, otehrs will easily be able to cross. They will eventually have a vast shipping network, no doubt. One that will allow them to easily move between the lands. Maybe one day even the gates will be open once again and travel will be instant.

Until then, she assists with getting everyone off the boat, and then will begin her usual wandering, though now these are new lands to wander and explore.