"Battle on the Vastdeep" Log Date: 2/2/02 Log Cast: Alkione (NPC), Tiana, Targon (NPC), Nefis (NPC), Iletya (NPC), Franni, Kephissa, Maerro, Haegar (NPC), Virdi (NPC), Valnek (PC not connected), Dorian (NPC), Graylor (NPC), Torgan (NPC), Markin (NPC), Remirric (PC not connected), Dharce (NPC), Sea Monster (emitted by Zalehrin), Menson (NPC), Tern, Cadence, Kiltos (NPC), Torik (NPC) Log Intro: Hailing originally from the southern seas of Abode, the Vraeyan ship _Windrider_ and her crew have set off on a mission of trade to a neighboring land -- only to be blown severely off-course by a massive storm. They have been wandering ever since, their numbers depleting thanks to illness, starvation, and one or two desperate souls jumping overboard or attacking their crewmates. Now, what's left of the _Windrider_'s crew is exhausted after months at sea, with no familiar shores in sight and no familiar stars overhead. Their captain, Vardeus Alirreus, is especially desperate -- for he has taken the plight of his crew hard, and his worry for the men and women under his command has begun to poison his dreams. Today, his second in command, Tiana Pagonis, has confronted him about his increasingly obvious exhaustion; much to Vardeus' shock, his normally sharp-tongued second has actually seemed concerned for him, and so he has reluctantly agreed to try to rest while she takes temporary command of the ship. While Tiana is on watch, however, the day draws to a close -- and while it does, the lookout finally spies something for which every man and woman on board the wandering vessel has been longing for days on end: Land. But none of them could imagine what lies between them and the shore.... ---------- "LAND! LAND HO!" The sun is dipping down lower over the western horizon, tinging the waves with saffron and gold and setting aflame the clouds mottling the sky in that direction. But the last embers of the sunset are almost lost in the overall oddness of the light, for there is a yellowish tinge to what's left of the day -- and no surprise, for down to the south rises a bank of clouds against which the sunset makes a feeble spark indeed. Stormlight, this. And with the light comes the taste of rain on the winds that fill the sails and propel the _Windrider_ onward. "LAND! LAND HO!" The cry from the lookout high overhead is odd, too: a mixture of strain stoically mastered, and a desperate, joyous relief. Alkione, with her golden hair and her girlish face that belies her thirty-four years, has striven her best to maintain a cheerful outlook for her crewmates. But even that amiable soul has been hard-pressed to smile these last many weeks. Now, as she shrieks out her call to those below on the deck, her frantic delight is almost hysterical. Tiana starts immediately at the cry of 'Land ho!' first gaze sweeps up to the crow's nest where Alkione eagerly points toward the starboard. She turns her attention in that direction lifting a hand to shade her eyes from the dying light trying to see the shadowy smudge that signifies land. Mentally taking note of the storm approaching from the south and attempting to guage how much time before the storm overtakes the _Windrider_ and how long it will take to reach that shoreline. Immediately she begins barking out orders, "Well what're you all standing there gawking for? Let's get this ship turned about! Starboard ho! Targon, Nefis, Ileyta, get everything that's not needed tacked down. Let's see if we can beat this storm to the shore!" Tiana Long hair, the color of burnished copper, has been pulled into a snug braid at the base of her skull and is held secure with a simple, golden clasp at the end which hangs to the small of her back. Her hair frames a smooth, rounded face from which a pair of deep, moss green eyes peer above a narrow, aqualine nose and full lips. She has rounded ears, the left of which harbors a single gold ring through the lobe, and five fingered hands which mark her as a human woman somewhere in her early to middle twenties. Her skin has been kissed by the sun until it is lightly tanned and freckled, giving rise to the suspicion that she's no kin to the native tribes. She's a bit taller than the average human female and well muscled, though she looks a bit thin judging by the flesh revealed by the swathe of off-white fabric that's been wrapped around her form, leaving her right shoulder and boths arms bare. The toga is cinched about her waist by a simple, leather belt bearing the weight of several pouches, the contents of which can only be guessed at for the time being, and a quiver full of arrows. A pair of well oiled bracers cover her forearms from each elbow to the backs of her hands. The hem of her toga flutters just above her knees, leaving her lower legs and feet bare, save for the sandals protecting the soles of her feet. Straps criss-cross their way up her legs to just below her knees and support the weight of a dagger and sheath on the outside of each leg. Usually, there is a curved longbow either in her hand or resting somewhere near her hand, marking her to those that would know as an archer.Finishing off her attire are a pair of matching, golden armbands resting high on each arm and a collar style necklace comprised of golden baubles and several multi-hued gemstones. As if the storm hears Tiana's words and doesn't want to let the ship get away, a gust of wind blows jostling the ship, and a light drizzle that heralds worse weather starts to fall. Franni is standing below-deck, scratching her head and staring blankly at the massive amounts of rope she was just asked to move. Above-head, she begins to hear a bevy of movement and shouts. Shrugging, she pulls up the first coil and puts it over her head to carry the weight. She looks up again as she hears something sounding a bit like 'Land ho!' (Might as well go topside and see what they're gettin' all jumpy about). She walks towards the ladder and grunts as she pulls herself up with the added weight of the rope. Once topside, she is quickly slammed into by an overly happy sailor who gives her a slap on the rump and runs off, saying "We've got land in sights, mate!". Cocking a hand above her eyebrows, a useless gesture really considering the light is all but fading over the horizon, she peers out to see this land for herself. She smiles for a second but frowns immediately as she is pelted with rain. She begins to shout up towards the sky, "Awwwww! And there I was, moppin' the damned decks all but an 'alf hour ago. Blisters hands for nothin'! I hope yer happy ye damned gods!" Franni A young woman, human judging by her rounded ears and five fingered hands. Average in stature but lean and muscular in frame. There's no paint or glitter on this one, just the glimmer and sheen of sweat earned from hard work.. Freckles. That's the first thing you notice about her. She's covered in the little brown splotches from head to toe. Then your gaze travels up to catch a glimpse of her flat blue eyes, aqua like the ocean. Not all doe-like and pleading. Men's eyes, leering at you in a way that you can't tell whether you're being regarded as a piece of meat or a person. They are softened a little by her hair. Wavy and golden blonde in color, tossed up in a messy topknot with small frizzy wisps escaping every which way. And finally, underneath a pert nose are pale, wind-chapped lips, from which her heavily accented voice is uttered--full of slang and scandalous words. She doesn't pretend to be a lady, after all. An off-white linen shirt covers her torso and extends down to her midthigh, the topmost buttons left undone. Her arms are bare, the sleeves ripped away from the one-time blouse. An indigo tattoo decorates her left bicep bearing the familiar mark of a sailor--the anchor. A tan cord is tied around her waist. Beneath the tunic is a pair of frayed navy shorts, the longest threads barely reaching her knees. Worn leather sandals protect her feet, the black laces all knotted up and twisted around her calves. No jewelry on her body to speak of, except for a single gold cuff clipped to her right ear. About to go off duty, at least the standing watch part of her duty, Kephissa is heading towards the hatch about to go below to find some food, and then some other task that needed to be done. But at the call from the lookout, she jumps, and twirls. Land! Oh let it be more than some scrub island. Even before Tiana's order she's moving towards one of the lines holding the sails, ready to pull or release as ordered. "Ready on the port sheet!" She calls. Kephissa Wavy auburn hair is tied back with a length of cord to reveal slightly sunburned ears with a close fitting gold band in the right one ... round ears. Although she looks nothing like the normal humans, it does appear that is what this being is. Apparently female too, about 5 and a half feet tall with a slight, but well toned body. She has pale green eyes set in a cheerful tanned face, which slightly chapped lips. She's clearly spent a lot of time under the open sun, more than usual in recent months. On the back of her left hand an abstract design has been tattooed, a triangle of interlacing and overlapping lines. She wears a loose, short sleeved tunic that falls to mid-thighs. Its obviously seen better days as its worn, and has several neatly mended rips and patches. At one point decorative braided cord encircled the ends of the sleeves and the bottom hem, but time obviously hasn't been spent repairing those unnecessary decorative features. A braided belt made out of slim rope encircles her waist. A iron knife is tucked into the right side of that belt, a cord wrapped around the hilt, and attached to the belt so its less likely to be lost. On the left side a pouch made of a heavy stiff cloth is sewwed to the belt. Her legs and feet are bare, and there are thin silver rings on the fourth toes of each foot. Maerro stands talking to Haegar, a surprisingly patient man for one only in early twenties that is usually willing to answer Maerro's barrage of questions. It is in mid-question that Maerro hears Alkione's cry and stops. Like many others he immediately turns his eyes to the sea. Moments later he lets out a whoop of joy as he spies the distant land. He grab's Haegar's arm and points towards it, though Haegar's already seen it himself. At Tiana's orders Haegar jumps into action while Maerro immediately looks around for the captain, for once not knowing where he is. Not one to stand idle though he jumps to help Torgan, happy enough to know land is near that he ignores the dribble of rain that slides down the back of his tunic. Maerro Adolesence has not fully hit this young male human yet. His limbs are a bit long and gangly, hinting at a future tallness, but he still moves as one comfortable with his body. A mop of brown hair, lightened by the sun, just brushes his collar, not quite long enough to pull back in a ponytail. Wisps of bangs cover his forehead and fall over his brow, nearly threatening his vision. Hazel eyes watch the world around him avidly, full of curiosity and questions. His clothes are particularly unusual from those of native tribesmen. Undyed, off-white cloth forms a tunic that hangs a few inches above his knees. The color offsets his tanned skin, though it is still unusually pale in comparison to the local humans. Despite his age, probably no older then 12 or 13, he has a wiry strength to him. A dark leather belt gathers the cloth around his waist and provides a handy place to carry both a small pouch and dagger. His feet are clad only in leather sandals with straps wrapping around his legs to mid-calf. Tiana frowns skyward as the drizzle begins but she determines that it would be best to use the winds blowing off of the stormfront while they're still gentle enough. "Full mainsail, full port! Trim the starboard!" Get the ship turned in the right direction and then full sail all over she thinks to herself as she slips toward the captain's cabin and raps loudly on the door, "Cap'n?" she calls over the noise of the suddenly bustling crew. Glad cries are rising up from all over the deck, and there is not a face in sight that doesn't turn with eager anticipation towards the long low stretch of shadow off to the east. The shore of home? Too soon to tell, but each and every face in sight upon the deck turns with hopeful anticipation to the long, low stretch of shadow in sight to the east. Smiles break out on features that have not held smiles in many days, and young Virdi actually spontaneously hugs Valnek, who cuffs him gruffly on the shoulder but can't quite suppress a grin himself even as Virdi dashes down into the hold to spread the word to the others who are resting below. It takes a few moments, but the sounds of stirring within Vardeus' little cabin eventually can be caught... and the captain himself eventually opens the door to look out. His hair and tunic are disheveled with sleep, his eyes a little glassy with the look of a man who's just been jostled out of slumber... but he is there. "What is it?" he rasps hoarsely, as he strives to straighten up under Tiana's scrutiny. The bustle of activity beyond her penetrates his sleep-fogged senses, and he frowns blearily out past her. Vardeus(#108PXc2) Given his round ears and his five-fingered hands, this is clearly a human man... but a distinctly strange-looking one. He stands taller than many human warriors, with broad shoulders and well-muscled arms in proportion to his sturdy frame, and although his face and form are heavily bronzed by the Daystar, he is paler in shade than many of his kind. His eyes are clear and blue as the Vastdeep Water beneath a summer sky. His hair, a warm golden brown bleached yellow on top by the sun, is most often tied into a small tail at the base of his neck; his beard goes with his hair, a short scattering of whiskers that's just enough to soften the strong line of his jaw. He speaks with a rich husky baritone, and in a rolling accent that marks him as not of any known nearby land. He is clad in garb that may well seem strange to some eyes, for it does not much match what a human might usually be expected to wear. A short-sleeved tunic of undyed woven cloth, accented with a stained-in block pattern along its hems, covers him from shoulders to thighs and is held at his waist by a thick belt of well-oiled, well-worn, metal-studded leather. On his feet he sports leathern sandals, with broad straps that twine up his calves just short of his knees; at his belt, on either side, ride the matched sheaths of a pair of daggers. At his right ear gleams a small golden earring, and around his upper left arm, a beaten armband of gold. The wind is gusting, not blowing yet with significant force, but each gust is enough to move the ship faster until it dies. And enough to blow the increasing rain into sailors' eyes. The shadow of the land gets more difficult to see as visibility decreases. A tall and clearly emaciated sailor, only in his late teens or early twenties, struggles with one of the booms. Grasping onto one of the tie-downs and yanking as hard as he can to keep it from moving, Dorian looks over towards the female sailor he just accosted and lets out an annoyed grunt. "Hey Franni! You going to keep standing there like that, all slack-jawed and doing nothing? Give me a hand girl!" Making a face at him, Franni makes her way on the slippery deck towards him. Spinning on her heels uncontrollably at one point, she spies something out of the corner of her eye. "What was that?" An Oi! from Dorian causes her to stash that thought away as just a bit of excitement fooling her mind and she runs over to help grab the line. Kephissa shakes her head as she gets a blast of wind and rain in the face. Her hair quickly becoming damp, she doesn't let that bother her. Sailing isn't always pleasent days cruising. And part of her would rather have a little weather to deal with than drifting without wind and blazing sun. There had been too many of those days in the summer. Let that line out, pull that line in. Kephissa loses herself in the action of trimming the sails. Time enough to celebrate when they reach land and are battened down against the storm. Years on the sea have given her enough weather knowledge to know this is just a little squall, not much to worry about. Crew celebrating instead of working is more of a worry. "Graylor, tie off that line!" She snaps at a nearby crewman who's too busy gawking at the shadow of the shore to worry about the rope slipping through his fingers. "Do you want us to lose the mast?" The man starts and gives Keph a sheepish grin before fastening the line tight. Torgan grunts as he pulls on the tie down, fortunately he's one of the stronger of the crew as Maerro's excitement and lack of brute strength isn't helping very much. "Did you see it Torgan? Do you think it'll be bigger then the other islands we saw? It looked bigger to me." Torgan begins tying the rope down, ignoring Maerro's questions. "Pull that down tighter lad, don't want it loose and flappin' around." Maerro obligingly pulls as hard as he can, the effort conveniently shutting him up for the moment. Tiana doesn't even seem to notice the captain's disheveled state, instead she greets him with a huge grin, "We've sighted land, sir," she reports and tamps down the coltish urge to give the big galoot an exuberant hug of her own. To avoid doing so, she turns back to the bustle on the deck, scans the goings on with a sharp eye, notes that the ship is turned in the right direction, and begins barking out more orders, "Full sail! Let's use these winds to our advantage!" She notes the few that are so shocked by the news of land that they're not paying as much attention as they ought to. She strides over and catches hold of a rope sliding through Markin's fingers and begins pulling it taut. _Land_? As Tiana turns away, the shock of her news upon the captain goes conveniently unseen. His weary eyes go wide, and for a fraction of an instant, he looks so disoriented that one might -- if one were looking at him -- wonder if his knees were about to buckle beneath him. But the moment passes, and he bursts forth from his cabin, weariness and shock passing in a sudden surge of vigor. "The rain's on us hard!" his voice rings out as he shoots a glance in all directions, gleaning what he can of the status of his ship and his crew, as well as the sea and the sky all around them. "You heard the lady, mates, the Skyfather's givin' us a shove, let's let him make us fly!" Galvanized, looking more like the carefree man he'd been back in Shalros than he has in many days, Vardeus Alirreus hurls himself with a ready will into the buzz of activity. He passes Maerro, clapping the boy encouragingly on the shoulder and flashing him the most heartfelt grin he's had in two weeks, before seizing one of the sail-lines himself. Like everyone else, the captain has grown leaner with the tightening of the rations... but he's still got strength in those shoulders, and they roll beneath his tunic as he joins his crew in helping their vessel live up to her name. Franni feels the rope begin to tug right out of her hands. "Dorian! Y' keepin' the line down or wot? Use that little bit o' muscle ye've got and hold it down!" She grits her teeth as the line continues to threaten to pull out of her hands. The rain pelting the two of them isn't helping much with traction either. She catches Dorian saying something to her and she strains to hear him but can't through the wind howling in her ears. This is not good. She barks at her mate, "I. Said. 'old. It. Down!!!" Instead of nodding in agreement, Dorian starts screaming and staring down at the rope's anchor. Franni blanches as she realizes what's happened. The line is about to sna... Almost immediately, the boom starts falling fast and the two are launched up into the air, holding onto the rope for dear life. Franni's last two words are lost on the wind, ~Oh hell~ "Oy!" Kephissa grimaces as the boom comes down, wincing at the sound of ripping sailcloth. "The sails already one big patch, don't know how its going to be fixed." She mumbles under her breath. Once they make landfall, they're probably not going anywhere for a while. If this isn't home, maybe there are at least people with enough clothmaking skill to make new sailcloth. Even as her mind flys down one direction, she leaps into action, pulling two sailors out of way of the falling boom. Her eyes going to where Franni and Dorian are flying in the air. "Hold on tight, up there!" The wind is rising and she doubts her words are even heard by the pair. She winces, for what goes up must come down. Unless they hit the mast first. Maerro return's Vardeus' grin, happy to see his captain with energy and vigor once more. He throws himself into his work even more, helping Torgan finish tying the last bit down. He looks around for the next job he can do, just in time to see the boom fall. Though clear of it he still jumps back and shouts, "Boom down!" As if it weren't apparent enough. He runs forward to see if anyone's been trapped beneath it or the sail. Tiana watches, momentarily shocked into stillness as the boom comes crashing to the deck and takes two of the crew into the ropes. Within a heartbeat, she's in action totally recovered from the shock. With a mumbled prayer to the allmother, she shimmies up the ropes in an attempt to help Franni and Dorian out of their predicament hoping that neither ran amok of the mast in their upward flight. A sizzling curse erupts from the Captain as Franni and Dorian go flying in a manner that has absolutely nothing to do with what he'd called out in his orders -- and, he hopes with a jolt of dread, with what the gods have in store for them. With teeth clenched, he deliberately thrusts from his mind any thoughts that this might be an ill omen indeed, and bellows out further orders in a voice that rides up over the rousing wind. "HOLD THE LINES!" to Valnek and Remirric and Targon, to ensure that the fallen sail can get hauled back up. "Ileyta, Dharce, lanterns! Get us some light to see by!" And even as he's shouting he's in motion, half a step behind the boy and hurling himself at the boom without regard for the way the deck is beginning to pitch beneath his feet or how the rain streaming through his hair. Haegar leaps to help him, and between them, the two men struggle to get the boom lifted up again. Franni groans as she struggles to maintain a grip on the rope, which is whipping her and her mate through the air like a pair of ragdolls. Her eyes are squeezed tight, speaking volumes that she really doesn't want to see the predicament they were in. "Do-Dorian? Y'still down there?" A low 'yeah' answers her. An inch or so of rope escapes her grip as the two continue to swing back and forth in the air. "Right then. I fancy we're goin' down in a min." Another 'yeah' slowly permeates the wind. Franni feels another inch of the rope slide past her hands. "And-and I suspect that if we want t'live n'all, we've got t' figure somethin' out now n'quick." Yeaaah. "So y' got somethin' figured out yet?" Silence. "Dori? C'mon now. Yer s'posed t' have the brains of us." A crosswind blows the two towards some loose netting blowing almost horizontally about from the mast. As if full of life itself, the netting seizes them and tangles about the two. "Didja plan that one?" Slightly torn between falling Tiana up the mast to help Franni and Dorian, or helping the captain with the boom and sail, Kephissa hesitates just the barest fraction, before moving towards the fallen boom. She grins ruefully at Vardeus, "Fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, Captain. Just let me mend this big rip a bit, before we lift it up again. Shouldn't take more than a second." She pulls down on the sail to gain access to the large tear and whips out the fat needle and heavy thread she always carries with her for just this occasion. Stitching quickly, "Won't be a moment." There's a sharp gust of wind, catching on the partially raised sail and causing it to billow. The rain is coming down in sheets now, and even when its not gusting the wind is blowing strongly. Maerro pauses in beginning to help Vardeus and Haegar in lifting the boom. Seeing that it will take a few minutes he goes back to his origonal plan of checking to make sure no one was injured by the falling boom. He sees a body sitting down with his back against a barrel and quickly moves to who he discovers is Nefis. "Sitting down on the job again?" Nefis looks up and wipes the rain from his eyes, "Just a bit of a knock jumpin back." He gestures to his ankle which is still swelling. "C'mon then I'll help you below. Lazy bum, get to go lay on yer back while we work." Tiana clambors up to where she's even with Franni and Dorien up near the top of the mast. She watches as the net blows across the two of them and reaches out to catch hold of the fluttering edge of the thing. "Franni! Dorian! Get your tails off that rigging and over here if you can!. She pulls on the netting with all her might, struggling to keep it steady for the two crewmates. The gods know they've lost enough crewmembers on this voyage. Somewhere in the back of Vardeus' mind he spares a moment for a flare of approval for Maerro. Young as the boy is, he's showing all the pluck and spirit of any of the adults on the crew -- and unless the Captain misses his guess, the lad'll grow up to be a decent officer himself someday. Assuming, of course, that the _Windrider_ manages to survive this trip. Kephissa, too, gains his admiration. His crew is always surprising him, and for once this is a good surprise, seeing Kephissa on that rip in the sail despite the minimal watery light of the lanterns that Iletya and Dharce have lit and are now guarding with all they're worth against the rain and the wind, despite that selfsame rain and wind, and despite the shuddering of the _Windrider_ as she pitches up and down on the waves. But out of nowhere, seemingly, comes a sudden jolt of impact, somewhere down along the bottom of the hull. The ship's stern tips up several feet before coming down to slap hard against the water -- and Vardeus whirls, shouting, "What in the nine hells was THAT?!" Franni opens her eyes a crack and sees the owner of the voice calling out at them. With eyes wide, she surveys the netting that has her firmly in its grip. Looking up and over, she makes the decision that 'letting go' might be the best plan for saving their rears. "Hrmm. Dorian? I'm thinkin' if we let go o' this 'ere rope, the nettin will swing us the rest o' the way to th' mast. Unless ye got a better idea brewin' in that big thinkin' noggin of yas." Dorian, who by this point was beginning to strain under the weight of both himself and Franni--whose hands had completely slipped down the rope to rest on top of his--nodded tersely. "Yeah, that should work just fi...Aaaaaah!" A sudden jolt caused the two to let go completely of the rope anyways and they slammed into the mast. The gusting wind catching the sail was already lifting Kephissa off her feet a bit, and her feet hit the deck again just as the jolt hit the deck, pitching her forward face first into the sail. "Seamother, help us. What happened? Did we run around?" Although that logic made little sense, for usually its the bow that runs aground, not the stern. She claws her way out of the fallen sail, and peers into the gloom. She doesn't voice her own thoughts that run along the lines of what else could have gone wrong with this bloody doomed trip. Instead she starts to send silent prayers to whatever gods she thinks might answer. Times like this make even the non-religious pious. From the back of the boat, a terror-filled scream pierced the air and promptly ended with a loud splash. Already a little off balance from the former pitching of the boat and Nefis' weight again him, Maerro looses it completely at the impact. He and Nefis go tumbling forward head over heels in a tangle of limbs until they hit the captain's cabin door with a thud. The rolling tumble is punctuated by a series of curses by both Nefis and Maerro's, though Nefis are a bit more imaginative given his longer years on the sea. They extrecate themselves from their human knot slowly, "Mind yer elbow! Thats my ear you're jabbin it at!" Tiana curses vociferously as the ship lurches flinging her against the mast along with Franni and Dorien. Although it is probably a good thing that the upper winds are blowing so hard as her epithets are carried away by them, saving the crew's ears from a blistering though the words are not aimed at them anyway. She scrambles for a better hold on the ropes as she tries to find a center of balance. Two more screams in response rise up in shock at the loss of the hapless fellow who's gone overboard, and it's a pair of shaken sailors Vardeus finds clinging to the rails as he dashes to the stern. "H-he just went over, Captain, I can't see him, I can't see him!" Bone-deep pain slices across Vardeus' eyes, but he can't afford to let himself stop now. Later, maybe, he'll find time to mourn the loss of yet another life. Now is _not_ the time, and he grabs hold of the shoulders of both of his stricken crewmates, giving them a good shake. "Tell me what you DO see! That wasn't the wind, something hit us! I don't see any rocks out there, do you?" "N-no sir! Not a be-damned thing but water and dark--!" As if an omen, the wind howls ominously. Swirly around the ship and causing the mast and lines to creak. The ship shudders under the strain. Tugging violently at the net, Franni curses in frustration when she realizes that she and Dori are very tangled up and not going anywhere soon. "Bleedin' son of a ninny farmer. This is just great. Jes' flowers n' flopears." The mast lets out a low moan as it sways in the strong winds. "Least we won't be goin' nowhere soon. This 'ere masts as good and strong as they come." Franni cranes her neck to see if Tiana is still near. "Tiana? Can't move 'ere much. Y' still hangin' on, yerself? Dor? Wot about you?" Dorian groans. Not necessarily because of the situation he's been put in, but because he was put in it with the most talkative and least understandable member of the crew. Fighting free of the sail finally, Kephissa runs to the rail, and peers out into the blinding rain. "Where's the land? Can anybody see the land? Did we run aground?" And if we haven't run aground yet are we close enough to do so soon, if we aren't paying attention. She runs to the far forward part of the boat, accosting the lookouts who had turned back to look behind them. Its hard to see anything, but she frowns. "Where's that blasted land? See any sign of rocks and reefs?" Maerro's mind registers the screams as he and Nefis untangle, but shoves it away in favor of finishing one task before looking for another. As the boat continues to pitch up and down he eyes the hatch that leads below. Via a ladder. Then he looks at Nefis who now is inspecting his other ankle. He hesitates a moment, trying to push his wet hair back out of his face even as the wind tosses it back again. Finally he opens the captain's door and pulls Nefis inside with the warning of, "Don't touch /anything/." After a short struggle with the wind he manages to close the door again. Tiana nods quickly and calls out a brief "Yes!" to Franni's question as she straightens herself and tugs the netting once more, securing it to yet another, more stable rope. "Climb away from there if you can!" she calls out to the two who are still stuck against the mast. "I'm going to see what caused that jolt!" That said, she begins sliding back down toward the deck, keeping an eye cast toward the water. It's only a moment before she catches sight of... something... out there in the waves and calls out at the top of her voice, "Cap'n! To the port side!" trying to be heard above the wind and calls of the crew. Old, griseled Altis peers up from the ladder leading to the lower decks. His booming voice cuts through the wind, "WE'RE TAKING ON WATER, CAP'N!" Once again Vardeus pivots sharply about on his sandaled heels, vigorously swiping an arm across his eyes to clear the rain from his vision, as he hears his second's call -- and the alert from below about the water coming in. "Get to the boom!" he orders the two shaken crew at the stern, before he hastens to the hold and calls down to Altis, "Get it patched! Don't worry about making it pretty, just keep us afloat till we can get to shore!" And lastly, to Tiana, as he hastens to her side, "What've we got?" Dorian snorts, "Climb away if we can? We're tied right to this thing! Franni, can you move? My hands are caught." The wiggling body next to him suggests she can. "Think so...", Franni says. She slowly moves one arm down and the other. Moving one leg up and against the mast, she starts to turn herself. The mast sways as another jolt knocks the ship about. Face pressed firmly to the mast, she sneers, "Well, could've moved. Can't much now. Ye think ye could push 'gainst the net a bit? Might now help me much." Around the ship, The form beneath the waves, at present, is no more again than simply a large, black shadow. It's a deep black beneath the grey, stormy waves, and it glides with a preternatural ease under the surface. In size, it approximates that of a Deepsinger both in length... and in width? Behind it, trails long tendrils, though that could be nothing more than a trick of the wake as it circles for another pass. Kephissa half walks, half slides to the port rail as well, coming towards the two officers barely stopping herself before she slides into Tiana. "What is it. A Rock? A Whale? Squid? God? Sea Monster?" The litany of worries that sailors are concerned about when out of sight of land. The last two, are only for the most superstitious, and Kephissa couldn't really say why she tossed them on. Maerro, having done his duty with Nefis runs after his captain, as well as he can with the ship pitching up and down with the waves and shuddering with the unusual jolts. He catches up to Vard and the small group now formed by the railing. At Keph's mention of whale he peeks over the edge, only having seen one butchered once before he'd like to see what they look like whole. He's pretty certain they don't look like whatever's beneath the surface though. In awe of it's seeming size, and good part in fear of the same thing he whispers, "Seamother.." Then tugs on Vard's sleeve, "Captain, lookit that." Around the ship, Sea Monster is a good term, really. The giant form surfaces beside the boat, coming straight at it amidship on the starboard side. A tough ridge of edged cartilige, like curved blades, rises from its flexible spine. Its head is nothing more than a black expanse, still beneath the waves, but two large, ropy tendrils rise up from its rear as it rams the underside of the beleaguered vessel once more, causing the ship to jolt abruptly and pitch to starboard. The ropy tendrils slap over the rail, down onto the deck, as the ship tilts towards them. Tiana's gaze meets her captain's and she shakes her head, "I... don't know. It's big though!" She yells over the wind then lets out a shriek as the ship lurches again and two tenticles find their way over the sides. She grabs hold of the nearest rope in an attempt to keep her feet as the deck bucks wildly under them. Vardeus has no time to answer Maerro as the boy tugs at his elbow -- for even as he tries, the _Windrider_ tilts and tilts hard. Men and women go sprawling along the deck -- and the captain among them. He manages to grab hold of the rail around the hatch down into the hold, and as he hangs on grimly the elation of land's sighting has vanished entirely from his bearing. What kind of a deathtrap of a sea have they reached? "GET US TURNED!" he thunders over the wail of the wind. "WE'VE GOT TO REACH THE SHORE!" Franni grunts at Dorian, "Ye pushing onnit?" Dorian lets out a curse akin to a yes. Struggling to wriggle down the mast to get out of the netting, Franni gives up quickly when she realizes she's going nowhere. Looking down as best she can, she spots a crewman near the mast. "Oi! You! Shimmy up here with a knife, will ye? Me and me mate here are stuck good n' fast." Graylor looks up at the two sailors tied to the mast. Shrugging, he begins to lumber up the rope, knife in his mouth like a good stereotypical swashbuckler. He pauses for a second as a blast of strong upper winds knock him about. Feeling like he had a good grip again, Graylor begins climbing even higher. Dorian turned his head down to see Graylor approaching, "Thank God...dess Almighty! What IS that thing?" Oblivious to Dorian's yelling, Graylor takes the knife out of his mouth and extends his arm up to the young sailors. "Got the knife Franni?" Graylor offers up his knife until he sees the girl get a good grip on it. "Good, I got another one to help you out of there." His foot slips. (Whoa, watch that footing there, Graylor) he thinks to himself -- until the mast jolts hard again. (Oh crap). Dorian yells as he watched the man fly into the sea. Kephissa goes tumbling as the ship lurches. Tentacles? Big thing with tentacles! Something out of a sailor's worst nightmare. Flaying arms reach out for something to stop her tumbling, and she grasps and holds onto one of the oars lashed under the rails. Out of the way, but there when needed. And as Kephissa comes to a halt, she gets an idea. She yells at some of the crew who've come to a stop near her. "Haegar, Menson, give me a hand getting this oar free." It may be stupid and reckless, but its the only thing that comes to mind. Again Maerro goes tumbling across the deck. This time though he throws his hands out, grabbing at anything he can to keep from getting any closer to those tendrils. Thankfully he does manage to grab hold...to Vard's ankle. Not letting this deter him in the slightest he reaches up with his other hand and grabs the fabric at Vard's knee, pulling himself up a little farther away from whatever that thing is. Around the ship, the Thing pulls heavily on the 'wale of the ship, now. Actually, it's more that it makes a dive into the still deep water, so the force of its movement lurches the vessel to starboard again. It's tenticles slap and grope for a stronger purchase, not quite finding enough just yet to actually capsize the craft. Instead, they slip over the side, pitching a hapless oarsman into the brine. As the thing disappears beneath the waves again, a vortex sucks the misfortunate soul down into its pull. Tiana quite literally pulls herself back up into the rigging and yells at several others to get themselves up as well, calling for arms as she goes. She gets herself to a good enough vantage to watch for the creature's next approach, secures herself into the rigging and readies her bow for a shot at the next tentacle that comes over the railing. Around the ship, Storms are lovely time to be out on the vastdeep on a raft. Cadence is actually laughing lightly as she lets the sail play out more. Her hair is blowing in the wind, showing off those nicely scalloped ears. She is probably working out some new song in her head to describe the sounds of the waters around her. Each large wave seems to make her crow more with delight. **At this rate, Tern, we will be to the Briar by morning! The storm is making great time for us. ** Cadence Cadence is a daughter of the waters. Everything about the young maiden shows that from her delicate scalloped shaped ears to the light webbing on her fingers and toes. Her curly auburn hair with silver streaks might catch your notice first. But it is her eyes that will hold your gaze longest. The saphire blue eyes with lavender flecks speak to you of many things. Those eyes seem to be full of life and all the joy that can be found in it as well as making you keenly aware of a quiet intelligence that will prove most challenging as she grows older. This maiden hears a song all her own and will not stray from the tempo of it. Her lips seem to smile at everything even as her eyes take in the measure of it. She is wearing a small top of dark green sailcloth that only emphasises the curves that are quickly developing and a little matching pair of shorts that show off her trim legs. There are no shoes as that would keep her from feeling the sand and water between her toes. Around the ship, Only seaelves could possibly enjoy this weather, right? It's no wonder the humans on the near continent think they're demons. Tern, for her part, rather agrees with her younger counterpart. Though, the fact that she's carrying the chief's daughter on her raft isn't lost on her. And the last thing she needs is for the pip to go washing over into the brine in this weather. **Aye.** she sends in return to her friend, her tone a little less exuberant. (Of course, that's normal for Tern, serious as she is.) **But, watch the sail tack there, Cadence. The storm can turn on us just as...???** Her thought trails off as, through the slanting rain, she sees the tossing of another vessel in the distance--one shaped remarkably differently than her own. **What's that??** Tern Tern has grown up quite a bit over the last few turns. Now, fully adult, she has long wavy hair that is a startlingly rich auburn with fading ebony lowlights. It hangs in long, unruly waves down her back, curling softly about her face. Her eyes are an brilliant sea-green, flecked with deep violet. She wears a dark, violet half-top that covers her small breasts, and a matching short wrap-skirt. About her neck is a long dark string of blue shells, a bright red one woven into their center as a pendant -- a gift of her mother and a memory of her father. It is her most precious possession. A coral dagger is strapped to one calf. Delicate webing spans her fingers and toes, complimenting her daintily scalloped ears. Her gaze is serious and guarded, as it was during the long years of her piphood, but she meets your eyes evenly. _That_ is the _Windrider_, her patched sail still up and full of the gusting wind thanks to Kephissa and the others who have managed to keep it up where it belongs. More than one of the ship's remaining crew -- Valnek, Remirric, Haegar, others -- struggle now to haul the sail hard about to turn the assaulted craft out of her attacker's reach, to reach the haven offered by the ever-nearer shore. _Sweet holy Seamother--_ Without conscious thought Vardeus grabs Maerro with his free hand, the better to brace the lad and keep him from sliding overboard to his doom. Sea-blue eyes now shadowed anew with the impact of this new nightmare that's upon them all flash a glance full of concern and more than a little guilt at the boy -- his presence here is almost the heaviest burden on the Captain's shoulders. "Stay right behind me!" he growls out, rough and urgent. If that Thing out there is about to destroy his ship, he can't think of a place that's safer for Maerro than right within his line of sight. "Stay with me, lad, let's get to the lines!" High above the deck, Dorian fidgets uneasily in his bonds as he watches Franni cut away at the net. "So, Franni...I've been thinking. Are you sure we ~want~ to come down? The way I'm seeing this is, we are nice and high up. Safe from that...that thing." Franni pauses and wiggles so that she can see Dorian again. "Wot thing?" Dorian gives her an incredulous look, the kind that says 'You're kidding me, right?'. Sighing, she tries to follow his line of vision down into the water. And gulps. "K, maybe t'would be a right good idea t' be stayin' up here fer now." Kephissa gives a somewhat longing glance to towards the mast and those up in the rigging. Her cousin is probably smarter than her, using that vantage point to try and harry the seamonster. But Kephissa has remembered a legend she heard of a as a child, and her plan begins to get more firm. "Here's hoping that thing has eyes." She explains her plan in a quiet voice, her words lost to any but the five sailors immediately near her. The five nod and line up grasping the oar, Kephissa last in line right in front of the oar paddle. And they get ready to run, intending to jab the handle of the oar into anything resembling an eye should the monster become visible again. Maybe it's the fear, okay, it's definately the fear overwhelming past and future and everything but Now, but Maerro couldn't picture being anywhere else but here at this moment. Eyes wide, but trusting, the boy nods solemnly at Vardeus' command, prepared to stay glued to his captain's side. Altis pulls his head up from below-deck again. Spotting the officers, he tries to scream but sputters a bit, water rattling his lungs. "Sirs! I got the first hole almost completely patched up. Keeps springin' leaks. But sirs! We lost poor Kiltos and Torik." He begins to choke, "May they rest down below." His head disappears back down, off to work on the patch somemore. Around the ship, Mmmmmmm. Lunch! (Or is that dinner? How about breakfast? Snack? Yes, snack. Puny humans make good snacking sticks.) Having somehow, in a few brief seconds, swallowed the hapless soul that got caught in the undertow, the Thing is re-energized, it seems. (Nothing like a quick snack to give you a bit of a pick-me-up.) For several long, tense moments, only the sea and the wind and the rain beat at the beleaguered ship. Not even a shadow of the monster is seen, so deep beneath the waves has it gone. Then, of course, the shadow begins to rise again. It's angle is such, however, that the only figures with even a hope of seeing it before it's far too late are those lashed hight up on the mast. If they're looking, they might see a black blanket of shadow, like a sliver of darkness, rise within the grey... Right before the monster displays itself in all it's inky glory to its prey. It's body slices out of the water, propelled by its tenticles such that it launches up over the side of the ship in a great leap through the air. One of its manta like flaps smacks into the uppermost portion of the mast, rocking the boat. As it splashes back down into the water, clear on the other side of the ship, it's tenticles once more wrap over the starboard 'wale and pull, pitching the vessel in under the waves in a single corkscrew... Around the ship, **Hmm.. what's what?** Cady puts a webbed hand up to brush back her wild hair trying to see what the other elven maid saw. **Is it a boat?? It's funny looking.. what's wrapped around it?** Then blinks as something just slipped into the waters. **Did you see that??** The chief's daughter catches the sail and trims it neatly like Tern told her to do. The high pitched squeels coming from the pair of wavedancers next to the raft grow louder to warn the elves of some form of danger. All merriment slips from Cady's face as she watches their antics growing more concerned. **Tern?** Around the ship, Well, heck. The flapping thing launching itself over the strange ship and corkscrewing it in the water is enough to have Tern actually swear aloud. "Puckernuts!!" It's a phrase she's borrowed from Shadowfur for turns. Her eyes are wide and round. **High Ones, Cadence... I don't know who's on the <>, but that's another one of those monsters...** Urgency underlies her tone. Her eyes glance to the pod of wavedancers chitterning off of the side, their blue fins surfacing as they slice through towards the crisis. **Look, the 'dancers are going after it!** Tiana calls warning out as she catches sight of the dark shape manifesting beneath the waves once again and as the creature rises from the water in all its hideous glory, she freezes for an instant. It takes a moment before she manages to shake off the sense of fear and dread and begins firing arrows at the creature, carefully so as not to hit any of the crewmembers. "ARCHERS! GET UP THERE AND HELP TIANA!" Vardeus can barely hear his own roared command over the pounding of the storm -- and the unholy noises of the great beast as it surges up from the depths to seize his ship. Three of what's left of the crew have just enough time to grab weapons and ascend into the rigging to begin firing. No one much needs to aim, for the Thing is blacker than the storm around it-- But then the world spins sickeningly, as the _Windrider_ is whirled in a direction she was never meant to go. Screams rise up from over two dozen throats. Bodies go flying overboard -- Valnek. Remirric. Haegar. And, much to his horror, Vardeus sees his young charge pitched violently out of his reach. "MAERRO!" Franni shrieks at the top of her lungs as the great big beast launches itself out of the water. From her vantage point, it looks like it's heading straight for her. But it doesn't, instead clipping the mast above their heads with its big fin-like extensions. And then instead of seeing the horizon, the point at which the sky melts into the sea, she begins to see stars. Lots of them. And her ears pick up the keening wail of the boat turning onto its side. And the shrieks of many a man and woman flying through the air. And somewhere next to her own voice, she thinks she could hear Dorian screaming too, but more mantra-like, "Help me! Help me! Help me!" And the fever pitched sound doesn't stop...until they hit the water. Anybody close enough could possibly hear Kephissa softly chanting a prayer for strength to the Skyfather. But with the wind most of her words are lost. And they break out abrubtly as the thing launches itself out of the water. Some instinct makes her scream "HOLD ON" to those nearby, as she wraps her arms around the port rail as its raised into the air as that side is lurched into the air. The monster leaps from the water, rising far above the deck. Maerro stops dead and just looks, his mind suddenly full of absolute nothing. Then praying. Lots and lots of praying. To Lerain, Andros, even Seid, as many gods as he's ever heard of Maerro calls on them, unaware he's whispering their names. Then the monster is gone from overhead and the boat begins to spin and he's lifted off his feet and thrown violently into the sea. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind something screams at him to take a breath. But it takes too long to actually reach his conciousness and he opens his mouth just in time to suck in a mouthful of water. It's surpring how hard it hits, the force of the water and the cold, even though he's already soaked to the bone by the rain. He sits in the water for a moment, too busy absorbing whats happened to him. Then he remembers that he's alive, and wants to remain so. He frantically claws at the water, moving in what he hopes is the direction of up even as the turning of the boat sucks him farther downward. Around the ship, Water sprays up in all directions, adding further confusion as the ship rights itself, flailing bodies of tossed crewmen thrashing amidst the greybearded waves. Among them surfaces the monster once more, displaying itself a little more clearly. Width and breadth of a giant manta, it's head appears to the be conical helmet of a giant squid, it's toothed mouth opening to a ringed maw that more closely resembles a shark's set of teeth than anything else. Tenticles whip out, frothing the water further and sending at least a couple of souls under once more only to bob up waterlogged, bluelipped, and breathless... right before they're caught and nicely decapitated by that sharkish maw. Gulp. Scratch two more crewmen--and the other handful still vainly trying to find safety by swimming back towards the boat... Around the ship, **OH PUCKERNUTS!!** It seems both of those brothers share similiar traits, since Cadence swims with Tumble far more then anyone else. Without thinking, she grabs the trident she borrowed from her father for the trip to BriarHolt. **You stay on the raft Tern and bring the survivors on board.** She sounds remarkably like her father now as she dives headfirst into the rolling waves. (Wonder where she picked that bad habit up from?) And that was probably the first command she ever gave anyone in her life. But chiefs have to start somewhere hmm? Quick as the wavedancers before her, she swims towards the ugly monster trident clenched firmly in hand. The soul of Vardeus Alirreus has already been sorely battered by each and every member of his crew already lost on this ill-fated voyage. It is battered anew now, teeth of vicious guilt slicing through his consciousness as men and women with whom he's worked side by side are hurled to their deaths. And when Maerro is thrown from his side, it is too much. In desperation, with every ounce of strength and speed in his sturdy frame, the Captain throws himself after the boy. He doesn't have time to reach him, not before he himself crashes through the railing -- and plunges beneath the waves. Vast Deep - Ocean - Raft Holt One is pretty much surrounded by the dark blue of the ocean here, the occasional wavedancer skims through openly. There is enough of life underneath the surface here, from large belly blowers to stalking manyteeth. It all seem pretty vast, though if one is a real good swimmer one can reach a point of this part of the sea. Any further out, you would have to have a raft or a wavedancer friend, to help you through. The waves can get violent and harsh this far from land - rafts the only way to stay afloat and somewhat safe. A breeze carries the scent of land in, one can see the coastline to one direction, and a few specks far out there revealing some islands. Midday brings the languid warmth of noon. The daystar is high overhead until it beings the slow fall into the west and sunset. The brightness of noon fills the warm spring skies. The sun high overhead dancing attendance. Contents: Tern's Raft The Windrider(#1655AJae) Obvious exits: Redsmoke Island Out to Sea Around the ship, Tern blinks as Cadence gives her order and catapults herself into the waves. **Fishguts, Cadence!!** her send screams **Get your tail back here!!!** High Ones... Surfsinger is /really/ gonna kill her now... Still, healer's daughter that she is, Tern knows there's little sense in them /both/ committing suicide (Redtide will see to her own death soon enough, she's sure). Swearing up a blue streak that would likely make Tumble and Shadowfur's mother proud, the seaelf maiden turns her attention to the sail and furls it in to catch the best wind. The raft skims over the surface of the waves, now, heading towards the fray. Tiana gasps as the ship rolls completely over and comes back up. She brushes water out of her eyes and reaches for her quiver to see if she has any arrows left and finds that she does have some small few left her. She nocks one and fires off another round of missles at the creature then watches in horror as the captain throws himself overboard after the cabin boy. "No!!!" she yells over the screaming of the wind and her crewmates but, at this point she is powerless to do much of anything. She begins sending out her own strings of prayers even including the allmother into the mix as she prays that they will bring what's left of the ship and crew to land in short order. 30 seconds. A minute perhaps. Not a very long time in the scheme of things, but to Dorian and Franni, it seems like forever. Forever to be stuck tied to a mast as the boat turns and whips through the water. As they plunge through the briny deep, Franni turns and looks at Dorian, the seconds ticking by endlessly. They regard each other as if silently wishing each other a good life on the other side. Hey! If they are going to die today, they are going to do it proper, like sailors are supposed to do. Franni blinks and turns her head to her side. And notices that she seems to be heading towards a bit of light. And as it comes closer and closer, she puts a hand out to it. And feels air on her face again as the mast pops back out of the water. Frozen still, she looks back out into the night sky and reaches for Dorian's hand and gives it a little squeeze. Silently, she thanks Seid for sparing her life. It's now or never. The boat is stable again. But the monster's still there, feeding on the crew she's served with all her adult life. Kephissa looks at the 4 men near her. They lost Menson when the boat spun. The nod, and and run to the other side of the boat, jabbing the long handle of the oar towards what they think might be the monster's eye. If it has eyes. It's hard to tell in the dark. They put all strength behind it, not knowing what effect it might have, but hoping that they can accomplish something, before everyone ends up in the maw of that great beast. Maerro still struggles for the surface of the water. He can see a dim light overhead and he kicks for it as hard as he can. His head breaks the surface finally. He tries to suck in a lungful of air but coughs up water instead. He's ducked under by a wave once again and struggles to the surface, this time able to take in air. Finally. The boat is upright again, but far from where he is. He struggles to swim towards it but he's already weak from rolling around the deck and going so long without oxygen. He tries still, but is making little headway, and seeing the monster eating those swimming about the boat gives him pause. Exhausted and unsure what to do he kicks just hard enough to stay above water. Around the ship, The roar the monster lets out as a pinprick of an arrow pierces the soft flesh of one of its 'wings' is high-pitched and terrible. Churning the water, the monster twists, thrusting the remaining bobbers under the water once more. Tendrils lance out and grip the starbord 'wale tightly, pushing down on the side of the boat. The timbers creak dangerously, protesting the violent rocking. Again, the monster roars, Kephissa's oar also cutting into a vulnerable soft tissue along its side. Two of the monster's tentacles still in the brine snake up and wrap around the men closest to it, crushing them together before it uses them to club the others. Around the ship, Now Cadence has never seen anything quite like this monster before, but that doesn't stop her. She swims in closer, readying that trident for her attack. The pair of wavedancers swim beside her, darting to and fro trying to keep the monster focused on them not the stupid maiden swimming closer to it. Cadence swallows hard at the size of the creature but she sees a spot perhaps. Just under that ridge of that conical helm. Latching on hard, she tries to shimy up the spine ridge. It's slimy and slick so she slides backwards more then going forwards at first. But she makes slow painful progress to the top, clinging tighter when the monster thrashes about. Around the ship, Tern continues swearing. **Cadence!! Be careful!!** Oh, High Ones, but they're both gonna catch it for this... /if/ they live through it. And here she went and promised the chief that nothing would happen to his precious pip. Pushing the thought from her mind, she focusses herself on the task at hand, approaching the monster more closely, now, staying just out of reach of its tenticles. A dead human body bumps up against the raft and she hisses an intake of breath. Bloated round-ears. Yay. A grim, dark expression settles on her features and she picks up her spear... Vardeus goes plummeting down beneath the churning waves -- and the shock of the cold water is almost enough to knock him senseless. For several moments it's all he can do to discern up from down, until he shakes off the impact and kicks himself to the surface once again. Once his head breaks the water, he finds himself surrounded by... Hell. And somewhere in the middle of it is Maerro. He screams the boy's name, desperate for some signal to give him a direction to go-- But one of the tentacles of the Beast lashes past him. The captain barely keeps from being slammed by it, and in the midst of the splashing brine he shoots it a fury-filled glance. For a fraction of an instant he considers swimming for it, pulling a dagger, doing what desperate damage he can to this nightmare Thing that seems to symbolize the very will of whatever mocking gods have doomed him and his crew-- But before he can decide, before he can choose to go after the Thing or after Maerro, the crushed body of Haegar plummets towards him. Slams into him. And the lashing of the great tentacle bucks the form of Vardeus Alirreus several feet into the air -- and then sends him hurling, yards and yards distant, to crash limply once more beneath the waves. Franni starts to hack frantically at the netting again. "Lawks! We need t' get down now. Th' crew looks t' be droppin' like flies while we bandy about up 'ere on th' mast." She shivers a bit in the wind. "I don't want t' be stuck to this thing again if'n we happen to spin keel ov'r mast a second time." The net starts to give way and slides down the large pole several feet. Franni looks down and lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Now. We need t' get out o' this now." Dorian nods at her in agreement and reaches out for a rope dangling near them. Tugging on it to make sure it is still secured to the rigging, he proceeds to tie it to the mast and then around themselves so they won't slip down further. Tiana fires arrows into the creature until there are none left in her quiver and then she contemplates throwing her bow at it as well. She calls out to the other three archers to keep firing then screams at Kephissa to get herself secured. She's rapidly getting tired of watching crewmembers being used as clubs or getting sucked into the creature's wake. Score! The creature can be hurt! Kephissa and her oarsmen duck flaying tenticles and rear back for another strike. If only they can drive it away from the boat they can get to land. Oh, how long ago that seems. That joyful moment of hope when they'd sighted land. "Okay, on the count of three we jab again. 1...2...3" Pulling back in one motion, used to doing this with lines rather than oars, the sailors duck flaying tenticles and lean forward again. Jabbing the creature again in the same spot as before. Kephissa is so intent on trying to hurt this thing that she doesn't hear Tiana. Maerro watches as some poor unlucky soul gets tossed through the air. Doubting they could be alive, but unable to not check Maerro begins to swim. Fortunately the person is much closer to him for being thrown. Unfortunately, his strength is dwindling rapidly and he's making very little headway towards whoever it was. Maerro silently curses the rain and waves that keep him from seeing who it is and pull him back two feet for every three he swims. Around the ship, And now what? There's something climbing up its back? The monster's sense of touch isn't as strong there as it is on the soft underbelly parts of it, but its used to the feel of water on its hide, so the feel of feet and hands is going to give it pause. It roars again, a high pitched keen, and a slender, ropy tenticle snakes up to try and slap at the fly on its back. One of its other tendrils releases one of the (now dead) oarsmen and sends him flying through the air so that it can grab at the oar harrassing it and yank it--and anyone still holding it--violently away from the deck. Around the ship, **This beast is worse then Silverthorn's wolf!** Cadence sends back to Tern while she clings for dear life. The monster is thrasing wilder now, making it harder for the maiden to keep her hold. **Fishguts! ** Suddenly the elf pip is sliding down the spine ridge, slicing her leg on the sharp cartlidge. **** Great!! Now Mother will skin her alive as well as Father. Clinging for dear life now, Cadence holds tight to her only weapon, waiting for the pain to subside or the beast to calm a little. The local pod of wavedancers start to arrive making as much noise squeeking at the thing as possible. Several break off to start nosing at bodies in the water. One finds a smaller body to nose at, Maerro. EE!EEE!EEE! Around the ship, Tern would much sooner be facing down Fenris than this creature. **Cadence!** Her head snaps up at the pained send. Oh, puckernuts... Fat lot of good this raft is doing, now, anyway. Gripping her spear, she springs from the side of the flat craft and slices into the water. Surfacing, she grabs the dorsal of a yet near-at-hand wavedancer and lets it drag her towards the churning waves. **I'm coming!!** It doesn't take long for Maerro to get sight of who exactly has been hurled past him -- for, two seconds after Vardeus slams into the water, he comes up again, his head lolling, hair plastered wetly back from his brow. Dark as it is, it's almost impossible to see his slack features, but he is ominously still. Between that and the befinned mammal whose head breaks the waves just under his limp right arm, it's obvious he did not surface on his own power. Nor does he move, even as this second wavedancer squeaks vigorously to the rest of its compatriots. Tiana watches in sheer horror as the oar being wielded by Kephissa, her crewmate and (secretly) her kinswoman, is lifted into the air and whipped about like a metronome gone mad. She sees the body of the captain go flying through the air though she's not aware that it is the captain; there is simply too much water in her eyes... or is that tears? Who knows for sure at this exact moment in time, only the second... no.. captain of the _Windrider_. "Here. I think I just about have the netting off my legs." Dorian says as he pulls at the ropes that are binding him. He looks at Franni, who is gritting her teeth while slicing through the net. He notices that she is leaving a trail of red on the off-white cords. "Your hands bothering you?" A grunt answers his question. He sighs and pulls at a particular loop around his waist that she is working on. As soon as she cuts the final threads of it, they drop an inch as the net comes off them and the rope takes over. "Free, finally. Let's go down now." On board the _Windrider_, Kephissa was somewhat prepared for some retaliation from the creature, although she had hoped it would just decide they weren't an easy meal it would go away. But her hands were stiff enough from the cold that she couldn't release the oar quickly. Whipped around in the air at the end of the oar, Kephissa loses her grip on the oar, and is flung into the air, away from the sea monster and the boat, and into the water. She hits the water hard losing her breath as she sinks and then struggles upward towards blessed air. Feeling something rise up in the water beside him Maerro lets out a choking cry as water gets in his mouth. Seeing the smiling face Maerro calms down enough to recognize a helping hand (fin?) when he sees one. He tentatively grabs hold of its fin and lets out yet another cry as he sees Vardeus. He kicks his feet to try get to his side. Cadence is out of luck if she thinks the beast is going to calm all that much. In fact, what it does, now that it's tossed pretty much any remaining unsecured (and/or unimportant) crewmembers overboard, is twist again, sending up a mighty spray of water. Launching itself obliquely to one side, then, it attempts to dislodge the little seamonkey on its back by diving into the water. Cadence takes a huge gulp of air as the monster dives into the vastdeep. Gills would be nice, but this sea-elf doesn't have them. Using the momentum from the dive she lets go of the spine ridge to let the waters push her up the beastie's back. Trident poised, Cadence stabs for all she is worth into the spot just below that ridged helm, hoping to sink it into the brain, if there is one! Then the young maiden holds on for the ride of her life. Tern actually cries out aloud as the wavedancer yanks her off to one side as a rocketting body splashes into the water only a yard or two away from her, sending up a terrible spray. Her spear blade arcs through the air, missing anything solid, and splashes against a rising foam-capped wave, fist wrapped white-knuckled around it. The wavedancer chitters and, as the seaelf barely has time to suck in a half-breath, twists to angle towards the human woman's body, thinking maybe she can be saved. Thus, Tern is dragged along for the ride as the creature seeks to rescue Kephissa, the seaelf unwillingly leaving her friend to fend for herself. The world has not gone black. Not entirely. Somewhere in the midst of the thick fog of pain and confusion that engulfs him, Vardeus retains just a spark of consciousness -- just enough to dimly wonder why he isn't drowning. And to think, feebly, _Maerro. I have to get to Maerro..._ But his limbs aren't answering the commands he gives them to move, to swim. His head is aching, and there's pain in his chest, making each breath he still draws a harsh rattle. He cannot move-- And yet, he is moving? Something warm and slick is propping up his arm, and it occurs to him that there is Something here. Something he can use to keep afloat. Weakly he grasps at it... just enough of a movement that he moans hoarsely with the effort, and that perhaps is just enough of a noise to let the frantic Maerro know he is still alive. On board the _Windrider_, Tiana can only watch as the creature lets out a horrendous cry and releases the ship to dive back beneath the waves. She gives herself a mental shake and looks around taking note of how many are still on board the ship. With a resigned sigh she starts barking out orders, "Let's get this ship in to shore now!" as she shimmies down the ropes once again and starts working at setting sails praying silently the whole while that the creature is gone this time. On board the _Windrider_, Climbing down the mast as fast as she can, Franni is completely oblivious to everything around her but the one thought of touching the deck again. Never mind the frantic yells and screams of her mates as they do their best to keep the boat together and/or bludgeon the big ugly sea creature to death. As soon as her foot touches the ground, she crumples and does the only thing she can think to do at that moment. She kisses the deck and says a prayer to first Seid and then the Skymother. Picking herself up, she stumbles towards Tiana and regards her with a confused expression, "Where be the Cap'n? How are we goin' t' get this rig t' the land o'er there?" She starts to yank on the ropes, ignoring the raw burns on her hands for the time being. Land is so much more important. His own legs shaky and betraying himself, Dorian strides over to the navigation wheel. Without saying a word, he starts to help getting the boat landed. Air. Precious Air. Kephissa's fallen overboard before, but never hitting the water that fast. Only instinct propells her to the surface, the impact with the water knocking her half unconcious. She breaks the surface, blinking to clear her eyes of water, but not really seeing what's in front of her. Barely clinging to conciousness, she concerns herself with dragging huge amounts of air into her starving lungs. Blearily she looks around for the boat, shore, anything. Hoping not to see that great maw of teeth descending on her, because she doesn't think she could move to save her life. What's this she sees. Her head turns towards Tern, and she blinks to clear her eyes. She must have knocked her head on something, a girl riding a fish. She must be dreaming or dead. Maerro is carried close enough by the wavedancer to hear that Vardeus is indeed alive. The fact that he's unconscious is worrisome, but at least he is alive. Maerro glances back towards the ship. Relief sweeps through him to see the monster gone, quickly followed by panic at wondering where exactly it is. He searches the water around him quickly, even as the wavedancers begin swimming with him and Vardeus. The creature cries out in pain beneath the waves. Above the waves, it sounds like a haunting keening of a muffled conch shell. Below the waves, it feels like the vibration of nails on slate. The trident lodges in under the creature's helm ridge and, as its head protrusion snaps back, it gets trapped there. Thus, the monster begins a wild, thrashing ride, swimming in an erratic, submarine rollercoaster pattern, occasionally surfacing and leaping through the air, while Cadence is forced to cling to the trident shaft or else be thrown off entirely. Cadence is determined she isn't letting go of that trident. She has enough to answer to her father without loosing his weapon to boot! Silently she swears enough to make her wolfrider aunt proud while holding on tighter to the trident. Her weight slowly pushes the trident deeper into the soft brain of the creature every time it surfaces and dives. **Die you stupid thing!** Her body rides the rollercoaster with fierce stubborness that could only come from her father. Or is that her mother? Tern can't possibly appear to be much other than a young child to the human she now reaches instinctively for, to help her grab hold of the 'dancer's fin. "" the seaelf says in her broken, misprounced effort at the native human tongue. A webbed, fourfingered hand closes over a larger, fivefingered hand in an effort to emphasize the point. The elf then slips off the shipfish and disappears beneath the waves to try and angle for another body that thrashes about. Perhaps it's Valnek. Silently, she sends images to the wavedancers about her, directing them to head for the safety of her raft. Perhaps they sense that the small human they're helping is worried for the larger one, these strange soft squeaking fish? That might certainly be concluded, even as the first one helps ferry young Maerro closer to Vardeus' still form, close enough that the lad can reach out to help tug at the wounded Captain to keep him from slipping back underwater. Thus, propped between a desperate youth and the pair of wavedancers, Vardeus slumps along the body of the one beside him... And does, at last, slip into blackness. On board the _Windrider_, Tiana becomes a singular whirlwind of activity as she moves from point to point on the deck making a maddening attempt to get the injured ship to shore without loosing anymore people. At Franni's frantic question, she does pause and offer only a sorrowful look and a shake of her head before turning back to the task of setting the rigging. On board the _Windrider_, Franni pulls at the ropes shakily, the sail must be set. Mustn't worry over the crew lost or the Cap'n or anyone else. She puts her mind to a single task and resolutely performs it. Barking an order at someone probably her senior on the crew, she glares at him with such a ferocity that he complies and begins helping her with her task. Barely concious, Kephissa can only grip the fin tightly. Understanding not the words that the stranger spoke, but the guesture was clear. Besides here's something to hold onto, and she does fiercely, falling into almost a trance, barely concious. If the fish takes her somewhere safe, its as the gods will. Otherwise this is a better way, a sailor's way, to die than being eaten by some sea monster. Maerro holds onto the wavedancer with one arm while continuing to help Vardeus stay afloat. He sinks into a half-trance though he never loosens his grip on either fin or captain. He only comes to when, what seems like ages later, his feet feel ground beneath them. Did anyone ever mention that the monsters created by elfin magic actually respond to sends? Do you know the type of headache you can get from a monster that decides to reflect your send back at you just because you're not its master? (Think Madcoil, here, folks.) As the trident pushes deeper under the cranial plate, it screams both mentally and physically with the pain. Then, its send seems to be abruptly cut off, along with its physical keening. Its body goes ridgid and begins to sink beneath the waves, pulling water down after it and forcing Cadence's elfin body well away from it in process. With one last spurt of energy, however, its tenticles convulse and propell it forward, farther away from the seaelf. It cries out once more and rams into the ship in blind agony, ripping the keel with its back ridges before it sinks finally under the waves, the scent and sense of its death thick in the air and aether. Pain. Black crippling pain shoots thru the young maiden's head. Cadence drops her hold on the trident to grab her screaming head instead. She jerks away from the now dead beastie to push towards the surface. Kicking is almost as painful with that long gash down her inner leg. Lucky for her, one of the wavedancers that was harrying the monster followed her down. A smooth nose touches her arm trying to keep her from drowning. Barely concious after that pained send, Cady grabs hold to the wavedancer, letting it haul her to safety. Soon she is drifting alongside the raft waiting for someone, hopefully Tern to pull her back up. Tern soon finds herself back at her raft, dragging one half- or un-conscious human form or another up onto it (i.e. Keph and Valnek). She scowls faintly as she tosses her spear to the far side of the deck to allow her to use both hands. Then the monster sends and, even at this distance, she's hit with the force of it. It's not enough to knock her off her feet, but it's enough to make her flinch. **Cadence!** Her attention is refocussed, and she turns back towards the waves, ignoring the humans aboard her vessel in favour of her friend, the chief's daughter. Never in her life has she been so glad to see a wavedancer... particularly one that pulls that slight form towards her. As swiftly as she can, given the circumstances, she hauls Cadence aboard and rolls her closer to the center of the deck... Which finally leaves her the task of finding some safe haven for the humans she now ferries. Well... So much for Briarholt. Dancer Beach, here we come. On board the _Windrider_, Franni pulls on the ropes with a fervor. "There, tha' sail looks like it be wantin' to catch some wind." With her shipmate's help, she yanks the rope towards one of the metal rings to anchor it into place. But naturally, as her luck seems to be having it this particular dreary night, the ship lurches forward viciously without rhyme or reason and sends her flying across the deck. She slams into the wall of the Captain's cabin and slumps to the ground, dazed but otherwise conscious. "I think I'll jus' sit here fer a moment." She sighs. Kephissa feels wood beneath her as she's heaved up onto the raft, Kephissa tries to what little strength she has. She doesn't quite realize where she is, her sub-concious just knowing she's safe for now and assuming she's been saved by one of her crew. So being safe, she slips into blissful blackness. On board the _Windrider_, Tiana just has enough time to secure one last bit of rigging before there is another jolt and the sickening groan of wood splitting carries up through the very bones of the ship's hull. The second-turned-captain is flung off of her feet by the impact but, her head snaps up at that unwelcome sound, "Seid's slippers!" she exclaims as the ship begins to flounder and roll in a very dangerous fashion. In a flash, she's on her feet and grabbing at the nearest rope, "Get up to the top of the mast and keep this thing balanced if you want to see that shore up close!" she bellows to the remaining crew. In moments, most of the crew is in the rigging once more, working hard at keeping the ship from leaning too far in either direction until, with one final shudder, the _Windrider_ runs aground on a sandbar. Fatally wounded, what's left of the ship slams into the finger of land that stretches out into the waves. What's left of her crew still on her deck collapses, looking at one another with horrified eyes. Land reached at last -- but not as any of them could possibly have dreamed, and assuredly not as any of them had hoped. Not with an unnameable horror that had surged up out of the waves. Not with their compliment decimated. Not with the knowledge of death and loss slamming into all of their hearts like the hammers of Kalrioce of the Forge. Not with their companions left like scattered driftwood in the water. And not with their captain gone. Exhausted, demoralized, the survivors huddle together to catch their breaths, not daring to think of what will come next. [End log.]