Siege of Aldera - Tuesdays (rp thread)

[tampamac2002]

After the last creature is tossed overboard, Mei sits on the foredeck, crossbow near at hand. As he lets his legs dangle over the main deck, he thinks about what just happened.

Sir Arthus was killed by poison. Here was one guy trying to do something good and help out the villagers of Southwarden, and now he's dead. I'm here to help the same villagers, whats to keep me from getting dead as well.

He glances over his companions, measuring them up to Sir Arthus.

Peran- a druid by his own account, he does have a hawk to back that aspect up. He also seems very inquisitive to how the mutant insects function. I think he can be relied on in a pinch.

Darius- a fighter, he did show some morals at the Inn by buying the abused dog. He also was instrumental in hacking the insects to pieces. All in all, he showed some real intelligence by attacking the insect fighting Peran. I think he will be a fine addition to our quarrels.

Curunor- a self proclaimed rogue. His admission took me by surprise, however, even assassins can be honest when the time is right. I must admit his prowess with those two maces was a sight to see. I'll have to work up a song about that, some day. I find it hard to trust a rogue, even one that's honest, however, one can't be too choosy when fighting an unknown enemy in an unknown land. I'll be sure to keep an eye on him.

Arinia- not sure if she's a priestess or a wizard, either way, she is the highlight of the journey. I get the impression she may be suseptable to my charms, however, we have bigger issues at hand. Hmmm, some day I'll have to see how far she is willing to go with yours truly. As far as her disposition, I think I can count on her to fight the good fight. I'll stay close to her, she may be the difference in the upcoming battles. Won't do to have her getting injured, not on my watch.

With another quick glance to the sky, he pulls himself upright and heads for the cabin. He notices Darius also heading there, perhaps to try and get more information as well. Mei quietly slips in the door behind Darius, shocked to hear the man comforting the squire, Danlin. Unfazed, Mei adds his condolences for the poor man as well.

[Caanbow]

Curunor helps get the carcasses off the ship and goes to sit down by the railing. Gods damn it, Arthus...taken out by a buncha overblown bugs. Who the hell is gonna pay us now? As the thought runs through his head, the annoyed look on his face escalates to a rather pissed off look. He keeps his eyes to the sky, looking out for more insects to put down with his maces.

[Raganui]

He shakes a bit of gore off his hand and hands the dagger back to the sailor he got it from. "Thank you. This should be very useful indeed." He would sit by the wall of the cabin, on the outside, looking over his notes, jotting down a few more things. Unfortunately, he couldn't really test the poison until he retrieved scrolls or potions that were infused with the divine magic of neutralizing poison. Or until he was able to call on it himself.

"Figures."

[mineption]

"I hope there are no more boat rides..."

Arinia was below decks in a bunk... though she's gotten more used to being out at sea, she still felt some nausea.

"Well, Aldera is an island. What do you expect?"

She blinks at that. Mer has endured quite a bit, being Arinia's familiar. Over the years though, he learned to cope.

"If it's an island... then there should just be... well you know - one piece of land. Why should there be multiple boat trips?"

"Okay so maybe it's multiple tiny islands. Or maybe it's shaped like a crescent?"

"Is there a map for this place?"

Suddenly, the cries and shrieks of the Red Reavers are heard above, followed by shouts of the other crew members.

"What was that?"

They both fall silent for a few moments, trying to discern what is going on...

"Shouldn't we do something, Ari?"

Arinia looks absolutely terrified, pulling the covers up to her face and unable to respond except with a shake of the head. More shrieks are heard, followed by what sounds like skulls being bashed with maces. Mer looks to her with a sigh.

"Well... I'm going to go see what's going on. Sounds like trouble."

The familiar leaves his mistress and makes it's way above deck, jumping and clinging on walls as it does so.

[Ayrik]

After speaking with the squire, Darius retired to the cabin he had slept in the night before. Reaching into the corner under the bunk, he pulled out the large blade he had hidden there. He normally didn't carry it with him, considering it to be more of an heirloom than he did a weapon. However, it was a masterful blade, and he would probably need it if they were to run into more of those overgrown bugs. Not for the first time, he regretted leaving his armor behind when he ran away from his officer training, but it would have been much harder to sneak away carrying that much steel, and wearing it would have been at least as bad.

"Oh well, regrets are useless..." he sighed, then unsheathed the sword he now had resting across his knees, his grandfathers sword. No, his sword now, and if things were going to unfold the way he thought, he was going to need it.

Belting the sword around his waist, Darius decided to go find the others who had been hauled into this with him. If he was going to plan how they were to survive any more attacks, he wanted to understand them and their abilities more. He had gotten a rough idea of what the others on deck were capable of during the attack, so he decided to start with the elf. He went to her cabin and knocked on the door.

"It's Darius, have you heard what happened yet?"

[mineption]

There is nothing but silence for a while after Darius knocks, but then the door creaks open and Arinia pops her head out cautiously, looking over and behind him before speaking.

"Hi... um...."

She looks up at him blankly, trying to remember what the question even was.

"Oh. No, I haven't heard - what's going on?"

She leans against the doorway trying to act calm, but she obviously looks a little scared and paranoid.

[Ayrik]

Taking in the frightened appearance of the otherwise striking figure before him, Darius steps back and looks around uncomfortably before continuing.

"Well, I have bad news. We were attacked by giant bugs, and Sir Arthus was poisoned. There was nothing we could do." He shifts awkwardly as he says it, still feeling the suspicions of guilt between his shoulders. "Unfortunately, he was the only one that seemed to know anything about what we're getting ourselves into, and even that wasn't much."

Growing more confident, Darius looks Arinia in the eyes as he continues, "I'm worried that this is not the last time we'll be running into these things, or something equally dangerous. I want to make sure that we are all able to make it through this, that we can take care of ourselves. I guess what I want to know is, what can you do? I need to know what we are all capable of so that I can make sure no one else gets killed."

Darius lets out a big sigh, and slumps slightly, "You know what? This is exactly the type of pressure I left the academy to avoid. I didn't want to be a soldier, much less an officer. I don't want to be responsible for other peoples' lives..." Straightening, Darius shrugs, then looks at Arinia again. "Oh well, I know I tend to talk too much, it's a problem I have. So, what is it that you can do?"

[Raganui]

"If you don't want to lead, then don't." He druid spoke calmly, having head into the ship soon after collecting his thoughts. Peran looks at the two. "It is a simple task to not have a leader, making decisions based on discussion with the group instead of one person's wants. That is what separates humans from more pack mentality based creatures such as wolves. We can make rational decisions and work together without the need of a person telling us what to do. At least in smaller groups."

Looking the two over once he merely shrugged and continued on his way. "I hear we'll land soon enough, get some rest."

[Gulfwulf]

+150 xp for full party posting (missed week).
+100 xp for Mineption, Ayrik and Raganui.

[Ayrik]

Still pulling out spines from the creature that had attacked them, Darius wished more than ever that he had not left his armor behind. It hadn't seemed like a big deal, figuring he could always save up and by something newer, and hopefully better fitted, than the banged up training armor all the trainees wore on the practice fields. However, he had never figured how hard it would be to scrape the funds together, or how expensive new armor actually was.

As he was musing, Darius examined the cabin they had found, looking for signs of life or recent habitation. Things hadn't gone well since entering the forest, already Peran had be taken down one, it had been bad luck for him, but probably could have been avoided with proper tactics, and everyone seemed to be wandering off on their own, no real leadership was present, no communication of what was happening, and worst of all, at least to Darius, no real coordination in battle. Sure, they were in the woods at the same time, and hopefully everyone wanted everyone else to return save...the gods new Darius did...but no one seemed willing to actually work together.

A thought came to him then, looking around, Darius wondered where Mei had gotten to. It wasn't the first time he had wondered this, and it really didn't seem like the little guy to just disappear, at least from what Darius had been able to find out about him. Turning to the others, Darius finally asked the question that had been on his mind since shortly after they landed.

"Hey, have any of you heard anything from Mei? I keep expecting him to show up when I turn around, but I haven't seen him since shortly after we got off of the boat."