3/8/1472: 22:05 – 22:20: The group
are helped to get on board the SC by ropes thrown over the sides by
their crew, and as they approach, it is clear that some kind of
terrible battle is raging on its decks. With the hot rain lashing
down at them, and the night skies still boiling with writhing
dimensional tension, that leap like streaks of pale orange lightning,
the party haul themselves onto the main deck, where they behold
carnage.
At least ten men lie slain, their
bodies showing the work of blades and magic. Another three men stand
utterly still, their flesh having been turned to solid stone through
some dire magic, and pretty quickly, the group can see the source of
this horror. Up on the aft castle stands the swordmage they know as
Silas; an arrogant bore who would often try and chat up Lia in the
taproom of the Fighter's Gift.
A Vaedeccian, he has an olive complexion, and long, black hair.
Handsome, a sneer is on his face as his sword unleashes a burst of
killing lightning towards several sailors, dropping them and cooking
them in an instant, he spies the group and laughs boisterously.
“Weela, look'a
who it'a is'a!”
Helping Silas are
five pirates, who gleefully put to the sword anyone that gets too
close, whilst the whole lot of them fight around the greatest horror
on deck – Silas' pet basilisk, “Stone Eye”. A truly repugnant
beast, the six-legged lizard resembles a great armoured crocodile
with chameleon like eyes, its huge mouth already red with blood. It
waddles across the deck, its petrifying glare forcing the few men
trying to fight the doughty squad to flee with their eyes closed –
all the easier for Silas and his men to murder.
There is no sign of
Skull, and the group realise that he has either been dispatched or is
elsewhere. Within moments of them arriving on deck Silas has spotted
them, and the pirates under his command quickly run to intercept the
group. Three of these men die before they even get chance to raise
their blades; peppered with venom shrouded quarrels from the
assassin's crossbow. The others however leap in, their swords opening
fearsome wounds in those they strike.
The group are
absolutely exhausted, having had no time to rest since they emerged
from the basement, and things get no better for them, for within
moments, Silas is unleashing an apocalypse, the air seething with his
swordmagic. Lia realises that this battle is going to be hard won (if
won at all) and calls upon her most potent psychic defence, the aft'
castle becoming shrouded in a veil of her minds' energy. She then
leaps to attack one of the pirates, though she is quickly bound by
shackles of dehydrating quasi-elemental salt, conjured by the
swordmage, which burn her skin and drain her strength with every
passing second.
Thatari and Jaeger
hang back on the main deck, keeping as much distance between them and
the battle as possible. Varracuda is with them at first, but soon
leaps into the fray, his own blade snarling as he calls upon what
spells he has remaining. However, he makes the mistake of getting too
close to Stone Eye, and suddenly feels a horrible leaden chill infuse
his whole body. His limbs grow stiff and heavy, and he feels a
choking constriction around his neck and chest. With horror, he
realises his normally pale skin, which is covered in swirling
elemental sigils of brilliant hue, is turning more and more
ashen...more like...
And suddenly
Varracuda knows nothing more, his body turned to lifeless stone.
Grigori sees this,
and as he charges the basilisk, Balskuss' chainsword screaming in his
grasp, yells out that he can easily reverse the petrification once
the battle is over. Bellowing incoherently next to him, Shnecke is
already hacking at the massive reptile, his jagged axe chipping away
at its emerald scales, soliciting furious hisses and vicious return
bites from its deadly jaws, and with the petrification of Varracuda,
everyone suddenly starts to pay more attention to the reptile than
the swordmage.
Jaeger teleports to
the aft' castle, and slashes at the beast. However, as he arrives,
the air buckles around him, the skin of reality rebelling against his
arcane mode of movement. A flickering, fiery portal, about the size
of a wardrobe, suddenly appears next to him, emitting a high pitched
whine that sends shivers down the spines of all who hear it.
Cartwheeling away, the assassin vows to lay off the teleportive
magics for now, at least, until they are not in an area so recently
fractured by plane-warping magics.
Silas is peppered
by fire thrown by the warlock, a series of thorned, flaming runes
sticking to his flesh and burning inwards. He roars in rage, and
unleashes a blast of scouring ice across the deck, smashing into the
adventurers, burning and numbing their flesh, whilst Stone Eye
unleashes a horrific belch of burning, green gas, which irritates
eyes and throats and causes horrible chemical damage to everyone
within its reach. Silas is knocked to the floor as a poison used by
the assassin on one of his quarrels takes effect, the swordmage's
legs going numb. He hits hard, and sends more lightning arcing across
the deck.
Grigori is next to
feel the petrifying glare of the basilisk, his flesh hardening and
freezing in stone as he rips the chainblade free of the monster's
meaty hide again.
“NOOOOARRRRGH!”
Howls Shnecke, his own weapon finally tearing through the heavy
scales that cover the beast, liberating smoking droplets of oily
black gore...droplets that begin to fume and fill the air around it
with choking, burning poison. “YOU ARE GOING TO DIE NOW!!”
Lia has managed to
break free of the caustic shackles that held her, and is using her
potent powers to heal those around her. Shaking the sweat and blood
from his eyes, Silas mutters a word of power, and leaps into the air
– high into the air, flying over the battle, and dropping several
sizzling bombs of elemental energy down to the deck, blasting Lia and
Shnecke to the floor. Landing near the nascent portal, he leaps back
as the raging barbarian surges up and swipes the basilisk, trying to
force it into the gate. The massive reptile is caught by surprise and
is rolled violently into its maw. The air briefly convulses around
the portal's quivering edges, and for a second all hope it has been
whisked away to some extraplanar hell. Alas, it reappears, no worse
for wear moments later, the twinkling mote apparently linked to
nothing!
The fight ends
abruptly shortly afterwards.
The basilisk is
finally chopped down, the air seething with the deadly fumes pouring
from its oxidising gore, and at sight of this, Silas suddenly raises
his hands, and with a scream begs for parlay.
“I'a know where
dere is'a a great'a trea'sure! Spare'a me, and'a I'll...”
He never finishes
his sentence, for the assassin suddenly appears by him, places the
tip of a loaded crossbow bolt into the swordmage's ear, and pulls the
trigger, dropping him instantly. Silas slumps, his legs kicking
brokenly as his bladder and bowels empty out with surprising force.
A single one of the
pirates that first helped Silas remains, and at sight of his former
boss' death, he throws down his sword, and begins to beg for his
life. His words are lost in a rush of gore however, as Shnecke almost
cuts him in two with a nonchalant swing of his axe, his blood
mingling with the piss pooling darkly around Silas' still form...
4/8/1472 – 01:00:
The SC sails away from the flaming ruins of Dhenz'Vhashal, headed
southeast, towards the distant pirate city of Auran'Dyre; the
infamous “Carrion Port”. The hope is that amongst its scheming
pirate enclaves and intrigue laden streets, they will be able to find
someone to return their allies to life – and maybe, identify what
the strange blade segment they recovered from Silas is; a section of
broad black metal, that becomes transparent towards the edges, and is
carved with sweeping purple runes.
Also recovered from
the slain swordmage is a large, sweating green crystal, that Thatari
identifies as containing the essence of a Shator Demodand, and a
potent scimitar who's blade is perpetually wreathed in arcing bolts
of agitated lightning.
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