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"Thank you, Val., I shall tell them," responded the dwarf.

Naras continued in undine, "Val will help the rescue effort. She has a companion, an Orcus I think, who would also help."

Gallath turns to Baeros. "Sure." Assuming no further complications, he goes to get Thrax.

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Berth Deck)
Naishe shrugs at Ouragana's comment. "People don't have to be fiends to ruin you or those who trust you. Mortals are just as capable of evil. I say, the circumstances of your birth don't matter. Human, elf, dwarf, devil, demon, whatever; you should just rely on your own judgment on whether someone is good or bad for you."

Just before Gallath and Baeros head off to get Thrax, Jocelyn suddenly thrusts her holy symbol upward into the air, and it emits a sudden flash of light. It lasts only a second. It doesn't blind anyone, but the sudden brightness does cause many to cover their eyes, including Naishe. However, there is no further effect. "What the Nine Hells was that all about?" she asks.

Val and Naras (Undine Village)
The undine with the ponytail accepts the ring and looks it over. "Interesting...but yes, I think this should suffice. I'll go and retrieve the other ring from our treasure then." He then adds, "As for names, I am called Shin. I am the tribe's sorcerer."

"Oh, you're right!" says the youngest one with the blond hair. "In all the chaos, we did never give proper introductions. I am called Cye. I'm our tribe's druid."

"An orca, you say?" asks Serenna. "That could prove useful, along with what few barracuda we can muster up. Very well. Prepare your spell and we'll decide who else to heal."

Naras makes a point of standing, facing each of Shin and Cye and bowing to each in turn, "The honour is mine." She then faces round to Serenna, saying "Please look past my words, my manner and see instead my intent, my heart," giving her the deepest bow of all.

Naras explains to Val what's going on and then settles down to pray. {OOC: Cure Moderate Wounds to fill the vacant slot, Gonto willing.}

If this spell is granted, Naras will cast it on whoever the undine decide upon and then asks if there is anything they can tell her and Val about where they will be going tomorrow, the layout, the approaches, the numbers of foes (& their allies), spell casters, disposition of forces and so forth.

Jocelyn frowns as nothing happens, then shakes her head at Naishe. "Ah, nothing to worry about," she says. "I was just checking something."

(OOC: If she knew what you did, she'd be -so- salty right now xD)

Drav kind of wanders along with the two to find the Falcon.

(OOC: I feel like the twin of "the chosen one." No one looks at me and I pretty much do anything while the other guy gets all the attention. Probably doesn't help if I've been so inactive as of late.)

"Oh, I absolutely agree with you" Ouragana says to Naishe after her exchange with Jocelyn. "I've seen more of what people can do to each other than I ever thought I would, or that I had been prepared for at the Academy. However, it does seem that there are alien powers involved here, and that makes me nervous because I know even less about them than I do about people."

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Quarter Deck)
Baeros, Drav and Gallath go to train Thrax. Ouragana heads up to the quarter deck and Jocelyn returns to her room to meditate. The rest of the day passes without incident. When night falls, Ouragana is pleased to see Hofur put up the lanterns she made at the bow and aft of the ship.

The party eats dinner in the galley then heads to bed.

The following day they are greeted with better weather. The sky is very overcast, but there is no rain. The wind has shifted and grown stronger, doubling the speed of the ship, as well. It is early afternoon when land comes into view. It's a small island, maybe a mile across at best with a single lone peak encompassing most of it. "There it is," Sierra says as the others join her on the quarter deck. "Seschell Island. Completely uninhabited. The perfect place to test the cannon."

She and Terra stand on the forecastle, the former using a spyglass to look at the island which is about half a mile away now. "This is a good spot," Sierra notes. She calls for the sails to be lowered, so they'll stop moving.

Thaddeus is nearby with the cannon of light, fiddling with it. Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath, Drav, Naishe and Brock are all present for the test, as well.

"This looks like a good place to maroon Penta," Naishe observes. "I mean, after the test, of course..."

"Assuming it works at all," Terra notes. "It is quite ancient."

"It'll work. Won't it?" asks Sierra, eying Thaddeus.

"O-Of course!" the mage responds. "I'm absolutely certain I can fire it." He cannot keep the edge of anxiety out of his voice, though. "I've set it to 10% power for the test."

Sierra snorts and crosses her arms. "Ten percent? Forget that noise. Set it to full power. I want to see what this thing can really do."

"But captain, we don't know what effect--"

"Exactly," Sierra interrupts. "We don't know. That's why we're having a test. To find out. Full power."

"Yes, captain," Thaddeus says, and begins fiddling with the cannon again.

(It is now Sardonx 12, Darkday. Casters may choose new spells for the day.)

Val and Naras (Undine Village)
Naras heals one of the other undine for them, and uses her knowledge in the healing arts to care for some of the other wounded, as well. Serenna has some of their barracuda sent to the Ixitxachitl lair to scout it out. They know very little about it, beyond the fact that they have a set of sea caves they live in not far from here.

Val and Naras have no food or water beyond a single meal of trail rations Naras holds. The undine bring them some kelp to eat, but have no fresh water to provide. The pair try and get some sleep in the air-filled cavern. The following day, they wake up and Naras prays for her new spells for the day.

Serenna brings them more kelp to eat and explains that only a couple of scouts returned, and Cye is debriefing then now. While they wait, she explains what she does know about the Ixitxachitl.

"They resemble manta rays in appearance, but are quite intelligent and very cruel. They lack hands like we do, so often rely on slave labor to build their homes. Usually they strip a location bare of resources, over-hunting and destroying the ecosystem, before moving on elsewhere. They do sometimes have spellcasters among them," she explains. "They are considered a blight to all of the merfolk. Even the wretched sahuagin hate them."

(Naras uses healing and herbalism on herself, Serenna, Cye, Shin and two other undine. They all regain 6 HP. Naras is now fully healed.

It is now Sardonx 12, Darkday. Casters may choose new spells for the day.)

Immediately after waking up Naras checks Serenna, Cye, Shin and two other undine. {Healing check to see how many HP each is down.}
She asks, "What spells you have available will determine what spells I pray for, so what will you have? Will you need any more healing from me? Presumably I'll need to provide 'Water Breathing'.."

Jocelyn fidgets from where she is standing. "This is just a what if," she says. "But what happens if this doesn't work?"

"Captain, Mate, with all due respect, I would advise against using full power for the first test. Cannons have been known to backfire, and that could sink the ship" Ouragana states with a bow to Sierra and Terra. "I would not go over 50% for the first try."

In anticipation of possible consequences of failure, she had filled all available 1st leven slots with Mending and memorised Web two times, to be able to fix the Bullring if necessray or hold pieces together with a Web spell until the carpenters could do their work. She also renewed Hold person in case someone acted up...

(OOC: How much has she learned in working with Thaddeus? Would she be able to fire the cannon as well?)

Gallath, with Thrax on his arm with the glove, glances around. "Has anyone seen Val or Naras?"

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Quarter Deck)

Jocelyn wrote:"This is just a what if, but what happens if this doesn't work?"

"Then we'll have to find another way to destroy the Poison Curse," Sierra answers. "We don't have the manpower to face them through conventional means."

Ouragana wrote:"I would not go over 50% for the first try."

"Noted," Sierra responds. "But this isn't a democracy, and I call the shots here. Full power, Thaddeus."

"Aye, Captain." Thaddeus finishes modifying the cannon and it begins to hum softly with power. "Power at full. I've targeted the mountain. You should be able to see the extent of the damage with your spyglass."

Gallath wrote:"Has anyone seen Val or Naras?"

"Yeah, they jumped overboard yesterday," Terra says. "Something about helping some undine and a water breathing spell." She shrugs.

(OOC: I'd say Ouragana has studied the cannon enough to know how to operate it, yes.)

Val and Naras (Undine Village)
Naras determines that Serenna and Cye are still critically injured and Shin is seriously injured. "Cye can heal now, as well, but I'd prefer that both of you don't use up all of your healing before we leave," Serenna says. "There's a possibility we'll need it on the mission. Although we're hoping to avoid fighting if we can, it's likely we'll see some combat anyway."

"I can heal some, but my spells are mostly centered around nature and the elements," says Cye. "I have some control over plants and lesser animals. It's a shame we don't have any healing potions left over, just some empty bladders."

"I have a number of different kinds of spells, but most are used to wound or disable enemies," Shin answers. "I also have that ring I mentioned before with me today, if you are ready to trade."

(Serenna is at 20% HP, Shin is at 45% HP, and Cye is also at 20% HP.)

"I think you should tilt it a bit upper." Baeros adds to the conversation dealing with testing the Cannon.

Naras's spells:
1) Cure Light Wounds x3 <+2 tbc>
2) Cure Moderate Wounds x4 <+1 tbc>
3) Magical Vestment, Water breathing <+1 tbc>

The dwarf completes the proffered exchange of rings and adds, "I do have some robes that make the wearer's illusion spells slightly more powerful. Is that of any use to you? And do the ray-people's casters tend to use 'Hold' or 'Paralyse' spells? I have another spell slot that I can use to pray for either Remove Paralysis, Continual Light (to counter one Darkness) or a Dispel Magic. Which would you advise? And if you can teach me their word or 'Sleep' then I will also ask for a 'Command' spell. Is 'Silence' likely to be needed? And finally if you can do 'Create Water' for us then we can fill up some of those skins. That would allow me to pray for another 'Cure Light Wounds' spell."

While the undine are thinking about all that, Naras brings Val up to date and starts to cast a Cure Moderate Wounds on each of the three undine followed by another examination of each.

{OOC1: Heal check: down by how many HP? Naras may cast some more Cure spells according to the results of this}

Naras prays for some more spells {OOC2: tba dependent on the undine advice about ray-people's casting habits. Done it this way to keep Nuke waiting for 1 less round of posts.} and then announces she's "Good to go".