CH. 14: Beyond the Veil

[Breila]

Ouragna lays the books on a free space in Thaddeus's study. "Let's start with this one" she says and opens the one she took from the study, the one labelled "spells".

(She took it on p.25 of chapter 13)

[JadedDM]

Granite descends down into the crew quarters to get some rest, as well.

Meanwhile, Ouragana opens up the first book, the one labeled "Spells." She finds the pages are all blank, though, at least until she gets to the last one. On the final page is a message written in Eonian. Translating it, Ouragana reads the following:

"I don't know whether to be insulted that you think I'm stupid enough to leave my precious spells in a book labeled 'Spells' out in the open for any moron to find, or amused that you fell for such an obvious trap. Either way, you are clearly a thief and a fool and do not deserve the prestige of using magic. Sincerely, The Wyvern."

The words then begin to glow and Ouragana is enveloped by light. She can feel the magic being drained from her mind and body as the glowing script vanishes, leaving the entire book blank now. Afterwards, Ouragana feels weak and a little nauseous. But her sense of horror grows as she realizes that for the life of her, she cannot remember how to cast spells, even simple cantrips, at all. She has lost the ability to do magic.

"What happened?" asks Thaddeus. "Are you alright?"

===========

Ouragana triggers a trap and her INT drops to 8.

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn smirks lightly as Baeros' stumbles about into a wall as she finally opens the door to her cabin. She steps inside, and closes the door behind her so that she can get some rest.

OOC: Baeros doesn't even really know what she is upset about. He is so completely clueless.

[BishGada]

Baeros goes glumly to the back of the ship. He sits there swinging his legs, and even his dogs running around him can't cheer him up. After a while, he feels he is about to fall asleep, he looks for a shelter from the sun and takes a nap.

[Breila]

"No... " Ouragana says weakly. "That book was a trap, and I fell for it..." She starts crying, and soon, her whole body shakes violently. Now, all her life lays shattered, she definitely has nothing left to live for.

[JadedDM]

"A trap?" asks Thaddeus, still unsure of what is happening. He takes the book and flips through it. "Completely blank. Ah, I see. A decoy. Someone thinks they have found the Wyvern's spellbook and is hexed." He sets the book aside. "But you seem fine...no boils, no wounds, you aren't a toad or anything...perhaps the curse didn't work?"

[Breila]

"There.... there was a text in it" Ouragana manages to say between sobs. "It... it was in Eonian, so I... so I couldn't read it easily. And... and it said I am a fool and a thief and I don't deserve magic. Thaddeus, I can no longer do magic! Not even a cantrip! Nothing!" She looks up at him, tears streaking down her cheeks, broken, a picture of utter misery.

[JadedDM]

"Quite a potent curse," Thaddeus remarks, rubbing his chin. "There must be some way to counter it, though. With the Wyvern long dead, we can't get him to undo it. Perhaps a sufficiently powerful cleric could remove it."

[Breila]

"Do you think so?" Ouragana asks with a glimmer of hope. "Maybe Jocelyn knows someone..."
She pulls herself together. "We both should get some sleep, I guess. There are still wounds on both of us."
She leaves the study. "Thank you. Sleep well" she says at the door with a sad smile, then goes to her bunk to sleep if she can.

[JadedDM]

Some time after nightfall, Sierra's sailors return with the cannon and the chests full of treasure. The chests are secured in one of the holds on the cargo deck, just in case any of the sailors decide to get sticky fingers. The cannon is left on the upper deck. While they have a powerful weapon now...nobody yet knows how to use it.

The following morning, at first daybreak, the Bullring sets sail, leaving the Wyvern's Island behind.

Jocelyn wakes up that morning after a restless sleep. The planetar's words had had an impact on her, and she was left unsure of what to do now. Does she take every step necessary to secure her own life, even at the cost of her faith? Or does she risk her own life in order to uphold the values she swore to live by? Jocelyn had only ever joined the clergy in order to hide--does that mean her vows are void? Once the pirates are dealt with, will she even want to continue working for Octhanus? These questions and more swirl about in her head.

Ouragana also has a lot on her mind. The curse has removed her ability to cast spells at all. What if it's permanent? What would she do with her life without magic? It has been the driving force of her entire life. Without it, is there even anything left? Then again, as the planetar pointed out, even with magic, she has been rudderless. She cares nothing for her adopted family and knows nothing of her real family, nor is she interested in finding out. She travels with people she barely knows because she has nothing else to do, nowhere else to go. She hasn't made any progress in winning over Thaddeus, who will be getting married soon unless she does something about it. All of these doubts continue to plague her, no matter what.

Val wakes up...

Baeros gets up, glad to be reunited with his two dogs. If only Thunder were still here, as well. He questions if sending the Oni back was the right thing to do. Sure, they were descended from tortured labrats, but they were somehow related to ogres--the ranger was sure of that much. And that made them irredeemably evil, as far as he was concerned.

Gallath had been incredibly quiet for awhile now. He wouldn't admit it, but he was deeply affected by the fight with the kyton. He had not faced a fiend since...that fateful night, so many years ago. But it was over now, and within a few weeks they would be seeking out the pirate crew his ex-girlfriend joined. What would he do and feel when he saw her again? And what if she summoned another one?

Granite finds himself wondering what to do next. Should he continue with these people to help them against these pirates or stay behind in Narin again?

Drav can't help but notice how strange it is to be on a boat again. He had been trapped on that island for 30 years, and now he was free. He had his whole life ahead of him, and he needed to decide what to do with it. How much had things changed among the islands in the past 30 years? Could he return to his family and just pick up his old life where he left off? Or has the island changed him too much? Could he even cope again in civilization?

==============

It is now Ruebon 28, Darkday. Everyone regains 1 HP.

[Nuke]

Val wakes up, sucking at interpersonal relationships, she moves to the top deck and wanders around. She takes the time to climb the crowsnest and looks for her pet, no really expecting to see Mist.

[xelphyn]

Dahn's train of thought leads him to certain event hes got involved with in Narin while the others where away, and he decides it would probably be best if he stayed away for a while longer.
In an attempt to stave of boredom, Dahn prepares invisibility and phantasmal force, after casting invisibility on himself, he heads to the deck and uses phantasmal force to make the door to the interior section appear to be next to where it actually is.

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn rubs the sleep out of her eyes, and scratches the back of her head absently. Despite being groggy and still tired, she prays as she knows a lot of the people on this ship are injured. Afterwards, she makes herself look as decent as possible before she searches for Brock.

OOC: Filling up all of her slots on cure light wounds. Replacing the three cure mod wounds. Replacing prayer and magical vestments. Adding starshine.

[Breila]

With all her magic gone, Ouragana knows she has nothing to offer Thaddeus, and resolves to renounce to him once and for all. It feels very strange not to memorise spells first thing in the morning, and she doesn#t really know what to do with herself. She decides to look for Terra or Sierra, and approaches whomever she encounters first and doesn't seem occupied with something important.
"Excuse me, Madam" she says, then takes a deep breath before bursting out: "A book I found in the mansion was cursed, and now I have lost my magic. I have forgotten most of my languages, too. But I have to live! Can I earn my room and board on this ship with some work? Help in the kitchen, sweep the deck, anything?" she asks pleadingly.

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn prays for new spells then departs to find Brock. It's a big ship with over a hundred people on it; like a small village at sea. So this takes some time. She has to ask around but eventually is directed toward the aftcastle on the upperdeck. He leans against the railing, looking out at the shrinking island behind them.

Ouragana heads up to the upper deck where she finds Terra calling out orders to the crew. When she asks her question, the dwarven woman raises an eyebrow. "Earn your what? Did you lose your memory, too? I seem to recall you and your friends are now filthy rich. You have enough coin to buy yourself a nice villa and retire. Why would you need to sweep floors?" She shakes her head. "Anyway, we don't have the budget to hire anyone else right now and we have plenty of cabin boys as it is."

Val heads up to the upper deck and climbs to the top of the crow's nest. Surprisingly, the captain herself, Sierra Bullring, is up there. Looking around, she doesn't see any sign of Mist. She's probably waiting for them back in the Vaneil sea.

"Morning, Val," Sierra says, looking back at the island as it shrinks on the horizon. "Come to see the island off?"

Granite makes himself invisible then creates an illusionary door next to the real door that leads down below. He sits and watches with amusement as sailors approach the two doors, then stop in confusion and look around in bewilderment, not sure which door to choose.