An expedition with the "Seagull"

[JadedDM]

"I don't think you have much to worry about," Amon says. "This is a coaster vessel; it always stays close to land. We don't have very far to go, but if a big storm did approach, we could make it to land and anchor in time. These waters are pretty safe, so there shouldn't be any problems," he assures her.

[Jenara]

"Still, that does not make it any easier." She laughs out loud her pretty laugh echoing around the open ocean. "I remember seeing the open land for the first time, I got this feeling that made me sick to my stomach, the world was so big, and I was so small. Down there, for a while i was someone, up here I am no one." She slumps onto the floor.

"I am used to being someone, someone that matters, I have trouble accepting that I am not that person anymore, this Ocean.. I reminds me how small and alone I am." She fingers her holy symbol, looking up at Amon in curiosity.

[JadedDM]

"As a woman of the cloth, though, you are not ever truly alone," Amon points out. "You are part of something greater than any one individual can be. Pelor's light is always with you, even in the darkest places." He looks off into the horizon and smiles to himself. "I almost joined the clergy myself, actually. I was going to follow St. Cuthbert under Mother Redbow. She always told me I had great potential, but...in the end, I decided to study the arcane instead."

He shrugs. "But, I understand what you mean. Whenever I look up at the stars, I feel the same way. I used to think they were little pinpricks of light in the sky. But Master Soulstaff told me they are massive gemstones embedded into a black crystal sphere that surrounds everything. They are so hot that getting anywhere near them will vaporize you. And so bright, they can be seen from billions of miles away. He told me there are entire worlds out there, all circling our own world. And that if you can breach the crystal sphere, you'll find other spheres out there, each holding their own cluster of worlds. Everything is so massive, so big. It makes you feel like even the biggest things here are nothing in comparison."

He looks up into the sky. There are no stars visible, but he does so nonetheless, as if he could somehow pierce the blue sky and see them anyway. "I suppose in a way, we are all nobodies and nothing we do ever matters on such a cosmic scale. But...that doesn't mean the things we do don't effect the people around us. You might not be as important or famous as you were in the past, but you are one of the Heroes of Saltmarsh, regardless of how that jester spins it. And perhaps, if we are lucky, you'll soon be a Hero of Dunreese, as well. Maybe, given time, you'll be known throughout Keoland or even the whole world. But I don't think it really matters how many people know you or how important you are to things. I think what really matters is what you do and how many people you help. Even if nobody ever recognizes your contributions, they're still worth making."

[Jenara]

"Thank you Amon, your words give me hope. Pelor does indeed drive me to aid others, and as I told Drake, I do not wish to be a Hero... Yet there are days when I wish my life was like it was before."

She stays sitting on the deck of the ship, her hair over her face. "Is that what you want? To be a Hero?"

[JadedDM]

Amon chuckles. "I want to say no. I want to say the status means nothing to me, and I am only doing it out of the good of my heart. But when the jester began to undermine everything we had done, I felt myself growing hot with anger. I suppose, deep down, I still believe it's very important what other people think of me."

Turning away from the sea, he leans back against the railing and crosses his arms. "All of my life, I have been compared to other people. My family compares me to my brother. My master compares me to his daughter. Regardless of who I am being compared with, I always seem to be found wanting. I'm always...superfluous. Just a spare, a backup--an understudy, if you will. I suppose that is what drew me to this life. I wanted to stand out, to show I could be my own man. That I would no longer be seen as my father's 'other' child or as my master's 'other' student."

He lowers his head. "I guess I just want to break the mold. Maybe that's why I chose sorcery over the priesthood, even though I find it much more difficult. I want to defy everyone's expectations of me. Nobody ever expected me to be a hero, or a leader, or do anything important or worthwhile in my life." He shakes his head. "I guess that's not a very noble motivation. I still have some growing to do."

[Jenara]

"You say he undermined us, did he really? We are cannot understand the motivations of another no matter how clever you are, I cannot, I can only see if they have good intentions." She pulls herself up, wrapping an arm around Amons waist for a moment. "I think in his own misguided way he was trying to help us, yet we in our dare I say arrogance only saw interference."

"But yes, I think you have already changed the Villages view of you, I already see you in a different light. You have stood out on your own, and it is impressive." Reaching up she glances around, checking to see if anyone was watching she leans up and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Amon, to me you are no Backup, I would be dead if it wasn't for you."

[Breila]

Largely unnoticed by Brax and Amon, Kim had approached them during their last exchange. "Indeed Amon, you are not a Backup. You are a very fine man, thoughtful and capable. I have tried to let you know that before, but I seem not to have found the right words.

Tell me, should you and Echo and I find a place where we can discuss which spells we know and how we can put them to use to work together?"

[JadedDM]

Amon frowns. "Yes, he did try to undermine us. I've met people like him before. They can only bolster themselves by bringing others down. He attempted to profit off our hard work, like some kind of parasite that not only lives off its host, but damages it as well. Were his intentions truly good, he would have not insulted and mocked us openly. He would have addressed us in a civil manner, instead of barging in on our meeting, pushing his snake oil on us, and then attempting to ruin my party and our reputation in one blow. He is a selfish, petty man, and I've seen nothing to indicate otherwise."

To her kind words and affectionate gesture, he nods and says, "Thank you. I'm glad I could help. And I'm sure the day will come where you'll return the favor. For better or worse, the seven of us are a team now and we should all try and look out for each other when we can."

To Kim's request, he says, "Yes, of course," Amon says. "I'll go fetch her."

After the three mages have been reunited, Amon suggests, "Mage Kim, why don't you start?"

[Robbo]

Gunter sits on a couple of boxes next to the railing, gazing out at the passing coast and idly whittling a piece of wood as he listens to the mages chatter about spells and the like. For the first time in a couple of days he truly feels good about things. Whatever awaited them in Dunreese would be one more opportunity to put his skills to the test and do his family proud.

This might not be the most formidible group of adventurers ever assembled but they seem to all be genuine people who accept and maybe even rely on him for certain things, and right now, that was good enough for him.

[Jenara]

(Ooc: Seriously, no reaction to Brax's comments at all?)

[JadedDM]

(OOC: Oh, geez. Sorry, Jen, I somehow missed that post altogether. I'll edit my last post.)

[Jenara]

(Ooc: Assumed as much, its cool)

[Jenara]

"Perhaps Pelor teaches me to see even the glimmer of goodness in everyone." The tiny cleric says kindly, after waiting for Kim to speak, she looks at him with more than a glimmer of understanding. "Perhaps we will see when we return."

"Of course we are a team, not the best, but a team never the less." She hugs him close once more before motioning with her hand. "You have no teacher, you will have to learn from each other.." Leaning backwards on the rail she waits for them to leave.

[Breila]

Once the three mages are gathered together, leaning to the railing (as mentioned before, there is nothing on deck), Kim begins as requested.

"As I have told Amon before, I am no more experienced than you two are, despite my more advanced years. I spent most of my life doing other things than studying the Arcane." Kim makes a brief pause. "I couldn't even study with an accomplished master, like you, so my collection of spells is a little erratic.
For a fight, I could use the Magic Missile Miss Echo also knows, or make my hands burn to inflict damage to someone I touch, and I learned that Color Spray spell Sanbalet used on us.
I can conjure a light, or make a surface slippery, or make a sound appear somewhere that is like the noise of a few people talking or walking. Oh, and I can identify what a magic object is, but that is costly."

[JadedDM]

Echo looks to Amon and just shrugs. "You already know what spells I can do."

"True, but Mage Kim does not," Amon responds.

"So? Why does it matter?"

"If we're going to work as a team, we need to--"

Echo quickly holds up a hand to interrupt. "Okay, stop right there. Bored already. Let's just get this over with." Crossing her arms, she says, "Aside from the Magic Missile and Sleep spells you've seen me cast already, I can also conjure flame from my fingers, summon forth a wall of fog, invoke a familiar, create an orb of colored light that--depending on the color--has varying effects on the subject...and, right, I learned the color spray from Sanbalet's spellbook, too."

Satisfied, Amon takes his own turn. "I can cast an abjuration that helps ward off evil, a spell that creates an invisible and weightless suit of armor around the target, a spell that wards off an area from intruders by making a loud sound if anyone should trespass, a spell that identifies the properties of magical items, a spell that creates a soundproof bubble, and...I also know the magical missile spell, although I don't like using it. And I learned a spell that makes a wall of fog from Sanbalet's captured tome."