Jammers: Turn 16, Chapter 7 Summary

The Ongoing adventures of my Spelljammer PBEM game.

Here's the Jammers web address:

http://jammers.s5.com/

Comments, questions always welcome:)

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

IC:

After hearing Talus' report Ferric says, "Well, shall we bring Masawa
down then and see if we can get him to explain these men?  If none
object lets try to get Oquid's attention"

"Fine by.. mm.. me, Ferric," Kain nods.

Talus asks, "Do we have the time to waste on that? The others could
be just behind us. Why don't we just put them in one of the rooms and
leave them tied up. Then we can continue on into the temple and deal
with them on our exit."

"Since Italapate's life may be in danger, yes, we do have the time."
Ferric replies grimly. "I have a lot riding on finding this blade
first but I won't abandon a comrade because of what _might_ happen."

Holland raises an eyebrow and replies, "Maybe I missed something, but how is
Italapate's life in danger? He is at the village; if anything, delay
here would be worse for him."

"Ferric why don't a few of us work on disabling the trap while the
Nightwind is summoned. We can get both tasks accomplished and let us
move on faster to whats below." Ives booms out.

Ferric goes to the front stairs.

Kain squats, resting his crossbow across his knees as he waits for
Ferric to get the attention of the ship.

The prisoners remain quiet and obedient and no threat appears inside
the temple.

While everyone is running around, Raken withdraws to tend to his own
wounds.  Sitting down on a stair, he pulls out a needle and thread to
sew up the cuts he received from vicious spear attacks.

Raken then offers to tend to Dhebun's wounds.

Dhebun answers, "I am grateful for the offer, Raken. I am not sure
anything more can be done for these wounds than what Freneth has
done, though you may try."

Raken checks Dhebun's wounds and tends to them.

As Ferric goes outside to signal the ship, Leera bends down and
separates some of the loot out from the rest. In the pile she places
1 pair of sandals, 1 onyx tipped spear, 8 thorns (from witchdoctor),
2 waterskins (she makes an X on one with a bit of charred wood), and
the 15 carved sticks.

She then calls Talus over, and with his help, loads the items into a sack.

Talus then says, "I'll go see about that trap door."

"I'll come with you what!" Ives booms out.

Talus flies back to the trap door and searches around to see if there
is a lever or something that would stabilize the trap door, letting
people walk over it.
Finding nothing like that, he checks the outline of the floor section
to see if the others can walk along the edges. But no luck, it
appears to be a weakened section of floor, rigged to fall but with no
method for anyone to cross it safely.

"Hmm wouldn't a boarding plank fit right across the trap door Talus?
Though I would like to see what's below it." Ives says.

Talus flies to the locked door and pauses at it for a few minutes,
listening, but he doesn't hear anything.

On the front steps of the temple Ferric cannot see the NIGHTWIND no
matter what direction he looks in.

Dashing back into the room Ferric says urgently, "The ship is gone.
Kain can you contact Oquid or one of the others?"

Sekeht rushes down the passageway to have a look for himself.
Disappointed, he returns to the main room. "We've been stranded," he
says to Holland and Allagan as he walks by.

Holland says calmly, "Relax, I am sure that they had to go higher to
avoid the air predators. Kain, Billy would probably be the best
choice to try to contact."

Freneth looks slightly troubled, but nods in agreement with Holland.
"Yes, perhaps Oquid has moved the ship further away because of
trouble? Was there any sign of a struggle with anything?"

Leera's a bit pale, and she's biting her lower lip. Leera shakes her
head, "No, Holland.... I have a bad feeling about this." Turning, she
tells the others, "If Kain can't contact them, then we know something
is obviously wrong. "

"What the..." Kain exclaims as he sits down hard. Pushing himself to
his feet, Kain leaves his crossbow on the floor and runs to the front
steps of the temple.

Raken offers to clean up Ferric's wounds.

Ferric removes his leather chestpiece and winces a couple of times as
Raken tends the gashes from the battle. Looking at the punctures in
his armor he frowns and says. "Looks like it will be time to buy
another of these when we return."  When Raken finishes Ferric
stretches experimentally then puts his armor back on. "Thanks Raken.
Let's hope your skills won't be needed again this trip."

Raken laughs. "With this crew?  Far from likely. Though hopefully
when we get back to Bral, we'll have enough loot to buy a hundred
sets of armor. I've done the best I can without resorting to magic.
Should I burn off a spell or two to get you fully back on your feet?
You'll be quite sore for a while."

"Best give me a small heal." replies Ferric. "I'm sure there will be
worse ahead."

Raken nods and uses his healing magic on Ferric.

Kain reenters the main temple room.

Kain scrubs a hand across his face and drops to his knees on the
temple's floor. He slings his rucksack from his shoulder and empties
it on the stone floor, searching quickly through his belongings.
"Masawa's taken the ship," Kain says thickly, digging out some paper
and one of his drawing pencils. "Billy and Argonui are dead," he
continues, slowly, as he begins to move the pencil over the paper.
"Grigree's held magically, and.. Oquid is being told to fly..
somewhere, I'm trying to find out where," Kain clarifies, his head
bowed over the paper.

Raken lowers his head. "Seems our friend has made his own plans. What
now? With no ship and limited resources, we're stranded."

"I was right!" Sekeht cries. "We are stranded! How are we ever going
to get off this world without our ship?"

After taking a moment of silence in reverence for Billy, Raken's look
hardens.  "I have little doubt that either one of three things have
happend. Masawa has made a deal with our competitors, who have beaten
us here, or he has a decided hatred of us outlanders and seen to our
deaths. Or...he has the Sword and it has taken him."

Holland frowns at Sekeht and says, "Panicking won't help." Holland
continues, "These natives had to have some sort of other exit and
transportation. Else, how did they get in here and get food?"

"Magic," Raken mumbles.  "Most priests worth his holy symbol can
create food and water by the will of their god.  Of course, I believe
that was a witch doctor, who uses wizardly magic."

Clenching his hands into fists, Dhebun growls angrily. "So, that is
their game eh? I don't know how they could have beaten us, but I
think Masawa and his men were bought by Cartan; a curse upon his
name! May he never know another night's peace! Great Mahl, if I could
but lay my hands on his wretched throat for a moment he'd regret he
ever came to this rock!"

"Billy, dead and Argonui.... Grigree captured and Oquid..." the dwarf
shakes and tears at his beard, a tremor in his voice. "We shall see
them avenged, I swear by the Anvil of the SoulForge! I don't know
how, but they shall pay tenfold for this!" Dhebun puts his head in
his hands. "What can we do? How can we do anything without a ship?"

Raken smiles grimly. "This world is a wilderness, I am a druid. If
indeed Cartan has chosen this to be a battleground, then he has
chosen poorly. I have certain... spells that may come in handy."

Ives ears are standing straight up and his nostrals flare as the giff
booms out "After we sieze Blackbeards treasure Dhebun, we leave the
traitor's head upon a pike. Nothing less will do, and we may well
leave an even larger trail of victory behind us fore we leave this
world."

Holland looks up at the hole in the ceiling and says, "Talus, please
check out that hole up there please."

Talus says, "Okay," and turns invisible. Talus flies up to the
opening and carefully looks around the edges to make sure there
aren't any traps and then slowly rises up so his head is above the
hole. Talus turns around so he can get a 360 degree view of what is
on the outside.

Nothing of real interest seems to be going on. No ship is visible,
and no flyers really. Normal wilderness sounds and no signs that this
opening was ever used as anything but a source of fresh air for the
room below.

Holland says, "As for our courses of action... There doesn't seem to
be anything we can do but push forward and see what else is in this
temple. Perhaps the pirate-king stashed another spelljamming ship
with his treasure as a back-up."

Raken replies, "Or at the very least a helm of some sort. Worse comes
to worse, we could strap together a raft and hunt down our murderous
guide and exact a
pound of flesh from him for every injury we have suffered."

Holland nods his head, "Yes, we can make our plans after we find out
what is in here. Being a wily pirate, I am sure that there are some
surprises in here."

Leera sighs, "You know, if we hadn't gone out of our way to make an
enemy of him we might not have ended up like this." She glances in
Ferric's direction.

"Leera's right," Sekeht says. "We've sealed our own doom, that's certain."

Holland says, "That is quite enough Sekeht."

Raken shrugs. "I just hope we don't exhaust ourselves, and then have
our... friends, show up at the worst possible time."

Holland says, "Let's get into party order and continue on into the temple."

Date/Time: 2:25 pm, 7th day of the 11th Month, 5049 OC
--
"...And nobody is to be killed at all, if it can be helped. Keep your
tempers and hold your hands until the last possible moment!"
"But if there many of these ruffians," said Merry, "it will certainly
mean fighting. You won't rescue Lotho, or the Shire, just by being
shocked and sad, my dear Frodo."

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State University