FLUFF: Jammers: Turn 3 Chapter 8

The Adventures of my Jammers PBEM game.

I hope folks are enjoying these, if there is a consensus that they 
suck I will be happy to stop posting them. Let me know what you folks 
think. (My players should feel free to comment as well:))

Website: http://lost.spelljammer.org/Jammers/

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...
{} = Actions and descriptions within these brackets take place within 
the psionic mindscape and are OOC knowledge for all accept the 
parties directly involved.


"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--
	Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
	Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
Robert Louis Stevenson, 'Treasure Island' (1883)

IC:

The flames burst out of the door, Ives, standing on the derelict's 
deck, and those on the ship hear the explosion, and can see the 
flames burst through the door, but cannot see the fate of those 
within...

At the explosion Ives launches himself into action, bursting into the 
flames the Giff quickly starts to scan the room.

"Talus how is he!"  Ives booms out as he lowers his sword so the tip 
is pointed towards the ground, yet still in a position to react 
instantly, "What happened?"

Raken shouts, "Freneth, back out the door, now! Nilaroo, help me with 
Talus! Lets get him to the deck, I'll heal him there! Take his head, 
and be careful!" As soon as Nilaroo takes Talus' torso, Raken grabs 
his feet and helps carry their fallen comrade out the door and onto 
the deck.

With a couple of well practiced strokes, Nilaroo extinguishes the 
remaining smouldering lumps of exposed fur.  He quickly scoops up 
Talus and heads out to the deck.

Backing out of the room Ives calls out to the Nightwind "Talus 
triggered a trap! Raken is tending to his wounds now."

Once outside, Raken says, "Set him down gently. Let me take a look at 
those burns." He proceeds to cast a healing spell on Talus.

Talus opens his eyes and winces in pain, "Damned book." Talus slowly 
gets to his feet, "I guess I missed those runes."

Raken helps Talus to his feet, wincing with pain a little as he does. 
"Please, next time you feel the insatiable urge to blow yourself up, 
give us a warning so we can stand clear!" he says with a bit of a 
smirk.

Talus replies with a lopsided smirk, "I'll try to keep that in mind." 
Talus asks, "Did it destroy everything?"

Raken says, "The book, yes. We withdrew before we could assess the 
damage. The rest of the goods might have survived. I want to retrieve 
what we've found thus far and get it here on deck. Do you remember 
anything else? Just before the book exploded, you said that this ship 
came across a strange coffin. Anything else?"

Talus shakes his head, "Nothing else other than that."

Raken calls out, "Ferric, put a double-watch on the helm immediately! 
Make sure Allagan is on the helm-watch!" He pauses to catch his 
breath, holding his chest as he breathes deep. "Nilaroo, Freneth, how 
badly are ye hurt?"

"I yet stand, hoom, but I have had better times," Nilaroo responds.

Over on the NIGHTWIND...

Allagan heads down to the helm. Once inside he closes and bolts the 
door behind him, "It was some sort of firetrap with talk of finding a 
coffin or something."

Holland nods, his attention clearly on the deck.

Back on the galleon...

Freneth looks quite a bit worse for the wear, his beard burned badly, 
making it look lopsided, and his flesh a definite red where the 
flames struck him. Limping slightly, as he keeps a wary eye out, 
Freneth grimaces through the pain, "This one has been better."

"Hoom, I would retreat, regroup, and observe. Perhaps something has 
been stirred by our ruckus," Nilaroo suggests.  The odor of burnt fur 
is redolent throughout the air envelope.

Raken says, "We tripped some kind trap. Talus was reading a page when 
it burst into a fireball. Wizardly magic, to be certain. Talus said 
the log mentioned the crew came across a coffin of some sort in the 
void.  Coffins are bad news; we should not continue until we recover 
our strength and perhaps get some more swords over here."

Suddenly a wave of dark figures comes leaping over the port-side rail 
of ISTUS' MAIDEN.  At first glance they appear to be sailors wielding 
cutlasses and daggers, but their burning eyes set in mummified flesh 
quickly reveal their undead nature.

On the NIGHTWIND the crew has been focused on the ISTUS' MAIDEN, but 
that doesn't prevent them from hearing the thud of feet landing on 
their own deck.  Spinning about, they see a score of the undead 
pirates leaping the starboard railing of the NIGHTWIND...

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Freneth moves almost automatically as the 'men' appear on the deck. 
He fits a javelin to his atatl, and hurls it at the head of the 
closest one, as he moves to stay close to Nilaroo.

The javelin flies straight and slams into one of the undead pirates. 
The jvein sinks deep into the creatures chest but it simply flicks 
the javelin out, undeterred, and apparently undamaged, by the blow.

Raken says, "oh, bugger..." as he draws his weapon. "TO BATTLE!" he cries
out!  Almost of its own accord his scimitar flicks aside the first 
blow from one of the undead.  The scimiter blocks another blow as a 
second undead creature attacks the druid, and then he slashes back in 
riposte.  His blow lands firmly, cutting deeply into the undead 
creature's abdomen.  The creature's mouth opens in a silent scream. 
It now moves as if massively wounded.

Talus says, "Oh boy, watch out--webbing 'm" and then begins to quickly chant.
A moment later webs descend over the after section of the main deck, 
and much of the aftcastle.  9 of the undead pirates are entrapped 
within the webs.

Hearing Talus' warning, Nilaroo draws his blade and settles in, 
cutting down any undead that approach to interrupt Talus' spell.  He 
lands a massive blow on one of the pirates, but despite his huge size 
and massive strength the blow doesn't even stagger the undead.  The 
creature's return blow glance off Nilaroo's chainmail, doing no 
damage either.

Ives stands stunned by the appearance of the undead.  Two of them 
attack him, wounding the mighty giff with their cutlasses.

SILENT STAR, fore:

As the undead storm aboard the Nightwind, Lellyn draws his weapons. 
Frowning slightly Lellyn asks "How do you kill something that's 
already dead??"  Not waiting for an answer Lellyn moves toward the 
pirates. "I guess we'll just find out" he mutters softly.

Two of the undead attack Lellyn, he blocks one of their blows and 
dodges the other, but has no luck of his own, either, as his riposte 
misses the foe.

Dhebun and Grigree both exhibit the same shock as Ives.  Each is 
attacked by two of the undead, and each suffers a wound from one of 
the cutlasses.

Another of the undead pirates, standing back from the fray, takes aim 
with a pistol and fires at Grigree.  The bullet slams into the 
hadozee's shoulder.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Staying close to the lines Kain draws his sword and swings it at one 
of the three pirates attacking him.  The slash cuts deep into the 
undead's arm, causing it to stagger back, it's arm now hanging 
uselessly from the elven sword's cut.

The other two undead attack Kain, but he manages to dodge their blows.

Vais finds himself attacked by three of the undead.  Their cutlasses 
rain blows upon him, leaving deep scratches in his allow.  Vais grabs 
one of the creatures, releasing an electrical bolt to shoot through 
the creature, which jerks and staggers as if in pain.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Leera calls to Oquid, "Oquid, follow me!" Leera then rushes down the 
starboard stairwell to the helm room.

Oquid follows Leera.

Ferric yells to those aboard the MAIDEN, "Grab those ropes and get back here."
As he draws his bow and brings it to bear on the undead boarders 
Ferric yells to those aboard the MAIDEN, "Grab those ropes and get 
back here."

Ferric looses his arrow then quickly pulls a second from his quiver 
and sends it flying toward the same undead pirate.  Both arrows 
strike one of the undead firmly in the chest, but the creature 
ignores them completely as it charges forward.

Sekeht draws his scimitar and moves to the closest invader, slashing 
at the foul creature.  His blow lands, but the creature ignores it.

One of the pirates manages to land a cutlass blow on Sekeht, leaving 
a deep gash in his thigh.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Holland jumps up from the helm and heads to the hatch as he says to 
Allagan, "We've been boarded by a score of undead, go help them 
top-side, I'll bolt the door behind you."

Allagan replies, "Okay, stay safe." Allagan leaves the helm but 
pauses outside the door until he hears the bolt thrown.  Allagan then 
runs to the ladder and
climbs up quickly to the deck.

Holland shuts the hatch behind Allagan and slams the bolt to secure 
it and then returns to the helm.

-----------

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Freneth scowls, muttering, "What are these then?" as he yanks his 
hand axe from his belt loop.

One of the undead attacks the halfling, his cutlass leaving a gash 
across the  forehead as Freneth ducks a moment to late.

Raken continues fighting as he makes his way to the ropes.  Two of 
the undead stay with him, but his cutlass parries each of their 
cutlass blows.  He grabs one of the ropes tied to the rails.

Talus draws the cutlass and his dagger and springs to the attack as 
two of the undead attack him.  The dagger glows with a pale, ghostly 
white radiance.

Clearly exuberant to be drawn in battle, Cutlass begins to sing:
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho."

Cutlass parries both undead attacks against Talus, who manages to hit 
one them with his dagger.  The undead turns and runs away, getting 
trapped in the webbing in the process.

"Move back to the ropes!  I will cover and follow!" Nilaroo yells to 
his colleagues.  Twice more his massive sword slams into undead, 
foes, and each time the simply ignore the blows, the damaging healing 
instantly.  His three undead strike him in return with their 
cutlasses, but of course his wounds do not heal instantly.

Ives also finds himself facing three undead foes.  His own movements 
remain sluggish, as if the attack still shocks him.  Several more 
small wounds are opened on the great giff by his foes' cutlasses.

SILENT STAR, fore:

Lellyn returns the pirate's attack, thrusting his rapier into his 
foe. "You may be dead and walking" Lellyn tells the pirate, "but 
we'll soon have an end to that!!"

But the undead ignores the thrust and slashes the bard across the 
shoulder.  Lellyn manages to doge the blow from his other foe.

Dhebun manages to avoid the blows of his foes, but cannot land one of 
his own in return, either.

Grigree's normal acrobatic style seems to have deserted him, like 
Dhebun and Ives he seems sluggish.  He does manage to land blows with 
his swords, but the undead shrug them off.  Grigree manages to avoid 
hits in return, however.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Kain stabs again at the attacking fiend with his short sword.  The 
elven blade sinks deep, and the undead whose arm he disabled earlier 
plops motionless to the deck.  The other two continue to attack, 
however, and both inflict small cuts.

Vais grabs the same undead as before, sending another electrical bolt 
into him.  That undead drops to the deck, but the other two continue 
to hack at the golem.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Ferric drops his bow letting it fall back to rest upright between the 
two tiller handles.  Drawing his rapiers he proceeds to test the 
defenses of his foe with vicious cuts and darting stabs. He quickly 
lands two cuts, but the three undead facing him ignore them.  One of 
them manages to land a blow in return.

As Allagan's head pops up the ladder-well he surveys the scene for a 
split second before his eyes focus and a lightning bolt shoots 
forward from Allagan.
The bolt shoots through three of the foes, and blast out into space 
beyond, scorching the side of the ship.  The three undead flop 
motionless to the deck.

Sekeht continues to slash at his opponent, but neither lands a blow.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Inside the helmroom on the helm, Holland's hand reaches into his 
sashling and pulls out his new gemstone which he grips in his right 
hand.

Finding the helmroom door is bolted, Leera pounds on it, crying "Open 
up! It's Leera!"

Holland cautiously opens the door a crack, with his foot blocking the 
door from being pushed open, and after seeing Leera and Oquid he lets 
them inside, bolting the door after the.

Once inside the helm room Leera cries out, "We've been boarded by 
undead! Move straight ahead to put distance between us and their ship 
before more come aboard!"

Oquid stands by Leera.

Date/Time: 4:52 pm, 7th day of the 1st Month, 5050 OC



-- 
"I say there are some things we don't want to know!  Important things!"
Flanders, The Simpsons

Paul Westermeyer, westermeyer@????????.net