FLUFF: Jammers: Turn 4 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.

Start not -nor deem my spirit fled:
In me behold the only skull
 From which, unlike a living head,
Whatever flows is never dull.

'Lines Inscribed Upon a Cup Formed From a Skull'
1st stanza, Lord Byron

IC:

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Raken shouts out "IVES, WAKE THE HELL UP!! GIVE THOSE BLOODY BONES WHAT FOR!!!"

While keeping one hand on the rope, Raken continues to dance the 
dance of death with his undead foes.  He concentrates his attacks 
against the wounded foe,
and puts that creature down.

Grimicing through the pain from the earlier blast, Raken says, "Know 
another diddy, Cutlass?" with a wink.

Talus calls out, "Magic! Only magical weapons hurt them! More webs coming up!"
Talus starts to chant, but one of the undead in the webs has managed 
to get a hand free.  he fires his wheellock pistol at Talus.   The 
lead ball grazes his check, leaving a bloody stripe and disrupting 
his spell.

Meanwhile, Cutlass continues singing...

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.*

Nilaroo concentrates on parrying and defending.  He mamages to avoid 
any cuts from his three foes for the moment.

Freneth shouts, "How do you fight these things!!!"  Freneth whirls 
his axe about defensively, as he darts back and forth, trying his 
best to keep from the creature attacking him.  He manages to block 
its attack.

Swinging his great bastard sword in defensive sweeps with his back to 
the railing, Ives manages to keep his foes at a distance.  But he 
knows he can't keep three swift undead at bay forever...

SILENT STAR, fore:

Lellyn begins to move slowly backward around the catapult, remaining 
in range, forcing the undead to pursue him using his Rapier and 
Gauche weaving a defensive web of steel around him all the while.  He 
manages to parry blows from both of his foes.

Hefting his gleaming mithril axe Dhebun flings it towards the pack of 
wights with all his might, scowling darkly. "Mahl, there are so many, 
Grigree we have company lad!"

His ax slams into one of the undead, bursting its rotting skull and 
dropping the corpse motionless to the deck.  The ax then disappears 
and reappears in Dhebun's hand.

Grigree drops one of his swords and draws a dagger from his wrist 
sheath.  He favors the dagger to attack the nearest undead.  The blow 
lands, the undead staggering back its mouth open in a silent scream 
as this wound doesn't close.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Kain glances across at Vais "Should we retreat to Aft?" He shouts 
swinging his short sword at the closer of his two attackers.  His 
swing lands, wounding the undead with the elven blade.  But the 
remaining undead manages to land a blow with its cutlass on Kain's 
thigh.

Vais grabs another undead, sending a burst of electricity into it as 
the second creature slams him with its cutlass.  "I think we should." 
Vais answers Kain.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Sekeht takes a step back. Wielding his scimitar in his right hand, he 
thrusts forth his left palm at his foe and cries out, "Al-khan!"

The undead steps back and collapses as his head is suddenly ripped 
from his body.

Allagan draws his spear and charges the undead attacking Ferric, 
launching a vicious attack.  His spear slams into the undead's back, 
wounding it badly.

Following the others' lead, Ferric drops his right hand rapier and 
draws the elven blade, now facing only one undead.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Holland says to Leera, "The creatures only seem to be hurt by magical 
weapons or magic.  I'm headed topside, if you don't have any 
offensive spells memorized, then stay here with the bolt thrown." 
Holland rushes out of the room and foreward.

Leera tells Oquid, "Take the helm... and move us forward away from 
that ship. Our crewmates all have ropes tied to them!"

Oquid obediently sits in the chair.  "Mistress! They DON'T have the 
ropes tied about them, they're tied to the rail! What should I do?"

Leera  sighs, "Right.. Hold position, for now."

-----------

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Raken continues to dodge enemy attacks while fighting back.  As 
Cutlass sings, Raken sings right along, his sword almost swinging to 
the beat.  He manages to wound one of the undead and his scimiter 
continues to parry their cutlasses.

Talus attacks the undead in front him with Cutlass and dagger.  The 
twin attack easily drops the rotting foe.

Cutlass sings even more enthusiastically...
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.*

Nilaroo grabs a rope and climbs a safe distance into the rigging, 
braces his powerful legs in the climbing rope and unlimbers his bow 
Angvoncael to snipe at the undead below.

Freneth dodges and weaves away from his attacker, drawing closer to 
Ives.  Then, suddenly, he lashes out at the legs of the creature 
attacking his friend, tripping it to the deck.  As he rolls back to 
his feet he says, "What in all the frozen north are these things?"

Ives roars, "Aye, they be cursed creatures!" as he continues to keep 
his foes at bay with his bastard sword.  He moves into a supporting 
position with Freneth.

SILENT STAR, fore:

Continuing to slowly giving ground, Lellyn uses	his Rapier and Gauche 
to fend off the attacks of his two putrid enemies.

Holland climbs out of the forward hatch holding his faerie stone and 
yells out, "Use magical weapons and attacks!"  Then he sends five 
blue mystical bolts from the gem at the two undead attacking Lellyn. 
The arcane attacks downs them both.

Dhebun charges towards the ghastly undead intruders at the fore deck, 
swinging his axe savagely down at the first one in his path.  "We'll 
see if you're worth your metal now, axe!"  His blow lands, wounding 
the undead abomination.  It's return swipe misses the dwarf.

Grigree tosses his remaining longsword to the deck and draws another 
dagger from belt, using both to attack the same undead.  He drops the 
creature with the second blow.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Kain takes a few cautious steps back towards the rear of the ship 
stabbing his sword at the two pursuing undead pirates.  He lands no 
blow, but takes none either.

Vais again sends a shock of electricity into his foe as he, too, 
retreats.  That corpse falls to the deck but the remaining foe 
continues to hammer the now scarred golem.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Sekeht shakes sweat from his eyes and looks angrily at his new 
opponent. Extending his palm again, he yells, "Al-khan!"  the 
creature staggers back from the blow, which caves in part of its 
chest.

Allagan stabs his foe again with his spear, skewering the undead 
pirate like a hooked fish.  It collapses motionless to the deck.

Ferric continues to press the attack with the elven blade while 
parrying twice with the rapier in his other hand.  He slashes into 
the undead pirate's neck, nearly severing its head from its body and 
causing it to flop to the deck.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Leera pulls a dart from her pouch and nervously watches the door.

Oquid says, "We seem to be winning, mistress.  Only seven of the 
undead remain mobile on deck, and i see none of our shipmates down."

-----------

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Talus shouts, "Have at them!" as he continues to attack the unwebbed 
creatures with Cutlass and dagger.  Cutlass cuts another of the 
undead down as it sings loudly...

We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.*

With Ives now in the fight, Raken says "About bloody time!  Com'n 
maties, time to put these corpses back in the grave!!"  With one hand 
still on the rope, Raken continues fighting undead.  One manages to 
slash his thigh with its cutlass.

Nilaroo fires Angvoncael from the rigging, shouting the arcane 
weapon's name with each loose of the arrow.  Each arrow transform 
into ice as it flies from the bow, and slams into a wight.  With each 
hit a wave of numbing cold rolls out for a short distance as the 
arrow shatters, but the wights seem unaffected by the cold.  But the 
ice arrows still shatter bones and shred flesh, so the wight Nilaroo 
hits twice with his bow drops motionless to the deck.

Freneth is sweating visibly, though whether from fear or exhaustion, 
its hard to tell because he's panting as well.  His axe swings and 
snaps out low, at the legs of the attackers.

Above him Ives fights as well, but with neither able to harm their 
foes, they are in dire straits.  One of the undead steps back from 
the pair's defensive blade work and and draws a wheellock pistol from 
its belt.  It fires at Ives, striking the great giff in the chest. 
Ives staggers and roars in pain but keeps fighting.

In the webbing, the pirate who managed to free an arm and shoot Talus 
earlier has twisted his arm about and recocked his empty pistol. 
Laying the firing pan against the webbing he pulls the trigger, 
sparks fly, and suddenly the webbing is alight as flames dance along 
and burn it away...

SILENT STAR, fore:

Holland launches another barrage of mystical missiles, dropping two 
more of the life-challenged pirates.

The angry Dhebun continues his assault, slashing at the wight with 
determined strokes, his axe a silvery blur.  "Get off our ship, foul 
carrion, or you'll regret it!"  He easily cuts his foe down.

Dropping his weapons to the decking, Lellyn swings his lute into his 
hands and begins to play a rousing yet slightly haunting melody. As 
the music continues it takes on a definitely martial "flavor" yet 
never looses is haunting qualities. As he plays, Lellyn makes his way 
down the deck of the Nightwind, until he is as near as possible to 
those of the company that are aboard the Istus Maiden. As he 
continues to play, Lellyn begins to sing is a surprisingly rich 
baritone, his song one that recalls the heroic deeds done by the 
company in the past and inciting them to equal or exceed those deeds.

Seeing all the wights cleared from the foredeck, Grigree rushes aft.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Kain continues to move slowly aft using his sword to keep his attackers at bay.

Vais grabs another foe and arcs more electricity into him.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Allagan moves forward down the length of the ship.

"The dead are hard to kill," Sekeht mutters. He thrusts his left palm 
toward his nearest vile opponent and yells confidently, "Al-khan!"

The last undead pirate on the aft deck collapses as Sekeht's spell 
rips its head off.

Ferric gets a running start and using the STAR's railing as a step 
leaps across to the MAIDEN's deck.  Tucking and rolling he tumbles 
coming to his feet with weapons at the ready.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Leera nervously watches the door.

Oquid sits on the helm, describing the action on deck as well as she 
can to Leera.

-----------

Drifting Ship/ISTUS' MAIDEN:

Talus exclaims, "You just have to get into a rhythm!" he cuts another 
foe down  with Cutlass and dagger.

Cutlass finishes his chant with a flourish...
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.*

Nilaroo fires Angvoncael from the rigging, shouting the arcane 
weapon's name with each loose of the arrow.  Another wight is hit 
twice by the ice arrows and collapses to the deck.

"Ives, we have got to get away from these things!" scowls Freneth. 
He continues to try to trip his opponents, keeping them away.

Ives bellows wordlessly and continues sweeping his blade before him, 
sweeping foes back.

Raken hacks through his current foes defenses and cuts him down, 
finally.  Looking up, he can see that the flames have totally cleared 
the webbing, freeing the previously trapped wights, though all of 
them show burns.

Ferric moves to assist his beleaguered shipmates striking with the 
elven blade and parrying with his rapier.  He quickly drops one of 
the smoldering pirates just freed from the webbing.

Twelve of the creatures remain on the drifting ship's main deck, 
fighting Ferric and the boarding party.

SILENT STAR, fore:

Holland climbs the rest of the way up the ladder gets a gander on 
what is going on the other ship.

Dhebun gazes around seeking another wight.

Lellyn, singing and playing all the while, makes his way over the 
railing and aboard the Istus Maiden.

SILENT STAR, amidships:

Coming aft, Grigree positions himself to face an undead pirate and 
lunges in to get in cuts and stabs before backstepping defensively. 
When he steps back his foe stares stupidly down at his chest, sees 
gaping holes open up there, and collapses to the deck.

Kain continues his slow retreat his sword making wide sweeps whenever 
the pirates close with him.

Allagan comes up behind the pair and stabs his spear into Kain's 
foe's back, destroying the last undead boarder on the NIGHTWIND.

SILENT STAR, aft:

Sekeht looks across at the enemy creatures on the ghost ship. He 
thrusts his palm forward and yells out, "Al-khan!" But this time, 
nothing happens.

SILENT STAR, below decks:

Leera nervously watches the door.

Oquid sits on the helm, describing the action on deck as well as she 
can to Leera.

Date/Time: 4:54 pm, 7th day of the 1st Month, 5050 OC
-- 
Vote Cthulhu! Why settle for the lesser evil?

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