FLUFF: Jammers: Turn 10 Chapter 8 pt 1

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.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

Lines 1-5. 'Darkness', Lord Byron

IC:

In the hold of the ISTUS' MAIDEN...

Talus rises up in the air, reorienting himself with the others as 
words spill from his mouth, "There's a lit fuse, can't stop it. 
RUN!"  Talus then shoots upward towards the main deck.

Raken mutters, "oh, bugger!" and makes a run for it.

Allagan saves his breath and runs up the stairs.

Freneth hardly seems to blink, as his larger friends start to rush 
away, he scrambles after the others.

Ferric too runs with his companions to flee the expected explosion.

Nilaroo follows the lead of the rest of the crew for evacuation.

Upon reaching the main deck Talus starts screaming as he flies 
towards the NIGHTWIND, "There's a lit powder-keg bomb!  Throw me a 
line!!  THROW ME A LINE!!"

Raken reaches the main deck and shouts out "COME ON! We've overstayed 
our welcome!"

Ferric, Allagan, Nilaroo, and Freneth follow onto the deck a moment later...

-----------

Holland orders, "Ives, Grigree, both of you toss them a line," as he 
moves to the voice tube, "Oquid, as soon as I give the word, you take 
off straight as fast as you can."

Oquid calls back, "Get people on the lines so we can maneuver!!!"

Lellyn drops his pole and rushes to the rigging and begins shaping 
the main sail for the ship to get under way.

As his screaming friends emerge from the companionway Kain looks 
around in shock before for a moment before dashing to join Lellyn, 
loosing the lines and setting the sails as fast as possible.

Eyes wide in terror as he watches his companions run for their lives, 
Dhebun curses in Khuzdul and  moves as swiftly as possible to help 
with the lines, desperation hastening his stumpy limbs as he yanks on 
the ropes to hoist the mainsail.  "Mahl, Sire of all, give us wings!" 
He fervently prays.

As everyone is rushing to get lines and the sails, the stern castle 
is suddenly enveloped in an explosion of snowballs which splatter 
every, cold, hard, and painful as they slam into those standing on 
the stern castle:  Holland, Vais, Sekeht, Leera, Ives, & Grigree. 
Aside from Holland, everyone appears battered, bruised, and slightly 
frostbit by the onslaught.

The source of the snowball assault is immediately apparent.  Three of 
the pirate corpses have appeared as if from thin air amidships.  They 
are nightmarish reflections of their former selves, with cruel, 
burning eyes set in mummified flesh over a twisted skeleton with 
hands that end in sharp claws.  The one on the left wears tattered 
robes, and clutches an ivory staff top with a skull.  One of his 
clawed hands is still extended towards the group from his casting.

On the right, the creature wields a longsword that is noticeably in 
better shape than the rusty cutlasses their crew had wielded.

And in the center stands the undead beast who must be the leader, his 
right hand clutches a long rapier, his left arm hold a bright, shiny 
rectangular shield, polished to a mirror brightness with a gold 
frame.  "AHOY, MATEYS!" He shouts in a chilling voice, "THIS BE ME 
SHIP NOW, BUT I'LL SIGN YE AS HANDS!"

Round 1:

Drifting Galleon/ISTUS' MAIDEN, Main Deck:

With Cutlass and Dagger in hand Talus launches himself towards the NIGHTWIND.

Raken shouts out "Into the void!" as he leaps into the void between 
the two ships.  He dives into the gravity plane flatly, so much of 
his momentum is translated into forward motion.

Allagan gets a running start, hops up on the galleon railing and then 
leaps between the two ships.  He bounces up and down along the 
gravity plane as he moves towards the NIGHTWIND.

Freneth continues his flight toward the railings, though he slows to 
settle his tied off javelin into his atatl. "Catch the rope!" he 
shouts, as he hurls the missile with all his strength at the 
NIGHTWIND.  His javelin hurls across the void and sinks into the hull 
of the NIGHTWIND.

Nilaroo quickly launches himself from the railing of the MAIDEN.

Ferric jumps off the galleon as well.

NIGHTWIND Aft:

Holland points his hand at the skeleton trio, a pea shaped ball of 
flame shoots forward from Holland's finger at an angle flying in the 
direction of the undead pirates.  High above their heads the pea 
detonates, turning into a roaring ball of flame that engulfs the 
undead pirates down to their thighs.

Of course the massive fireball, centered high as it was, also engulfs 
nearly all of the rigging.  The ropes and sails are instantly alight 
and burning, turning the NIGHTWIND's masts into flaming torches.

Two of the wights appear to be burned, but the center wight appears 
nearly untouched.

Sekeht quickly shakes off the cold, extends his arm toward the 
creature with the skull-topped staff and cries out, "Al-Khan!"  The 
wight staggers for a moment as part of his skin is ripped off by an 
invisible force.

Leera yelps as the stinging snow hits her. She quickly moves to give 
herself cover behind the catapult.

Vais joins Leera behind the catapult.  "I am beginning to wonder if 
adventure is for me." he murmurs.

Ives and Grigree move towards the foes, drawing their weapons.

The two undead pirates with swords move to engage the two warriors.

The one with the rapier faces off with Grigree, He lunges quickly in, 
his rapier disengaging around Grigree's hasty parry and piecing the 
hadozee's side.  "ARGH, matey.  I'll add ye to me crew when yer dead!"

Grigree staggers and slashes back with his sword, but the wight 
easily dodges, not even bothering to parry with his shiny shield.

The other pirate is silent as he slashes deeply into Ives side.

The great giff roars in pain and slashes back with his glaive, but 
the great blow hardly phases his foe.

NIGHTWIND, Amidships:

Dhebun gapes in astonishment as the ghastly trio appears, but quickly 
recovers, his anger growing as he hears their captain claim the ship. 
Wrapping his fingers around the haft of his silver hand axe he yanks 
it from its sheath and glowers.

Kain looks up from his ropes, surprised by the sudden new danger. He 
quickly ducks for cover behind the main mast, fumbling for his sword 
as he goes. There's a momentary shimmer about him.

Lellyn leaves the sails as they are and dashes back to the railing, 
seizing the rope he had previously used for a safety line.

NIGHTWIND, below decks:

Oquid surveys the scene with her helm vision.

Round 2:

Drifting Galleon/ISTUS' MAIDEN, Main Deck:

While in the air Allagan chants as his hands weave a pattern.

Raken chants and weaves as well as he moves through the air.

Freneth shouts a strange cry as he hurls himself bodily toward the 
NIGHTWIND from the ship he is on, following the trajectory of his 
flung javelin.

Nilaroo drifts via inertia towards the NIGHTWIND and draws his sword.

Ferric oscillates through the gravity plane as he drifts through space.

There is suddenly pop, a crunch, and then a huge explosion sounds 
from within the galleon.  The ship buckles and disintegrates, boards 
and debris spreading through space.  As bits of debris hit Allagan, 
Raken, Nilaroo, Freneth, and Ferric another explosion sounds within 
the bowels of the disintegrating galleon.  This crunching explosion 
finishes her off, leaving only a field of rotten wood and cordage 
where the ship once sat.

NIGHTWIND Aft:

The sails and rigging of the NIGHTWIND continue to blaze away, bits 
of flaming sail cloth and rope dropping to the deck.  These start 
small fires scattered about the galley

Holland grips his elf-stone in his hand, palm down.

The skull-staff wielding undead points his hand at Holland and a 
snowball shot from it towards the mage.  It slams into Holland's 
face, leaving a bruise on his cheek.

"I doubt my scimitar will be much use against these ghostly 
creatures," Sekeht mutters as he draws his weapon nonetheless.

Leera remains behind the catapult and draws a dart.

Vais remains beside her.  "At least I cannot be turned into one of 
those creatures." he murmurs, "But really, the ship will be 
disgusting if that happens to you."

Talus' dagger glows with a pale, ghostly white radiance as he lands 
behind the robed skeleton.

Grigree slashes twice with his longswords at his rapier wielding foe, 
one even hits but has no visible effect.  The undead pirate captain 
chortles in his rasping voice, "Yer blades harm me not, lad.  Soon, 
I'll be addin' yer name to me rosters" He thrusts again, but this 
time Grigree manages to somehow avoid the blade.

Ives has less luck, as his foe slams his blade into Ive's knee, 
opening a vicious wound that brings the giff dropping to his knees. 
Ives swings back with his glaive even as blood spurts from his knee, 
but the powerful blow has no effect on the silent undead pirate.

NIGHTWIND, Amidships:

"The Nightwind'll be your ship when elves have beards you reeking 
fiend, BARUK KHAZAD!"  Brings his axe back and flings it angrily 
towards the undead staff wielder.

The axe slams into the back of the robed, staff-wielding pirate 
wight, leaving a deep gash in his dry skin and bones, and disrupting 
his spell chanting.

Kain remains behind the mast muttering silently to himself.

Lellyn quickly gathers the rope and then rushes across the deck, 
remaining behind the undead invaders.

NIGHTWIND, below decks:

Oquid surveys the scene with her helm vision.

Round 3:

Drifting:

A small whirlwind appears directly before Allagan. Allagan flips in 
the air so that his feet will land on the NIGHTWIND first and 
commands his summoned creature, "Get me to that ship quickly!"  It 
obeys with alcrity, soaring Allagan along the gravity plane until he 
reaches the NIGHTWIND's starboard side, where he can easily clamber 
aboard.

Another small whirlwind appears directly before Raken, who gives it 
the same command as Allagan, and is also pushed quickly along the 
gravity plane to the starboard side of the NIGHTWIND.

Nilaroo's massive legs had propelled him speedily across the void, 
reaching the ship he grabs ahold and climbs rapidly to the 
NIGHTWIND's deck.

Freneth grabs onto the rope trailing his javelin and begins to pull 
himself towards the NIGHTWIND.

Ferric's powerful legs gave him a huge boost as he jumped as well, 
and he lands against the side of the NIGHTWIND  a moment or two after 
Nilaroo.

NIGHTWIND Aft:

The rigging continues to burn brightly, most of it is now smoke and 
ashes, but bits of burning hemp and sailcloth continue to rain on the 
deck.  At least half a dozen small fires have started in the deck of 
the NIGHTWIND.

Holland still grips his elf-stone in his hand, palm down.

Seeing Ives in trouble, Sekeht advances to help him.  Gripping it 
with both hands, Sekeht slices at his opponent with his scimitar. The 
blow lands, but produces no noticeable impact.

The wight doesn't even seem to notice the attack, as he again slashes 
his longsword at Ives.  This time, the giff manages to block the 
blow, though he remains kneeling and blood continues to pour from his 
shattered knee.

Grigree has realized he stands little chance against this foe.  He 
flips backward, then tumbles away and forward.

"Stand still, matey!" the wight groans as its tardy lunge misses the 
tumbling hadozee.  "I need to prick ye again!"

Leera remains behind the catapult with her dart.

Vais sighs, "I suppose I must help the giff."  He gets out from 
behind the catapult and moves to Ive's side.

NIGHTWIND, Amidships:

Dhebun's hurled ax causes the robed wight to turn around and spy 
Talus behind it.  The creatures pulls back its skull staff to strike.

Talus assaults the robbed skeleton with glowing dagger and Cutlass. 
Both blows land before the wight can bring his staff to bear, he 
staggers back, great chunks dropping from his mummified body.

"Neptune's Balls!" Cutlass bawls, "Ye taste like dry rotted fish!"

Kain surveys the deck for a moment before charging wildly towards the 
robed wight brandishing his shortsword wildly. Staggered from Talus' 
blows, the creature is easy prey for Kain.  His shortsword slides 
easily into its rib cage, ripping and tearing what should have been 
its heart.  The unholy light in the wight's eyes dies, and it 
collapses into a pile of dry and dusty bones.

Lellyn is at the same moment rushing the undead spell caster, hurling 
himself physically at the backs of its.  He sails over the collasping 
pile of bones and slams into talus, so that both collapse to the deck.

NIGHTWIND, below decks:

Oquid surveys the scene with her helm vision.


Continued in Part 2




-- 
"'If they valued what they stole, if they knew what they were 
destroying,' says the old Vadhagh in the story, The Only Autumn 
Flower, 'Then I would be consoled.'"  Michael Moorcock, _The Books of 
Corum_.

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