[Lords of Creation] (Qing Jin's Library) The Dragon's Arse Tavern- Part 1.5

[Sarky]

Manna:


The captain, clearly a Water aspected Dragon Blood, gives you an appreciative nod at the comment. "Aye, my girl's a tough one, a mix of beauty and bloody-minded stubborn thundering bitch. Bit like her Scarlet counterpart." He laughs.


Azure Sky:


Whatever Kana and Chao just drank, it's probably not poison, the Dragon-Blood is drinking it too. He pours out another three glasses.


Kana, Chao:


After Azure walks in and this new fellow compliments his ship, Captain Takeo's voice lowers and he become's a tad more evasive.


"Hmm, that's a tall order, I'm sure you'll appreciate. Well, incense isn't hard to come by, especially in The Neck, we got a whole lotta gods being worshipped around here. But the other items, well, you'd be talking a lot of time and even more money to find a seller who'd part with them. The Realm does most of the mining out here and they don't really like to share. I doubt my credentials as an ex-Lookshyan would convince any of them to just fork over their loot." A mischievous grin threatens to split his face in two as he casually taps a little rhythm on the hilt of his weapon. A black jade wavecleaver daiklave you could have sworn blind he wasn't carrying earlier. Must have been well-concealed by his flappy open shirt. Or were you just paying more attention to the well-muscled tattooed chest..?


Chao:


Ooh, that stuff's got a bite to it, but that hardly explains why Kana went all...


The Headmistress looks up from her notes with a frown. If it were any other mortal student, you reflect, she'd be looking surprised. That makes you feel proud, sort of. Most Dragon-Blooded teachers pay next to no attention to the hundreds of faceless mortals that pass through their classes. Headmistresses even less so. But, one way or another, you got this one's attention.


"So, Miss... Lingshen. I'm still not quite sure as to how to view these reports. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"


"Headmistress, I would like to commend Master Shosuu for his quick thinking, but may I humbly suggest that he be allowed to carry a weapon in case it happens again? It would have saved a lot of the other kids' projects if he didn't have to beat up an elemental with them."


She frowns. "Duly noted. But there shouldn't have been an elemental there in the first place. When interrogated it told us it was answering your summons. Spirit lore is an advanced class, and you are not due to start it until next year. So how..?" she leaves the question hanging.


"Headmistress, I read ahead. My family libraries have a lot of information on the subject, and I was getting bored with the regular classes..."


"Hence your tendancy to disrupt those classes?"


"Yes, headmistress. So I decided to see if I could find a way around needing essence to affect a spirit."


She gives you a blank look.


"So in woodcraft class I tried making a simple resonator (I read about it in Ledaal Catala's Elementals and Their Summoning in my uncle's home last summer) for a wood spirit."


Well, maybe her look is more deadpan, actually.


"And, er, sneaked it into an Immaculate prayer service for blessing."


The Headmistress's mouth twitches at one side.


"And... Um... powered it with a ritually prepared lemon I stole from the kitchens."


At this point the Headmistress has a bit of a coughing fit. You are asked to leave. Almost as soon as the door closes, you can hear the Headmistress explode into uncontrolled laughter. You're still not sure if you're in serious trouble or not, but by the Dragons, that was FUN!

 

[Valentine1]

Manna felt the tug of a grin about his face at the Captain's comment, hiding it behind his mug of coffee, gently sipping at it to give him a distraction from the humor. After all, laughing about things of that matter tended to get swords drawn at you by certain sorts, and the bearded man was far more interested in the contents of the ship rather than his neck.


He had an aside with the bartender as the Captain went on about the cost of repairs, questioning who exactly prepared this damned prison brew, because it was probably the best bar coffee he had all morning, quick to make friends with any locals who's attention he could grab. Half a swallow later, he was leaning back in his chair, looking over at the recently exposed blade. Interesting.


“Did you actually fight off whatever hit your ship?†He said, more interested in the answer than the social tact—hastily tacking on a 'sir' as his foot tapped lightly against the bar. “Or did you use the Grand Plan of Survival?â€


With a twist and a slow movement due to sore muscles, he turned away from the barman and towards the Dragon-Blooded. “I'm Manna, traveler by trade. I like to collect information and stories. Old-fashioned archivist, if you will.â€

 

[Sarky]

Manna:


The "Grand Plan of Survival" bit gets a laugh out of him. "And I'm Takeo, captain of the Yanaze Empress. I can't take all the credit for fighting off the zombies, I have a good crew used to all sorts of crap trying to bite their faces off. But yeah, we fought them off. They weren't expecting a military-trained Dragon-Blood on board. I'm sure if they'd known about me, they'd have had an extra ship full o' ghouls, or maybe a Deathknight. As it is, we still lost a few good men. Be sure to mention that whenever you retell the tale. Gotta honour anyone who sacrifices for others."

 

[Tabby]

Chao breaks into a coughing fit herself, interposed with ill-concealed giggles between moments of trying - and failing - to compose herself. Pretty much entirely failing, though in her defense, a couple of times she managed to force a vaguely-neutral mask onto her face before it cracked into various varieties of smiles, from unrestrained to subtle. A few chortles later, she managed to restrain herself long enough to inspect the glass carefully, hoping that she hadn't ended up looking too much like an idiot.


More importantly, though, her scientific curiosity was aroused. Primarily in an intellectual manner, rather than anything risque, but the two tended to overlap with Chao more often than not. Kana had been crying, and while Chao wasn't sure if the woman had been happy-crying or sad-crying, it had definitely not been the same variety of... memory? Interesting. Fascinating. So this... mead... stuff... relived memories, even ones that didn't come to the fore often. Given the captain's proclivity for drinking it, and her own experience, that suggested mostly positive memories, and that Kana's episode had been positive in some way. So... happy crying. Which was still a completely retarded idea and if she was ever elected High Overlord of the Universe she was going to punch whichever idiot thought it would be alright for people to cry in both happiness and sadness.


But, uh, moving on. So the stuff made you relive happy memories. No wonder it was so expensive. The odd part was that Chao couldn't really remember having read about it, which was annoying because she didn't like not knowing things. Relatively understandable, given that many of her studies had been on things slightly more important than alcohol, like essence and sorcery and summoning toast-elemental demons, but that didn't make it -


Wait, shit, I forgot about trying to figure out how to summon a toast-elemental demon last night. Just think, it could have been making me croissants all day MOVING ON. Forcing herself to switch mental gears back to the subject at hand, Chao realized after a moment that she had only a vague idea what had happened, and that apparently people had been talking the entire time. Huh. Interesting. Perhaps a hypnotic effect on the memory, then? That would be an interesting chemical reaction to study - how it managed to both trip memories, temporarily hypnotize the drinker, and- wait, maybe that was how it worked. By redirecting mental processes from outside to inside. That would explain the extreme clarity and visualization of the memory.


"Fascinating," she murmured, still slightly disoriented. Err. Right. Appearing intelligent and interesting. Not being an idiot. Right. RIGHT. It was unusually hard to force her mind back into the present - a side effect of the... hypnosis? she pondered somewhere in her subconscious - but after a few further seconds of silence, Chao managed it, offering a lopsided grin that coincided nicely with a momentary surge of amusement leftover from the memory. "Heh. Lemon-flavored wood elementals. Totally worth it." Remembering a moment later that she was still trying to not act like a vacuous hoodlum, Chao mumbled something along the lines of "Academy hijinks" and smiled awkwardly, focusing on the captain's chest. Err, the sword. Not his muscles. As nice as they were. And the tatto-no, definitely the sword. Heh. Euphemisms. "Sword." Heh heh. Sword of Creation indee-oh, shit. Military-trained? Lookshyan?


Interesting. Ex-Lookshyan? Chao wasn't sure whether that was good or not, though she was certain there was a story behind it. She wasn't quite up-to-date on her Legendary Drunken Banter Technique to know whether or not to ask the captain about it, but resolved to bug him about it. Later. Assuming she wasn't dead within the next few minutes. Apparently she should have kept her damn mouth shut and let Kana do the talking. Again. As usual. Chao offered an apologetic look at the other woman, sort of a combination of "please don't stew me up, I'd taste terrible" and "do you sort of want to jump his bones too?", but-wait, no. Entirely the first one. No hint of the latter at all. Sword. Daiklave. Sharp cut-ey hurtey bad. Chao wasn't specifically worried abou the daiklave proper - as a Mantis Style practitioner, a style dedicated to close quarters combat, disarming foes, and grappling, she was reasonably well equipped to fight it - and in the relatively cramped quarters of the inn, her advantage was only greater.


No, her worry was more that she might have provoked him to even consider it in the first place. Definitely not what she'd been aiming to do. "Uh, maybe I should let her do the talking, she's better at it than I am."

 

[Feantari]

Kana became a bit more uneasy at the sight of another person in the room as well. Turning back to Takeo, "That's the shopping list aright. Maybe you can see what your contacts could find out for you. We'll be around here for a few more days I should think. Fixing up your ship if you'd like." Glancing to Chao and the newcomer Manna she continues, "Perhaps we should continue this later though?"

 

[Sarky]

Kana, Chao:


Takeo nods in agreement. "Fair enough, ladies, fair enough. My first mate Takichi will let you on board, just tell him I said he's a limp-wristed dolphin-fucker and he'll know I sent you. The cargo's all out by now if I know my boys, so you should have the run of the place without any of them about to drool over you and get in the way. If you can't help, I've lost nothing, and if you can, then I'll owe you a favour won't I? I doubt you'll have any trouble finding me if you need me. Until then, heroes!" He gives you both a friendly wink, a grin, and knocks back another glass of mead with a satisfied sigh.


Manna:


The captain gives you a friendly wave, beckoning you over. "Said you were an archivist, did you? Interesting choice of word. Which does more business, the tales or the information?"


He pours you a glass of that bizarre drink they were sharing earlier. "Fancy a little taste of home, wherever that is?" he asks with a smile.

 

[Valentine1]

“Archivist, yes. Just my personal way of saying I'm literate in a few languages.†He slid over to the table, leaving his weapon unattended at the bar. It was such a hassle to move, and it's not like it would easily walk away...even with it attuned to him, it was still a bitch to pick up. Even an other Exalt would strain under it's unattuned weight. A mortal would rot before he tipped it over.


“I find it's the information that gets me passage on a ship, and the stories that keep me from bein' tossed overboard,†He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “Almost all my information is second-hand, it can't all be trusted.â€


He took the glass and lifted it to his nose, giving it a sniff. Ah, well, that explained the girls' apparent drunkenness. Strong stuff. “I really shouldn't,†He admitted, lowering the glass. “Memories tend to come bitter sweet.â€


Lifting the cup for a moment in a silent toast, he took a drag, anyway. As his eyes glazed over for a moment, captured in the rapture—as he spilled out of it, there was an obvious hesitation. “First kiss,†He mumbled—and tipped his head back again. It was an interesting drink—you'd toss down the most foul rotgut in your system just to forget some things, and here you'd risk the worst alcohol poisoning just to remember. A tragic up-and-down for the alcoholic sitting at the table.


“Anyway,†He said, eyes focused up at the ceiling while his subconscious locked his conscious in a viciously passionate kiss, touching it in ways he found objectionable and satisfying all at once, “I'd be glad to entertain you my records in exchange for your own. In particular, what you might have on-board to excite the living dead. Surely, they'r not mere zombie pirates.â€

 

[Sarky]

Manna:


"Well then, let's have us a good old tale swapping."


Takeo relaxes further, boots up on the table, producing a pipe from somewhere within his shirt and lighting up.


"My own ship was carrying nothing very interesting at all, at least not this time. Petraya's a nice place but there ain't much of a market for what you might call exciting cargo. This was a boring old Guild run, pots and pans, food and drink, all that boring mundane stuff that everyone needs, and more importantly, everyone can afford. Guild never does anything for free."


"The Silver Prince will deny it right up to the hilt, and he'll probably get away with it but the attackers were Skullstone through and through. I first saw that ship during a haul to Onyx for the Guild, and I don't forget a ship. They probably planned to leave no survivors so word didn't get out. About 20 walking corpses, a few hungry ghosts and a nemissary 'diplomat'. They had some tricks to negate the various little protections the Guild gets for its ships, blessings from sea spirits and what not. They would have wiped out a fully mortal crew."


"But like I said, they didn't reckon on me an' my lads. We were actually just recently given this ship after my old one pissed off a storm god south of Coral. Well, I guess it didn't help that one of the crew was mooning him. Never wave your delicate bits at someone with a short temper who can shoot lightning! Anyway, after the initial surprise attack, my crew were able to hold the zombies back while I took out the ghosts and nemissary, once they were gone they had no trouble hacking the bastards to pieces or just tossing them overboard. Once they realised they wouldn't easily take the ship they attacked it instead of the crew, that's where my baby took most of the damage. Had to leave the lads to repel the rest of the zombies while I swam over to the other ship and destroyed their weapons. Siege crossbows made of bone, and I don't want to ponder too much just what kind of beasty leaves bones that large lying around. It got stranger though. Apart from the zombies manning the harpoons, there wasn't anyone else aboard, I mean the ship was steering herself. I went to hack my mark into the bridge railing to remind them not to cross me again, and the damn wood started bleeding, I shit you not, the damn ship herself was undead!"


"We gave them the slip after that, managed to crawl the rest of the way here. Lost nearly half the crew in the fighting. Good men all, I'll remember them in my prayers. We'll have to spend some time recruiting before we can get back to Guild business, do a few odd-jobs to make ends meet until then, you know how it goes."

 

[Valentine1]

The bar, as empty of patrons as it happened to be, seemed to be alive with swimming emotion and voices that echoed still from shouts long ago. The walls seemed to breathe and twist, aching to be moved out of the foundation...the very chair Manna sat on seemed to bow out under his weight and squirm for attention. Girlfriends of the past, one-night stands, learning to sail, learning to read, bonuses, moments of cleverness...the man was in an odd state of rapture. A melancholy yet overjoyed patterned beat in his heart, a deliciously bittersweet reminder of what he had and lost over the years. Under his beard, he was twisted in a smile—but his eyes remained distant, longing. As he trotted through his memories, legs deep in the water of a slow moving river, hoisting up a prize about his shoulders in his ignorant days of being yet an other tribesman, Takeo's tale swept around him. He could visualize it so much clearer than he would have sober, hearing the screams of the ship against the bombardmant of attack, the yells of men charging against foul Anathema of Creation, the tell-tale stench of expended Essence lingering in the air as the Captain swirled about with his weapon, the iconic style of the Water Aspected sailor.


“Necromancy,†He mumbled. It didn't require much in the way of arcane knowledge to know the names of the two forms of magic in the world—necromancy being so foul and so arcane to even the greatest of Dragon-Blooded savants in this day and age, it's twisting of Creation the stuff of nightmare. “A real ghost ship, huh? That's incredible. Terrifying, but incredible.â€


He leaned forward, and his stomach gave a sickening lurch as his vision struggled to keep up with the movement. There was Takeo, at his pipe, but his features where blurred. Manna felt a wave of discomfort run through the more logical portions of his mind—maybe he shouldn't have sucked down that mead so fast. A man such as he couldn't nearly blame it on a lack of willpower or temperance, now, could he? Simply because he wanted to feel the effects as deeply and as quickly as the liquid would allow. A pathetic example of desperation.


Resting his arms against the table, eyes focused on the Captain, he spoke rather plainly: “I need jobs, myself. Maybe I can assist in the repairs of your ship to make good with you in your crew? I'm no good with my hands, but I can organize workers with the best of 'em. After that, you know, maybe we could work out something for finding work. Jade doesn't grow on trees, and all.â€


He tapped his forehead. “At least not here.†He'd go on to drunkenly ramble of the fantastic Jade trees of the South, how they glittered in every color and beared fruits of workable ore. It was true! ...maybe.

 

[Sarky]

Manna:


Takeo smiles as you talk. He's no stranger to drunken banter in dockside taverns, and clearly enjoys it.


"Tell you what, go have a look at the Empress while the other two are poking around. I'll not turn down a hand in fixing my lady up that bit quicker. Even if you can't help, you have a knack with stories, and I'm sure you'd do a decent tale of the brave Captain Takeo versus the possessed ghost ship. Reputation is better than money, sometimes. Just don't piss off the guards while you're on board, aye?"

 

[Feantari]

Slipping out of the bar, Kana readjusts her eyes to the light outside. As the captain suggested things seemed to have calmed down around the ship. "Well, no harm in having a look right?" Kana makes her way back to the gangway mulling over how serious the captain's instructions were.

 

[Sarky]

Kana:


The first mate and a few armed men are all that's left of the crew, the cargo having been carted off to the markets or storage. One of the guards stands in front of the gangplank, scar tattoos across his folded arms. "Aye, missy? Help you with somethin'?"

 

[Feantari]

Kana eyed the man a bit nervously, but then remembered herself."Hi, um, Captain Takeo said things should be unloaded by now and that I could start looking over the damage. Oh, I'm a carpenter among other things and he wanted an assessment of the repairs needed."


Watching the man for a moment she added quickly, "Oh, and he said to tell Takichi that he was a limp-wristed dolphin-fucker..."


Awkward...

 

[Sarky]

Kana et al.:


The man stares blankly at you, blinking. An awkward moment passes and he bursts out laughing.


"The captain sent ye all right, Takichi don't tell that story to just anyone. Hey Takichi! They know about the dolphin!"


First Mate Takichi storms over, face red with embarrassment. "Let them on. Ladies, you can go anywhere that don't have a guard at the door."


He wanders off to the bow, as far away from the others as possible, muttering. "Bastard fucking captain, you fall overboard and get rescued by ONE lousy dolphin...


Manna:


When you reach the ship, most of the guards are grinning like idiots about something. Some are giggling. The man on the gangplank waves you on by. "You're with the others, yeah? I can tell by the way you spend 5 minutes in a pub with our captain and come out wobbling. Welcome aboard, don't try to go through a guarded door."


He starts chuckling again.


OOC: everyone going onboard can make Perception+Craft(wood) or Perception+(other craft-3) rolls to inspect the extent of the damage.

 

[Valentine1]

Manna gave a good-natured wave at the ship-mate as he was allowed on board. He'd protest his apparent state of inebriation, but there wasn't much point in defending a lack-luster reputation in the first place. Besides, it helped him rather casually smuggle an Orichalcum artifact on-board with hardly any second-glances, the large package again hoisted rather (un?)comfortably against his shoulder and back. His free hand dropped down from the wave as he gave a glance over the ship as he stepped on-board.

Perception 3 - Craft 0 -3 = 0, so I think I roll 1 die in this situation? Regardless, rolled a 3.

"I'd like to speak to whomsoever is in charge of these repairs, if you please?" He adjusted his glasses, and let out a light cough. That mead was a lot stronger than he had anticipated.

 

[Feantari]

Kana makes her way through the ship feeling over the exotic wood. Kana had grown up knowing ships, but still, she was no shipwright. She had plenty of ideas though, qualifications never seem to stand in the way of those.


Surveying the worst of the damage Kana reviewed what she had seen and started making estimations of materials and time needed.


-------------------------------------------------------------------


Perception(3+1) + Craft(wood)(1+2) = 7


Kana rolled the following on her 7 dice:


5, 7, 8, 1, 2, 8, 7


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 4 successes.

 

[Sarky]

Manna:


You're directed down into the belly of the ship, where you encounter the two women staring thoughtfully at the nastiest damage. They appear to be really quite caught up in their work. They certainly look and move and talk like artisans, at least.


Kana, Chao:


This ship shouldn't have made it back at all. There are holes here and there that would have sunk any ship twice over. Oh, the ship isn't a write-off, not by any means, and most of the repairs will be straightforward. Perhaps there was some magic at play? The Guild often pays spirits to protect their interests in some way. Perhaps Water-aspected Dragon-Bloods are capable of keeping a ship sailing even after such damage? Hard to say.


At an (educated) guess, you reckon about a half tonne of wood and maybe two weeks of regular labour to make the Yanaze Empress sail again. Add a few more days to make it good as new. Probably half the total time, if you want to risk glowing like the setting sun. Although the folks around here don't seem to much care for the Immaculate Philosophy.

 

[Valentine1]

"You ladies in charge?" It was punctuated by a sudden weight being dropped onto the deck, followed by a light cough. Smoker, likely. Didn't smell like it, though. Manna adjusted his glasses with his free hand, his left resting against his packa--er, his wrapped up weapon. "Looks like somethin' of a project. Guild ship and all, I can probably get most of the paperwork out of the way..."


He's speaking to no one in particular, almost as if to fill the silence. "...maybe in exchange for a small cut of profit. By the Stars, if it wasn't for the Water Dragon Captain, this ship would have been at the bottom of the ocean by now. Sailing magic, I wager."


A pause as he bit at his bottom lip, contemplating the severity of the statement. Ah, well. "Name's Manna. Something of a sailor, myself."

 

[Feantari]

Kana turned and looked over the newcomer. "Name's Kana, well met. I'm sure the captain might have need for your services once I get him my report."


Turning back to the damage she nods in agreement with his suggestion, "Indeed they were lucky on many counts to have him onboard. Though, as you can see, this ship needs carpenters not sailors at the moment. Unless you'd care to provide any recommendations on design or features this looks like a pretty straightforward patch job to me."

 

[Sarky]

Everyone on board:


Just as Kana says "straightforward patch job" something dislodges from the rim of a hole in the deck above and lands between you. At first glance it's just a large shard of bone, probably from the skeletal harpoons the captain was talking about. But it sparks and glows a sickly green for the briefest moment, leaving a faint smell of rotting wood.

 

[Valentine1]

"Yeah," Manna said, taking a step back and covering his mouth politely. "You'll need access to the ship yard, building permits, and likely a crew of workers to get even started on a project this side. Unless you're a Dragon-Blood, of course."


He sniffed at the air thoughtfully, and continued. "I've got a mind for getting that sort of thing done. I can make it a lot easier for you to do this so-called patch job."


It honestly looked more like full-blown restoration to him, it'd probably even be cheaper to just buy a new ship, but he didn't want to mention it in front of the ship itself.

 

[Sarky]

Everyone:


The shard of... Whatever it was shatters explosively, peppering the hold and causing everyone several minor cuts and scrapes. The detonation is accompanied by a fierce howling, as a half dozen shrieking ghosts materialise and attack!


OOC: We'll try simplifying join battle to keep things neater. Roll wits+awareness (-3 due to surprise attack), most successes goes first etc. Hungry ghosts roll 2 successes, because they're thick.

 

[Feantari]

Leaping back Kana draws her Sai.


--------------------------------------


kana rolled the following on her 8 dice:


7, 4, 3, 4, 3, 10, 1, 6


Using 7 as the target number, the roll resulted in 3 successes.

 

[Valentine1]

"Oh, interesting," Manna chimed, shifting his weight and leaning his wrapped weapon into his hand. He almost looked uninterested about the chance of violence, here.


--


I have no Awareness and only three Wits. So, I rolled my one die and got a '5'. That's zero successes. Like a boss.

 

[Sarky]

Kana and Chao manage to get the drop on one each and dissipate them both in a burst of necrotic essence, before the screaming shades can take stock of their situation and race off through the hull and into the town. The screams of living people can be heard through the wood.


"FUCK!" screams Chao, and her suit glows underneath her robes as she races upwards, chasing after the ghosts.