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Storm King's Thunder [CLOSED]

Aseir grabs the rope without complaint, holding it fast as the sails begin to fill. "I can't see that far out, what is it that's made all the commotion?" he asks whoever is close enough to hear.
 
"Big blue-skins from up north been poking in Luskan waters this past month," the half-orc woman says to Aseir while she moves along unbinding the sail. "Captain's gonna show them it ain't gone unnoticed."

"Over there," confirms Ruyuk, pointing out at the dark sea, where Aseir can make out nothing but a sliver of waning moon through the clouds.

Down on the deck, the quartermaster snorts at Lecuis' offer to help. "Everyone thinks their a sailor after they've been on board a half hour."

"Nah, Elmer," says the first mate, who was so affected by Lecuis' performance. "Didn't you hear this boy sing? He's got the soul of an old salt. If he says he knows his way here, I believe him. You ever work one of these beauties?" he asks Lecuis, pointing to the ballista at the bow. "We could use a steady hand on the lever."

Giving up on corralling Lecuis, the quartermaster straightens his purple jacket and heads for the stairs to below decks.

"Sing us a little bit more of that ditty, son," suggests the first mate as the the Snapdragon's picks up speed and bounces ahead over the waves.

"No, quiet," says Captain Suljack. She and Mister Ludlow are standing with their hands cupped around their ears, listening for something out at sea.
 
not wanting to interfere with the captain and Mr. Ludlow lecuis goes to the ballista and does a quick check to see it's in working order, he called out, "Raven! Come led some strength!" then begins to scan the water off the Starboard side. "Something wants to ruin my evening? Not tonight, by the God's not tonight." he says to himself.
 
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"Do as I say, when I say Raven. We are gonna shoot this as many time as we can when the captain says so" checking to see if they have time, Lecuis give a crash course on reloading the ballista.
 
As Raven moves to answer Lecuis' call, the quartermaster, who is coming down the stairs at the same time, stretches out an arm to intercept the tabaxi. "It's okay Elmer," someone calls from above, and the half-elf shakes his head and lets Raven pass.

Down below deck with Snikket and the other civilians, the quartermaster directs everyone to the rear of the capacious cabin, past the three ballistae lined up on either side of the ship. "We'll be out of the way back here." This area is home to the assorted barrels, crates and sacks that Doctor Lurr and the two crew members were behind until just a few minutes ago. Lurr complies with the order, still getting his bearings. "What's exactly is going on here, Snikkers? Some sort of commotion?" the sweet, boozy smell of the punch is strong on his breath.

"It's an outrage, is what it is," offers the Baronet by way of explanation.

"Why is your cat friend going back up there?" Tambjorg Fishbanner asks Snikket, as she catches up with the kobold and Doctor Lurr.

With everyone moved to the back of the cabin, six members of the crew rush down and gather in pairs at the three ballistae on the port side. Enormous bolts are lifted into place, as the weapons are untethered and cranked back.

Up on the main deck, the ship's dragon skeleton flags snap in the wind as she goes even faster. High among the sails, Aseir catches a distant sound on the wind, a deep, rhythmic chanting punctuated by harsh syllables, almost like the earthen dialect of Primordial. Ruyuk hears it too and growls to himself. The other topmen have gone back down to the deck.

A skinny, dark-skinned human man from the crew comes over to join Lecuis and Raven at the ballista. He introduces himself as Shaumar and repeats Lecuis' lesson on how to load the bolts and crank the firing mechanism back. He shows both Raven and Lecuis where to stand to be clear of the siege weapon's swing when he moves it around to aim.

Captain Suljack buttons her jacket up all the way, stows her spyglass and goes over to stand next to the helmsman at the wheel, while the first mate moves below deck to inspect the loaded ballistae.

Something huge comes into view in the distance, emerging from the fog on the port side of the ship. It is another vessel, a great longship, easily four times the length of the Snapdragon. There's an eerie, faerie-fire-like glow about it. It might be eight or nine-hundred feet away, but the size of the longship plays tricks on your sense of scale and distance, making it seem at once too far and too near. The crew of the massive vessel, heaving at the oars and booming out a rowing song are ten huge giants, bundled in furs and wearing horn-topped helmets. Each of them might stand four times Lecuis or Aseir's height. An eleventh giant, with a shimmering headpiece and staff, stands at the bow. A giant owl is perched beside him.

Captain Suljack orders the crew controlling the Snapdragon to bring her alongside the giant longship, but keep distance. Shaumar pivots the main ballista to track the enemy vessel. "Wait until I say fire," he tells Lecuis. "And you, catman, have that next bolt ready to reload!"
 
Snikket, reading the room and knowing that keeping the crowd from panicking would be important to preventing violence below deck, waves his hand dismissively at the doctor, Tambjorg, and the baronet. "Squabbles between rival corsairs Snikket is sure. This is what they do, best to not get involved."

He walks over to the second vat of liquor, smelling the strong concoction and grimacing. "Let Snikket show you how we drink in the circus. " He starts ladeling out drinks, only filling the very bottom of the cup, and hands them to the crowd. "No reason to let their petty skirmish ruin our night." He finishes handing out the drinks to the group, and pours himself a cup last. He knocks the drink back in one quick gulp, and looks around to the group expectantly.
 
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The straight liquor goes down like an alchemical solvent. What is this stuff? Snikket involuntarily sputters and spits out the caustic booze, catching the Baronet in the spray. Sir Fishbanner turns red and throws his mug down. "Enough!" he fumes. "Sir," he says to the quartermaster, "I demand to speak to the captain at once. This has become intolerable. Are we not your guests here?"

"There will be no such parlay," answers the half-elf. "The captain will hear your complaints back at port."

"Need a hand?" asks the male half-orc who shares the nearest ballista with the full-blooded orc. He leaves his station to join your group by the vat, puffing himself up and swinging his long, braided hair. He holds a belaying pin.

"Yes, please, Mister Murdershadow," says the quartermaster. "Yes, that's his name, Sir Fishbanner: Murdershadow. Now, can you control yourself or do you wish further indignities?"

"Impudent dog," the Baronet says to the quartermaster, drawing his hand back to strike the half-elf in the face.

"No, father!" cries Tambjorg.

Ursula Eastwood, the fur merchant, steps back and takes a tiny sip from the mug Snikket handed her. She sticks out her tongue and looks disgusted.

At this moment, the first mate reaches the bottom of the stairs as the sailors still handling the ballistae call out that they've sighted the enemy ship. "All loaded then?" asks the mate. "Wait for my order." He crouches down to better see out the open ports.

Up top, the Snapdragon has nearly halved the distance between herself and the giant longship. Mister Ludlow still stands heedless at the port rail, agape with wonder. By the eerie glow surrounding the enemy vessel, Lecuis and Raven can see the cold, pitiless stares of the giants as they look over at your much smaller sloop. One of the giants reaches down and flings something—a boulder?—at the Snapdragon. The missile falls far short, plunking into the sea with a huge splash. Mister Ludlow turns to look at you and grins.

"Steady, bring her about." orders Captain Suljack, and the Snapdragon turns to a course that will keep this distance while passing alongside the giant ship.

"Now, horns!" Shaumar shouts at Lecuis. "Fire!"

"Fire!" orders the first mate down below. The three ballistae snap their bolts out over the waves, and the crews start to reload for another volley. The orc on the nearest ballista has to reload himself, since his partner, the half-orc, is standing over by Snikket and the others.
 
Seeing a confrontation imminent, Snikket steps forward, and whispering a word under his breath, the torches around him take on an earie blue light. "Do you wish to anger Kossuth so shortly after receiving his blessings on your endeavors?"
 
The Baronet hesitates, then lowers his arm. "Perhaps not, my sage," he mutters. He takes the mug of strong alcohol from his wife's hand, downs it in one gulp, coughs, then retreats to join the other civilians. The quartermaster gives Snikket a nod of acknowledgment, and "Murdershadow" jogs back to join his partner at the nearest ballista. The other two siege engines are already reloaded.

Seeing Sir Fishbanner partake, Doctor Lurr too raises his mug and swallows. He exhales, his eyelids flutter, and he slouches against the curved inner hull, sliding down to sit on the floor.

ice ship.jpgUp above, Shaumar curses as the bolt splashes into the sea far short of the longship. Three more bolts fly out from the lower deck. Only one makes it to the distant vessel, where it lodges in the frost-rimed planks. "Reload, catman, now!" he hollers.

The rowing giants' dirge grows louder as they adjust course to move closer to the Snapdragon. The smaller vessel has the advantage in speed and maneuverability, and seems sure to keep her distance. But then, the giant at the longship's prow turns to face you. He lifts his glowing staff and plunges it into the sea. In an instant, a billowing plume of steam traces its way across the five hundred intervening feet. A loud crunching, cracking report sounds from around the Snapdragon, and she lurches wildly, knocking many of the crew and passengers to the deck. Up in the sails with Aseir, Ruyuk slips and nearly falls, catching himself just in time. Mister Ludlow is pitched up against the rail, but somehow manages to avoid going overboard.

The Snapdragon is locked in place, becalmed, though the wind continues to pull at her sails. Above and below, the captain and first mate bark orders to keep firing at the longship as it drives diagonally towards the helpless sloop.
 
Aseir sees the rushing cloud of steam and braces himself against the mast, avoiding being thrown out of the rigging by the sudden stop. When Ruyuk takes a rope down to the deck Aseir quickly follows
 
Snikket feels the impact and manages to keep his footing. He glances around for anyone that was injured, or anywhere he can help. Not seeing anywhere he can help immediately, he decides to stay with the civilians, not wanting to get in the way of the bustle of the ship readying for the next volley of ballistae fire.
 
The ballista crews down in the hold recover and two of them get off another volley. One shot misses entirely, and the other bounces uselessly off the hull of the giant ship.

ice mephit.jpgThe passengers are helping each other to their feet when Ursula Eastwood exclaims, "Gah! What is that?" A small, pale face with comically-elongated nose and chin is grinning in through the nearest starboard porthole. Sharp talons grip the frame and the creature pulls itself into the hold, hovering on brittle-looking wings. Ice vapor drifts off its shiny skin. Snikket discerns some sort of elemental imp or demon antithetical to Kossuth's flames. The other passengers gasp and back into the corner. The quartermaster calls out to the first mate, who looks over his shoulder and curses as a second winged ice creature comes in on the starboard side. The two imps babble to each other and laugh.

Up above, the giant longship is approaching the becalmed Snapdragon at a forty-five degree angle. Raven is still fiddling with the bolt, having gotten tangled in the ropes coiled on deck. "No, the other way around," Shaumar suggests.

Mister Ludlow looks over the rail and calls out, "Ice. We're locked in."

Captain Suljack grabs one of the lighted lanterns, peers overboard herself, and gives the order, "Break up that ice!" The crew who were overseeing the now-useless sails rush to the starboard side and begin throwing ropes over the edge. Ruyuk the bugbear is the first down, sliding into the darkness on one of the lowered ropes. He yells what might be a string of goblin curses, as three of the grinning ice imps fly up over the ship's rail at various points on the starboard side. The men and women who were about to go down the ropes step back instead and draw hand axes.
 
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One of the snow imps flies just a bit too close to Aseir as it buzzes the ship, and he manages to leap up and stab the creature with his spear. The mephit curses at him in Auran, and Aseir just smiles mockingly.
 
The mephit closest to Snikket dodges away from the kobold's cantrip and comes in with its claws swinging. An aura of cold surrounds it and there's frost in the painful wound it leaves behind before it pushes off of Snikket and leaps over to the nearest ballista. The orc there is busy aiming, while the half-orc named Murdershadow puts one hand on the firing lever and draws an axe with the other.

The second mephit below deck pulls itself through the port and skirts around the first mate to reach the farthest ballista. It opens its mouth and breathes out a spume of ice, water and vapor that makes the sailors recoil and leaves them scraped and frostbitten. They draw weapons to beat back the little imp.

Up top, the mephit that was tussling with Aseir changes course from the ballista and instead retreats up to hide among the sails. Its two companions fly up over the heads of the sailors and dive down at Raven and Lecuis' ballista. One of them hovers just out of reach and breathes its own funnel of ice shards. Raven and Shaumar are caught in the blast just as Raven has finally got the bolt positioned correctly and is starting to crank back the firing mechanism. A slick coating of frost remains on the deck around the ballista.

The other mephit lands on the ballista itself, pulling at the heavy cord and kicking the gears, but with little impact.

Far away on the giant longship, the giant with the staff nudges his giant owl. The bird spreads its impressive wings and takes off into the air, flying towards the Snapdragon. Soon it's a barely-visible silhouette in the night sky between the two ships.
 
The mephit attacking the upper ballista shrugs off Lecuis' best insults and keeps trying to disassemble the oversized crossbow. Raven manages to get the bolt in place and crank back the mechanism, despite the cackling creature's flapping wings. Cursing, Shaumar pulls out a gaff hook and tries to sweep the little ice demon off. Chips of ice come off of its body, but it persists with its destructive play.

The deck around Raven and Lecuis has become slick from the chill air and the residue of the flying mephit's breath attack.

mephit 2.pngOver on the starboard side of the deck, several sailors are grabbing ropes and jumping over the rail, heading down on a desperate mission to free the Snapdragon from its icy prison. Other members of the crew hold torches over the side so that the workers below can see what they're doing. Ruyuk is already down there, swinging away at the ice with an axe in either hand.

The young elf Amberbeam who offered punch to Snikket, Aseir and Lecuis at the start of the evening, the one who also snuck off with Doctor Lurr and the Reghed woman, slips getting over the rail and plummets twenty feet to the ice.

Meanwhile, below deck, only the aft ballista fires, just as the mephit that wounded Snikket gets over to it. The middle ballista is still being aimed and the crew of the fore ballista are struggling with the mephit there. The first mate runs over to help the fore crew, who are swinging weapons at the mephit. Multiple blows rain down on the creature's head and wings as it yelps in protest.
 
Snikket hisses in pain, before a soothing light begins to radiate from his hands. His wounds begin to smoke, turn black as ashe, and finally only a light scar is left. He points at the mephit that injured him. "You should have killed Snikket when you had a chance, Snowman!"
 
fogship.jpgAs Aseir passes Snapdragon's lone mast, a great cloud of fog billows down and immediately begins to spread across the deck. By the time he reaches the ballista and delivers a solid blow to the mephit there, it's impossible to see back the way he came. His spear cracks into the little beast's icy flesh, making small fissures on its skin. Thus wounded, it closes its eyes, speaks a few mystic words, and another cloud of fog forms around the ballista, completely obscuring Aseir, Raven and Lecuis' vision. The sound of flapping wings and a few giggles are the only clue that the mephit has fled under the cover of the mists.

The remaining mephit up here, the one hovering above the top ballista, swoops down through the fog, perches on Aseir's shoulders, and rakes its frigid claws across his brow. Then, cackling wildly, it launches itself back into the air and out of reach.

Down below, both mephits speak words that cause fog to condense out of thin air and fill the entire hold. The ballista crews and passengers cry out in fear and confusion. It will certainly be impossible to aim the huge crossbows through the fog. Snikket hears laughter and flapping wings; the mephits are flying around in the haze. One of them seems to settle ten feet from the kobold, near the huddled passengers. Unseen in the fog, Ursula Eastwood shouts, "Get away you!" and something shatters on the ground.
 
"Raven the rope quickly!" Lecuis shouts to his companion and he heads towards him. Raven quickly finds the rope near his feet and throws it over the edge. Sad that his gloves are about to become threads, Lecuis begins to recite an incantation. As he reaches the edge he slides down the rope quickly and just as he finishes the chant he leaps down the last few feet and slams his fists into the ice holding the ship, and shouts, "Repent mother fuckers!" the thunder roars through the ice shattering it and creating a 15ft hole near the prow. "Well, not quite what I wanted, but it'll do" Lecuis grabs the rope to climb back up as the ice starts to float free.
 
Hanging from a rope down by the water line, Lecuis is clear of the fog clouds and can see the luminescent glow of the giant longship edging ever closer in the night. The deep singing of its crew is interrupted by a mighty shout and an object that looks like one of the Snapdragon's ballista bolts comes flying back at her and splashes into the sea not much more than sixty feet from the Demon Musician. It is answered in turn by another ballista shot, fired blind from the cloud-filled gunport just above and to the left of Lecuis' head. However, with the ice cleared from her prow, the Snapdragon has started to pivot in her icy prison and the shot is way off its mark.

As the broken ice chunks bob away, one of the smaller ones sprouts wings, arms and an ugly little face. It's one of the mephits, maybe the one that was attacking the crossbow. Apparently the creatures can disguise themselves as common ice when they choose. It hovers in the air nearby, grinning at Lecuis and chattering to itself.

Below deck, Snikket hears the first mate give the order to fire ballistae into the fog. "Gotcha!" someone shouts, and there's a sound like a crystal chandelier being dropped. The same voice cries out in pain. "Damn ice shards got me!" A different voice shouts, "Hey, it's clearing up in here!"

Up at the top ballista, between Aseir and Raven, Shaumar grunts and hurls something. The mephit hovering above lets out a cry and Shaumar's missile thuds back onto the deck. Captain Suljack's voice sounds out from across the deck, hollering words of encouragement to the unseen sailors hacking away at the ice below the starboard side.
 
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Snikket carefully inches up through the fog, and finally seeing the mephit, he surges forward. "Die ice-thing!" His claws glow with a black flame as he grabs ahold of the creature and unleashes his holy energy into its body.
 
The mephit below deck lets out a shriek of agony at Snikket's burning touch. In an instant, the fog that fills the area vanishes, bringing everything back into sight. The three ballista crews cheer, but then raise shouts of alarm when they see how much closer the giant longship has come while all of you were blinded by the mists. The first mate stands to one side, bloodied and breathing heavily. It must have been he who cried out about ice shards getting him.

Snikket's spell has had the strange effect of causing the mephit's skin to sliten and seep. A small puddle of water is forming on the deck beneath it. Looking quite distraught, it wipes the liquid off of itself and warily retreats out the gunport it came in through, leaving a dripping trail in its wake.

"Thanks for that, Mister Fire Sage," says Ursula Eastwood as she helps the halfling cleric of Waukeen to his feet. Tambjorg Fishbanner nods in agreement.

Up top, frustrated with the mephit hiding in the fog over the ballista, Aseir uses the giant crossbow as a launching pad to jump in the air and snag the pesky critter by one of its legs. The two of them fall back down to the deck together, with the the mephit screeching and clawing at Aseir's chest. The night winds have now completely cleared the eldritch fog from up on the main deck; Raven and Shaumar can clearly see Aseir struggling with the mephit by the light of the lanterns.

Up on the mast, among the sails, there's a tiny wail, followed by a crashing, shattering sound. A burst of icicles rains down on the main deck. A moment later, Mr. Ludlow comes sliding down the rope ladder with a dagger clenched between his teeth.

Over on the port side of the Snapdragon, Lecuis dangles at the end of his rope, while the just-revealed mephit flits closer to him, smiles, and opens its long jaws. It waggles its head from side to side and breathes a wave bone-chilling frost all over the tiefling. It utters a smug, satisfied "Hmph!" then turns and flies away into the night, leaving Lecuis clinging to the cold, damp rope.
 
Seeing Lecuis get blasted by the mephit's breath, Raven casts a healing spell down at the tiefling, then charges over to the mephit that Aseir has grappled and rakes his claws across its icy back. Feeling a little less at death's door, Lecuis hurls some magical insults at the retreating mephit and pulls himself back up to the top of the rope.

The giants' ship edges ever closer to the confined Snapdragon. Below deck, with the mephits either dead or chased away, one of the ballistae takes another futile shot at the hulking longship.

Over the starboard side, the crew members hacking away at the ice, supported by Lecuis' work at the prow, have managed to free the Snapdragon. The wind already in her sails pushes her forward with her hull scraping against the loosening ice floe. The sailors sheathe their axes and scramble up the ropes to get back on board. Captain Byborn gives new orders pertaining to the positioning of the sails and Shaumar rushes over to help, leaving Aseir and Raven to contend with the last mephit on board.
 
Seeing no more threats in the belly of the ship, Snikket runs up to the deck. As he takes in the scene, he notices Aseir grappling one of the creatures. A flame sparks in his fist, but knowing the damage these creatures can inflict in their death throws, he holds back his attack, readying himself for when his allies are clear of the blast zone.
 

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