The Colony [IC]

[HeroicSpirit]

Sitting in the lower decks, among the sailors and the other guards, the salty smell of seaweed soup fills the air, as the stocky halfling chef pours it into bowls for the crew.

The mercenary captain, 6 feet tall and wearing steel plate with a cloak of grey and a helmet shaped like a rose, leans against the door leading to the upper decks, longsword at their side. According to her, she was invited to a dinner with the lord and his friends, who have their own chef.

You notice a rat scurrying across the floor, as a soldier vomits into a barrel nearby.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Well, don't we live the high life?" Victoria muttered to no one in particular as she sat down at the table and started picking at the 'meal' that had been provided. Spotting the rat, she snatched it up with mage hand, and tossed it out one of the portholes. While she hadn't been hired for pest control, she hated the filthy things and made it a point to dispose of them whenever she could.

 

[Autobass]

"Seaweed not agreeing with you there pal?" Trent asked the unfortunate soldier, giving them a sympathetic pat on the back, before continuing on to find a seat for himself at the table with soup bowl in hand. Sitting down a moment later he watched on in amusement at the rat sailing out the porthole. "Thought the saying was when pigs fly" he joked with a small grin.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

Alina was sitting a bit off to the side staring out one of the portholes. "Truthfully I'll be grateful to have proper earth under my feet again. I'm not one that enjoys sailing much."

She said aloud to her companions but mostly just to muse on the situation. At least the sights of the water rolling by could be somewhat relaxing.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

As Victoria threw out the rat, a seagull caught it in midair, swooping down from the heavens...only to be eaten by a massive tuna, leaping out from the waves-such a sight would, for the superstious sailors, be quite the omen.

As he finished hurling, the guard shook his head. “Nah-used to eatin’ poor. Its the rocking that really gets to you.” He then took a dreg of grog before stumbling to his hammock, barely managing to get in it without falling out.

Alina, looking out through a different window of the sea, saw dolphins breaching the waves in the graceful manner she would expect of a sea mammal, magnificently rising out from it.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

"Still though I do not much enjoy travel by ship it does have a certain beauty to it. So what do all of you think it will be like when we finally arrive? Personally I'm hoping for proper food. Not things that keep at sea."

She said stretching a bit and standing, looking about at the others with a raised eyebrow.

 

[Autobass]

"The food's alright once you're used to it" Trent replied between mouthfuls "Hoping there's some decent forests or woods myself, you can get lost for hours exploring those things. I just hope it isn't too cold, I can't stand the cold" he continued, pushing his empty bowl aside.

 

[Ecnalab]

"As long as there's a place with a proper bath, I'll be happy," replied Victoria. "Even with magic, it's a trial to keep clean on this hulk."

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The halfling chef laughed. “If you want a bath, why don’t you take a jump in the sea then, your ‘highness’?” He then shook his head. “Eh, I bet you could get your way into the captain’s dinner, if you wanted to.” He then served another bowl of seaweed stew.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

"While I'm sure a captain on a ship like this eats a bit better than we do I'm honestly just grumbling because we're close to shore. It's like stretching my brain legs.... or... well that but something that makes sense."

She said beginning to walk around a bit to get her footing more properly.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Yeah, you keep serving us this swill, and I might just give that a try," she replied to the chef. "I doubt I can live of this for another... how the hell much further is it to this 'island paradise' we're sailing for, anyway?"

 

[HeroicSpirit]

“Well,” said one of the sailors, a big-bellied man with a crooked nose, “I suppose if the winds keep up this well, it should be about three days but, to be speaking truth, it is probably a weeks time.” He then quaffed down his bowl of seaweed stew. “Anyway, I’m goin’ up deck to take a piss.”

As the sailor walked up deck, the chef shook his head. “Well, I suppose it can’t be helped that these sea trips are long-the Lady and Her Dozen are a harsh lot, that be the case.”

There was a chorus of ayes from the sailors.

[Make a Intelligence (Religion) to see how much you know; the higher it is, the more information you have on the subject!]

 

[Ecnalab]

[12 religion.]

 

[HeroicSpirit]

Victoria, upon hearing him, recognized the nickname- it was for a widely worshipped sea goddess, Mariama, and her family of six sons and six daughters, with the former twins with the latter. She had learned this nickname from a book entitled Common Faiths: Beliefs of the Lowborn, which chronicled the religious views of the lower rungs of society. Apparently, sailors believed it was bad luck to say the goddess’s name out loud.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

One of the sailors, clearly drunk, swung an arm around Alina’s shoulder, smiling crookedly as he said, “well, yar a lovely gal...I don’t sus tha you’d be apardening to some merry making?”

He then pressed a bottle of rum to her face. “Make ya feel good...a many times...”

 

[Ecnalab]

This should be good. Victoria thought, as she watched the spectacle that was about to unfold.

 

[Autobass]

This never ends well... Should be a good show at least. Trent mused, eagerly waiting to see what happened next.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

Alina flinched away from the man's clumsy efforts a look of mild distaste on her face.

"I'm sorry. I consider myself on the job on this ship I don't drink on the job."

It wasn't a good lie really she'd think to herself but drunkards aren't known for their logical strengths...

She'd try and move away from him towards the others and add a final. "However perhaps one of my companions would like to join you? I'm sure their own prohibitions against drink are not as strong as my own..."

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The drunkard, in a stupor, merely shook his head. "Damn sham..." he muttered, bumbling over to Victoria and offering his rum to her, smiling. "Wary a taste?"

 

[Ecnalab]

"I'll pass. Can barely keep the food down as it is," replied Victoria.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

“Whateva...” he muttered, before taking a swig. “Fahkin’ highborns...not able to drink a rum...” He then passed the bottle to a nearby mercenary. “Hav’ it...” he said, before shaking his head.

Alina heard a faint rumbling in the distance, parsing it from the noise of the ship when the others could not,

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

"Hmm. Do any of you hear that? There's a kind of humming? No rumbling? I can't quite make it out fully. I think it might be well for us to head up and get a look at things."

Alina said putting action to words and getting ready to head up to investigate whatever noise this was.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Hmm, I don't hear anything," said Victoria, as she walked over to the nearest porthole and looked out.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

As Victoria looked out the porthole, she saw something in the distance, massive and reptilian, breaching the surface, it’s form obscured and dark. Whatever it was, it seemed to pay no mind to the vessel, at least for the moment.

 

[Autobass]

"Don't hear anything..." Trent muttered before standing. "See anything?" he called out Victoria as he walked over to a porthole on the opposite side.

 

[Ecnalab]

"Looks like we might have a sea serpent port-side," she replied.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

"Wonderful." Alina would mutter to herself. "I don't think I can fight one of those. Not successfully at least." She said with a nervous shrug.

 

[Autobass]

"Reckon that's one of the few things I wouldn't pick a fight with" Trent said, shuddering even as he tried to catch a glimpse of the creature himself.

 

[HeroicSpirit]

The atmosphere of the room shifted abruptly, as the sailors’ hearts were now full of worry-while rare, sea serpents were highly dangerous creatures, and could easily destroy a ship no matter how strong.

Trent, looking out, did not see the creature-just the expanse of the ocean, stretching out beyond the horizon.

 

[Lorgardideverythingwrong]

"I think it might be better for all of us if we prepared for things to get interesting quickly. The sailors will no doubt want to make sure we get to land as fast as possible. As for the rest of us? I intend to spend some time on the deck."

Alina said and began moving towards the ladder up.