Getsemiel

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Graybeard
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Graybeard »

The man standing above the waves at the end of the jetty, maybe three hundred feet away -- they could see now that it was definitely Father Blaise -- saw the approaching horse, and shouted a single, magically-charged word.

"Stop."

The resulting Hold spell didn't last for more than about two minutes, but that was enough.

With an agility quite startling in a man who had to be in his seventies if not older, he sprang onto the boat that was now drawing near, not waiting for it to dock, and carrying only what looked like a valise. Sister Rose, Bryce and Lillith couldn't move, but their hearing was still working just fine, and they could hear the single phrase Blaise snarled to someone in the cabin: "Go, dammit!!"

Within seconds, the boat was coming around; within a minute, it was rising on what did indeed appear to be mechanical contrivances that those unfamiliar with hydrofoils or other dwarven technology might call legs; and by the time the spell wore off, it was almost flying through the entrance to the cove, a good half mile away.

Rose blinked, and the moment her body shook free of the spell, her shoulders sagged.

"We've lost him," she said quietly, as the flying boat sped into open water.
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Sareth
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Sareth »

Looking similarly defeated, Lillith slid off of Bryce's leg to the ground. She patted the horse gently on the shoulder, then turned away from the beach to look to Rose. "There's no point in lingering here." She glanced back to the beach a moment, then up to Bryce. "Get her out of here. Quickly. Please." There was a slight pleading tone to her voice.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli, now caught up with the shore group and nursing a bloody forearm that had lost a swatch of skin during his tumble from the wagon, cursed colorfully in his native tongue and pitched a fireball at the disappearing vessel. He held no hope of hitting the thing; but his frustration of losing their quarry was not to be denied.

The result surprised him to say the least.

As the half-elf released the spell he felt a warm glow from the pendant buried under his shirt. A current of energy rippled up his arm and launched the fireball in a long, sloping arc, doubling its size until it resembled more of a flying bonfire than a run-of-the-mill elemental spell. Even so, the amplified conjuration didn't strike its target, but fell short enough to leave boiling water a hundred yards from the retreating vessel.

For a moment Eli was frozen in shock. Then he lowered his arm and looked blankly at his companions.

"Err... had a... big breakfast this morning." He said.
Alberich
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Alberich »

Seeing that his attempted communication was being ignored, Tim stopped it. He was drained but not out. There were still ways to catch that fleeing ship or slow it down. But he didn't have that Mind Speech the others seemed to use, or any other way to get hold of them, except to keep trying the same thing. This time he aimed for a Visage not in front of the horses, with the shortest message possible:

Brad out. Larger visage beyond our strength.
If we can commandeer boat, Lillith can fill sails to follow fast.
Or crosswind can wreck them on shore.

...he held it until someone had a chance to read it, then sank to the tower top to rest as best he could, but still watching them. Doubtless Rose would want to chew him and Brad out for not creating the giant Visage she wanted. But if they could get after their quarry somehow first, he could take whatever she dished out while they pursued, and they wouldn't lose time.
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Graybeard
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Graybeard »

If Sister Rose noticed the amplified Fireball, she didn't say anything about it, but really, her attention was focused elsewhere ... notably on herself. I've failed again here. Truthfully, I don't know how I could have succeeded on this one; he had too big a head start on us. Maybe, if I'd spent just a little less time enjoying myself in that pool ... She shook herself. Well, at least nobody died this time. So quit beating yourself up and then feeling sorry for yourself for doing it. Come on, woman! Show some leadership! There's still work to be done here, so let's do it ... and you can feel sorry for yourself later.

"Thank you," she said to Bryce, doing her best to muster an appreciative smile. "You did everything that could have been expected, and more. We wouldn't have got this close without you. We still have some things to do, but I don't think any of them have to involve you. Why don't you go back into town and see if Maduin needs help? Or just take some time to kick back, have some fun." Another smile. "Luminosita knows you've earned it." And to Lillith: "That was an incredibly brave thing you did, you know. Let's find your clothes and you can go wake Brad up." She tried to put an impish turn into the smile this time that she definitely wasn't feeling on the inside. "Unless you think you'd have more success in waking him without them, that is."

She was going to say more, but yet another Visage was forming, this one out in the water, and again with what looked like text on it. (She'd have to remember that trick; it was clever.) She squinted out to sea to try to read it, her ruminations on the place and its -- past forgotten for the moment, although they'd be back later.
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Drannin
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus cursed. Overland travel wasn't really his forte. Screw it, he'd just run, and hope to catch up in time to be a help.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli smiled inwardly, glad of Rose drawing attention away from what had just happened. Even so, he felt the need to press a point.

"Can't we... conjure a boat or something and go after him? If we let him slip away we could lose him for good."
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Alberich »

A more careful examination of the ship's amazing speed and strength on the water showed Tim that his latest ideas were hopeless.

[OOC: i.e., a PM from Graybeard tells me that neither Tim's last ideas, nor anything else available, can possibly catch or stop the ship]

Therefore, he climbed down off the tower and trotted out to the beach. He wanted to volunteer for one last idea, to at least see where that ship was going. If Argus could make rocks fly to build towers, perhaps they could tie him to a rock and fly him up with a pair of field glasses, to see which way that speed demon was heading. Fly him high enough and he wouldn't even be visible, even if the enemy was looking that way.

Doubtless it wouldn't work - a diabolus ex machina seemed to favor the enemy today - but he was going to make the offer.
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Drannin
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus walked up, puffing, Lillith's dress held in one hand. "You... dropped something," he breathed heavily, handing her the garment. "And no, I at least can't just summon a boat out of thin air. I'd need a lot of wood, and then need to carefully assemble everything." This last was said to Eli, though Argus had to admit that at least it was a good idea.

"I'd like to point out something, though. Blaise felt the need to run away from us, as opposed to stand around and explain things, or fight us. That mean that first: he's doing something he doesn't want anyone to know about, and second: he's not supremely confident in his combat abilities."
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Eli made a hissing noise between his teeth as Argus' reply but nodded his acknowledgement; optimism was a foreign concept for him anyway, he'd never had much truck with it. He watched the disappearing vessel with clenched fists and a bloodthirstiness he didn't quite recognize.

"Is there any way to track him?" He asked out loud. "Maybe use one of those messenger birds that turn up from time to time?" He toyed with the idea, and expanded upon it. "If one of us, or a few of us, could implant the bird with some kind of magical control, we could at least keep an eye on the sneaky little rat."
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