Posted June 22, 2022, 9:24 a.m. by Gamemaster CockRoach (GM) (Robert Archer)
[snip]
Thankfully the group together had the 30 gold wolf head marked coins put between them. It would mean that their overall coinage would be left with 9 gold, 50 silver, and 60 copper after the girls had taken the bunch Rand had.
GM CockRoach
Ugh. Hard labor. Kovan wasn’t excited about the prospect but if it would save them time then sacrifices were to be made. He caught the XO’s gaze and subtly nodded. They should have that coinage. After that Kovan got to examining Marzo’s recollection of the “magic” they witnessed, attempting to come up with theories behind each phenomenon described and how it matched the damage in the clearing that they investigated themselves. He recalled the strange radiation he found and his calculations of the trajectory.
Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR
Alwyn was quite intrigued about the Devil’s Castle. He suspected that someone had used some outer world technologies to hide something from the locals. Maybe someone crashed here and tried to hide from the native… thought the Ensign. But no hasty conclusion, it might also be something else.
Doctor Alwyn Yarwood - Ensign
Roman gathered the money from his own pouch and then gathered the rest needed to cover the 30 gold pieces from the rest of the team. Then he handed the money to Marzo. “Done. Here.” The rowing wouldn’t be a problem for Roman, he was sure the others could manage. Or, hoped they could, anyway.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Rand boarded the boat after the payment had been made and took a seat at the oars where the crew indicated. No need to waste time, better to just get going. Rand remembered from some of her history lessons that it was a matter of matching the relative strength and endurance of the rowers to each side so the ship moved straight. Randy had been on the rowing team in high school. She remembered the coach telling them to pull with their back not just their arms, to imagine the shoulder blades squeezing and drawing together. She left her gloves on, hoping they’d protect her hands from the grooves, splinters, and possible blisters. The last thing she wanted was to be a liability. She was fit, in good shape, but she’d never done something like this. She was going to need plenty of Seanmhair’s muscle rub when she got back to the ship.
Yeoman Rand
Getting into the boat, Alwyn walked as steady as he could, going back and forth along with the wave’s movement. After a few steps, he sat abruptly on the nearest bench he could find, which happened to be next to Rand. He pulled the hood of his cloak on his head to protect himself from the wind which made his eyes narrow a bit. He then put his bag under the bench and wedge it in place between his feet.
The doctor gave Rand a nod and said : “I never was on a boat. Hope it’ll go well…” He seemed rather worried about his first naval experience.
Ensign Alwyn Yarwood
To be honest, Roman had never in his life been on a boat, either. There was little need for them on Earth, at least in his family’s opinion, so he’d simply never had the chance. He assumed it would be easy simply because Marzo had warned that he ‘hoped they had muscles to spare’ and Roman certainly had that. What he wasn’t prepared for was how unsteady the boat felt when he first stepped foot on it. He kept his balance and sat in one of the seats, turning to look and make sure everyone got in.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Kovan shook his head at the others. Have they never stepped on a boat before? He shook his head then moved to take a seat on a bench closest too the outer hull of the boat. The closer one was to the center of the boat, the easier it was to row and the inverse was true. Kovan was plenty strong and willingly took a more difficult position because he knew he could handle it.
Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR
Once everyone was seated, and the fishing boats sails raised to catch a wind after they rowed out of the dock area. Marzo began to shout some orders to his crew, then once settled the female elven like figure at the rear of the boat began to pound out a rhythm for rowing. Once everyone got into sync she nodded and Marzo hoisted the sails to get really moving. Thankfully a strong breeze out of no where seemed to spring up and eerily guide them at a decent clip of speed between it and their synced rowing over the next several hours. Marzo had enough gentleness in him to give some of the away team a break while others rowed, then switched back. The persistent breeze kept with them strangely enough. Through all this the elven figure seemed to be softly singing a song of some kind in her native tongue that the UT’s they had hidden could not catch.
Standing at the back of the boat near the wheel, Marzo spoke up grinning like an idiot of confidence. “..Ahh the winds favor us today! Wish it was like this all the time..” He said.
But if anyone with a tricorder decided to take a peek while resting, they would see that the non-harmful radiation patterns they had picked up from the field/cave area near Valiki was not persistently following them. From what they could hazard it was likely the source of the wind. Could it be the ‘magic’ here was readable based on this signature? It was pretty obvious by then that the elven woman was using some kind of low key ‘magic’ that the more superstious men on the boat weren’t privy too.
Eventually as the trip went on the wind slowly died down to more normal coming and goings of natural wind currents. The elven woman by then had been relived of her duty at the stern of the boat by one of the other men and gone to sit down. A keen eyed person might notice she seemed a ‘little’ tired and was now clearly resting on one of the benches. But they had made good time it seems otherwise, the past 4 some hours of travel saw them entering the inlet Marzo had mentioned. It was indeed deep water for the boat, the shore was about 10-20 feet away by either side. The threes here grew thicker, and were much taller oak and pines. Every now and then they got the feeling of something or someone watching them but no one obvious made an appearance. Finally coming up to what seemed a long abandoned docking spot with a run down building nearby Marzo spoke. “..This here is far as I take you folks. Any longer and my crew and I won’t be getting back to Valiki before night fall. You’re about a 2-3 day walk from here to Barovia Village proper, but this here is not too far from where my boat was setup for the night when all that magical light show showed up. Keep your eyes out for Neuri Wolves and Bats, not to mention such packs come night fall. If you’re smart you’ll bed down here in the old fishing lodge. Its a dump, but if you keep quiet should avoid anything nasty once night falls..” he said while one of the male crew shoved a plank down to the rickety dock.
The elven woman then spoke, “..I will be getting off here too, Marzo. My contract of employment has expired and I will take my weekly pay and depart from your service..” she said.
Marzo frowned turning at this clearly unexpected news to the woman departing his crew. “..What?? But…” he began then seeing the elven woman was not having any of his protests shook his head muttering something under his breath and spitting a wad of spittle over the boat’s edge. “..Fine! Here..” he said shoving a bag of coins into her waiting hand from a lock box by the ship’s wheel. “..Don’t know why you would get off here with these bunch of crazy outlanders, Finnel. But its your life....” he said then turned away muttering something that sounded like ‘damn crazy fey’.
Finnel took up a large pack, and then brought out a finely crafted long bow and arrows, complete with an equally nice looking and well cared for long sword. “..Make sure you outlanders have everything..” she said simply and impassively as she strode down the plank and onto the rickety dock.
GM CockRoach
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