Jammers Summary: Chapter 2, Turn 27

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

The three ship flotilla encounters no problems during the trip to Bral. A Shipwrights' Guild Whaleship bound for Wrighters is passed, but no other vessels are spotted.

On the SILENT STAR:

Italapate stays in his quarters the first day of the trip, sleeping steadily. His cabinmates notice he has a pallor and dark circles around his eyes. He does not rest easily, and his sleep is troubled by nightmares from which he awakes screaming Jamila's name.

On the second day out, Leera asks Billy if he'd be able to heal her. Afterwards, she thanks him profusely.

Roughly a day after Holland regained consciousness, before slipping into deep sleep, he awakens. Getting to his feet is a chore but Holland accomplishes it after several deep breaths. The room sways for a moment as Holland leans against a bulkhead, slowly the world comes into focus as Holland lightly explores his head with his hand. Noting the large bump, Holland grunts and then slowly makes his way above deck. Holland stops at the first person he sees and asks what has happened.

After learning the situation, Holland seeks out Italapate and asks for more healing.

Italapate apologizes to Holland, "I'm sorry, but Coyote does not see fit to grant me healing spells. Never has, don't know if he ever will. But, he is the Trickster, so one can never be too sure. If we got any birch bark on board I can brew you a tea that will make your aches much more bearable..."

Holland waves his hand, "Don't fret it, I know a bit of herb lore myself."

"Well, ah, if you'd like Holland," Kain begins, "Billy or I could heal everyone a bit each day, depending on how wounded we all are. You're not looking.. ah.. very well, so if you don't mind I'll see to you first."

Holland grimaces, "Thanks for reminding me. If I look half as bad as I feel, I am surprised that you all didn't decide to give me a sea-burial as well. I would welcome the healing Kain."

Kain lays a hand on Holland's shoulder, frowning slightly as he concentrates. Holland begins to feel better after a minute, though Kain keeps his hand on the mage's shoulder. A few minutes later, Kain lets go of Holland and shrugs. "That's about all I can do for today," he says apologetically. "Will you need any more healing, Holland?" Kain asks.

Holland, who closed his eyes as Kain laid his hand on him, opens them with a jolt of surprise, "I do feel a lot better Kain," stretching out to loosen his muscles, Holland prematurely halts, a hand rising to his head, "But my cursed head still aches and my other wounds trouble me as well, but I think that I will make it until you regain your mental strength." Holland says, "I would be grateful for any further healing when you are able."

"Well.. ah.. with everything we've got to do before we get back to Bral, I'll only really be able to heal when I get up after my off-time," Kain says. "But, I'll have to heal Nilaroo tomorrow when I get up, he looks awfully bad too. Once I've helped him out I'll.. ah.. take care of your other wounds, Holland."

Holland nods and with a grimace says, "Yes.. Make sure everyone is fully healed before we dock at Bral. Ask Billy to help you if need be. Thanks again Kain."

"Has anyone scanned our booty for *hoom* magic abilities?" Nilaroo asks after the first watch change.

Holland, realizing that it hasn't been done yet and studying his spellbook, goes to casts a spell to check the loot for magical properties.

When Holland sets about determining which of the items recovered from the pirates are magical, Leera offers to help.

an ivory chest chess set & board (minor alteration and invocation magic) a small golden acorn on a chain tied to an owl feather (abjuration) 1 blank parchment scroll (illusion) horseman's mace (alteration) spear (alteration)

The next day(day 3), Kain approaches Nilaroo before the Grommam gets to work on the STAR. "Hey Nilaroo," Kain smiles. "Take it easy for a while, I can help you out a.. ah.. little bit." he then heals the Gromman as best he can.

Later, Holland stops by when Leera is alone and hesitantly says, "Leera, it is good to see that you survived this whole thing."

Holland pauses for a second and then continues, "I would hate to lose you before... er.." Holland coughs slightly, covering his mouth and says, "Um, excuse me, I smell something burning in the galley," before hurriedly departing the scene.

After the Star begins its voyage, Seguld searches out Billy. "Billy, can you do anything for my head or my burns? I would ask Raken but he is on the other ship. I am hurting bad, and need some healing." His voice is uncharacteristically slow and his face appears haggard and worn from the recent battle. The bump on his head has settled to a bruise, but the bruise covers the majority of his forehead, and his leg appears to be permanently damaged leaving him lame.

Billy lays the coil of rope aside and gently touches Seguld's wounds. It almost seems that he is pushing the bump *into* Segulds head as it heals. "That's all I can do for now. If you let me rest a bit, I can heal you again later this evening."

Nilaroo spends most of the trip back making what repairs he can to the Star. Any who offer to help quickly find tools in their hands and tasks to fit their level of ability.

Holland helps Nilaroo with his spells. He provided each day with several broken planks and holes in the hull. At each he chants words heard but immediately forgotten, his hands spread out over the holes and cracked wood. Where Holland applies his magic, the wood slowly joins back together, mending itself until all is left is unblemished wood. In this way he greatly speeds Nilaroo's progress.

When Kain wakes each morning, he asks his companions if they need what small healing he can provide. Once everyone else is well, Kain heals the small cut on his leg. After expending all of his mental energy for the day, Kain works on cataloguing the captured items, then helps Nilaroo work on repairing the STAR.

Preoccupied with his friends, Billy often sneaks in to the bunk room and posts a vigil over Italapate and Holland when they're sleeping. Occasionally, Billy lays his hands on them and concentrates on healing. He does this as often as possible until they start looking like their cheery selves.

Once, Italapate awakens when Billy lays his hands upon him, " 'sokay, woge, what ails me, isn't the kinda thing that you can do anything about..." He smiles weakly, " 'sall I need is to sleep. There're others who got really hurt in the battle, save your energy for them, 'kay?"

Seguld spends most of the time on the ship seeing to the various odd tasks - kitchen, cleaning, latrine duty, etc. On the second day it appears Nilaroo has completed his planning and is ready to begin the repairs and Seguld finds him in the cargo area. Seguld's eyes open wide and he says, "Not the cargo!" but quickly his eyes dart about and see that the rope which he had purchased is being left untouched. "Well..... at least promise me you won't touch the rope."

Seguld then begins assisting with the repairs, and proves himself in a few ways. His mace turns out to be a very effective hammer when wielded by Seguld, and his use of a few minor cantrips here and there quickly assist Nilaroo in fitting the wood properly into place. After some time Seguld manages to find a length of wood about 2-1/2 feet in length which has splintered off. After using a knife to carve the wood somewhat, Seguld uses a number of cantrips to help shape the wood scrap into a quite useable crutch. At first the wood is too rounded and as he puts his weight upon the crutch it slides out from under him and sends him sprawling. Eventually he manages to sharpen the tip enough to stay in spot, but then the tip is too sharp to retain its strength and the end snaps off about 3" above the ground. Quickly the crutch makes its way back into the wood stock and Seguld finds another piece. It takes a few days, but eventually Seguld manages to get the simple crutch working nicely for him.

When only two days out of Bral, Seguld seems to be getting his spirit back. His use of the crutch has become more fluid, and more importantly becomes an interesting prop for many of his practical jokes. The other crew members are quickly learning to watch their step as they walk through doorways when Seguld is believed to be nearby, those that don't often find themselves tripping over a certain crutch. Any discussion of Jamila leads Seguld to quickly gather his things and find another location aboard the ship away from that conversation.

When away from the practical jokes and the various duties he has assumed, since he is physically incapable of handling the lines or piloting the ship, Seguld can be found at the ballista reviewing the similarities and differences between his arquebus and the ballista. On a sheet of paper he begins to scribble notes to himself.

Several days into the voyage, after Holland has had time to heal and think, Holland approaches Italapate and speaks to him alone, "Italapate, I would like to talk to you about the last few moments of the battle. Could you please explain to me what you intended to do and then what actually happened?"

Italapate looks shaken, thinking back to the battle. He takes a deep breath, then nods his head and leans against the Star's gunwale. "I.... I knew that we couldn't survive an in-close battle, we had too many injuries, too many people not operating at full strength. Spirits, we had some people barely standing. Then this other group of pirates-slash-mercenaries comes in. I knew we had to get distance, regroup... let the Dragonfly people and the Ghost pirates fight it out amongst themselves. So I was going to gather what was left of my strength and pull up and away on the lines. There were only three boarding ropes, and we all had a lot of momentum, I thought I could break them (still think I could have)."

Holland nods, indicating that Italapate should continue.

Italapate continues "But you and Ferric insisted that I do nothing. Well, Ferric actually did more than insist. I am a trickster not a fighter, so when one of my own threatens to tear out my tongue, I tend to listen! So I concluded that if you all wanted to get beat up so badly, I would let you. That's when disaster struck. I don't know if it was my inexperience on the helm, or just the extended length of time I spent on it... whatever it was, when I attempted to shift my concentration from a 'jerk' away to just continuing a consistent rise, I lost 'connection' to the helm. I know you all felt it, for a moment there, we were rising by momentum alone... that's when all of you grabbed for something. That didn't last long, however, cause the Ghost was still rising under power and the last rope didn't snap. After we slammed into the Ghost, I felt the 'shock' in my mind and body. My vision got blurry and dark, but I fought it off and got my 'connection' back... at least for a little while. I called out to someone to relieve me immediately. I could feel my connection weakening, but luckily we got Leera on the helm before I lost it completely."

Holland listens silently and then says quietly, "I had apprehensions about leaving you on the helm for so long. You had said that you'd heard of stories where a helmsman sat on the helm for 24 hours... well.. we now know that that is just what they were.. stories... We have learned the reason why helmsman only work an 8 hour shift."

"I am sure they weren't just stories, but obviously the helmsman had more experience than I did... I do." Italapate says, trying to sound reassuring. "I think what I most objected to was having Raken replace me... we saw how much we needed his healing."

Holland frowns and lowers his head, his face darkened with sadness and grief, and says, "I shouldn't have let you stay on the helm.." After a few seconds of silence Holland raises his head and Italapate sees that his eyes are moist and glassy, "Italapate, know that it was not your fault. I take responsibility. I now have yet another face to visit me in my dreams."

Turning away, Holland says, "Thank you for your time," and hurries away to a deserted corner of the STAR to be alone.

Italapate sighs as he watches the mage rush away. Finally, he takes a deep breath and sets his jaw. Returning to the deck, he acquires an assignment from Nilaroo and proceeds to beat the inanimate spirits out of the iron nails he is given. He is overheard muttering to himself, "...if we could decide whether we are merchants or mercenaries...."

Leera spends the trip back to Bral studying her spellbook for a great deal of the time. She, however, does most of her studying on deck or in the galley, avoiding the room that she shared with Jamila as much as possible. When she's near Holland she seems embarrassed and buries her head in her spellbook as quickly as she can.

On the FLOW GHOST:

Having spoken briefly but emphatically of the bravery of Jamila during her memorial service, Deigatt is generally quiet and introspective during the return to Bral.

Ferric spends the first two days of the trip working long shifts at the sails and on the helm. He will not allow Raken to heal him and speaks little except when necessary during this time but can occasionally be heard cursing "that damned priest of a bloody wild dog." He finally relaxes on the third day of the voyage and returns to his usual pleasant demeanor though his dark grey eyes still hold a hard edge.

Observing Ferric's bad temper, Talus avoids him for the voyage back to the Rock, preferring instead to talk to the two crewmen from the RESPLENDENT.

Talus finds the two to be quite friendly and outgoing. The youngest is named Phil Krisp, he describes himself as an aspiring actor out of Greyspace. Armed only with a few daggers, Phil is obviously a competent sailor and exudes the sort of street savvy that can only come from growing up on the streets. He likes to recite lines from plays Talus has never heard of, his style is a bit overly dramatic but occasionally a real glimpse of acting talent appears.

The second is Garril Sotman, he describes himself as a mercenary from Greyspace. His last three outfits were all slaughtered in wars against someone called "Iuz", a demon or god of some sort from Garril's descriptions. Garril considers his current job a stroke of luck, because Crynar has lost a battle in the two years he's been aboard (and, Garril adds, "he isn't eager to test his record"). Garril wears padded armor, carries a shield, a dagger, and a light crossbow. He spends a lot of time trying to repair the GHOST's two ballistae.

On the fourth day, over a weak-flavored bowl of soup, Deigatt says to Ferric: "I hope you har not still hangry with Comrade Hitalapate, Agent Ferric. You spoke harshly hof him following the battle hand the death hof Comrade Jamila."

Ferric replies coldly, "Sorry Deigatt, the helmsmen I'm accustomed to working with listen to the sailmaster and they don't roll the bloody ship in the atmosphere." After taking a calming breath he continues in an easier tone, "'Pate told everyone to grab onto something because he was going to do something crazy. Then he rolled the ship over and we lost two of our own overboard. It was only luck that prevented us from losing more people over the edge. Had it been anyone but Grigree we would have been holding services for two of our own not to mention Periander who would have survived long enough for Raken to save his life had he not been dashed about. Had the RESPLENDENT not been assisting us it would be a little easier for me to handle but they were assisting us and the pirates had been mostly killed so there was no reason for Jamila and Periander to lose their lives. Not like that anyway." Ferric shakes his head as he sets down his bowl.

"But Comrade Hitalapate did not know the men from the dragonfly were not a threat," the minotaur replies. "He hacted hin desperation, hand desperate hacts hof battle lead to disappointing results halways. The loss hof Comrade Jamila his hunfortunate, but the company hitself has survived, hand we have taken the pirates' ship. I will suggest to Comrade Holland that we hinstall hand hand foot grips hon the top deck hof the SILENT STAR so we can be better prepared for hour next battle."

For most of the trip, Raken divides his time between healing party members, taking shifts on the helm, and sleeping. He respects Ferric's wishes and doesn't try to heal him. Instead, he concentrates his first day's worth of healing on the big minotaur, Deigatt. With what power he has left, he expends on Talus. The second day's worth of healing is expending on trying to get Talus fully back on his feet. When Ferric comes out of his foul mood, he gladly heals his injuries.

For the first few days Raken mostly avoids the two guests, not wanting to risk trouble. When he learns they are from Greyspace, he warms up some, chatting with them about events back home. He is especially disturbed by the stories of Iuz, and listens carefully to Garril's stories, only nodding with a cup of ale in his hand.

Arrival:

The time from Shipwrecker to Bral passes slowly, despite the hard work, as the shadow of absent companions seems to hang over the vessels. There is little of the tomfoolery present on the trip out.

Bral is as busy as usual when the asteroid city is reached, at least 8 other vessels are either pulling in or heading out as the small three ship flotilla makes its way slowly towards the docks. A Royal Bralian Squidship can be seen hovering nearby, but nearby wreckboat comes out to greet the three vessels.

The wreckboat is armed with a ballista, and two crewmen in chainmail lounge against it in bored poses. The wreckship aligns itself with the gravity plain of the fleet then heads slowly for the GHOST on an intercept course.

Date/time: 11:00 am 11th day of the 5th Month, 5049 OC