Ch.3: "Silver Tide" / Nyse Lagoon

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell's Wave Dance spell is slow, while Sigrlinn's Ascension and Ride of the Valkyrie spells can be cast quickly. If she times either spell right, hopefully everyone can flee to safety within a bubble of breathable air…

((@Ireth, you did figure out creating an air bubble was your way through the flooded tunnel, so at this point I'll save you suspense and say either spell will work. Results will differ—I won't say how until you've cast.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Thinking quickly, Sigrlinn casts Ascension, which at this point is the spell she's more familiar with. Trusting a combination of entirely unknown spells is not something she wants to do in a situation like this.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

An air bubble forms, then splits into five bubbles. Each forms a globe of breathable air around everyone's head. It seems that Helix, each fairy and each heroine can swim in a different direction and still have breathable air. However, the wave dance spell does not make a current to speed up Helix.

He gets away fast enough. There is a flash above, and the muffled roar of flames. For all our heroines know, the water above has already come to a boil. Helix takes advantage of the light the flames provide and easily finds distances his riders from danger.

When the flames go out, the two fairies become Helix's light source.

Sapphire and Phoebe speak to each other softly and quickly, their voices like tiny bubbles. After a quick chat, they face our heroines. Sapphire says, "We're just guessing, but if you cast that Valkyrie spell, it probably would have given all of us air, but we would have to stay on your blue dolphin."

Phoebe says, "Maybe Helix would swim faster this way, but then maybe not. We really don't know the spell, so this is just a guess. You can experiment another time."

Speed boost or not, Helix can outswim any of the ladies latching onto him, and fairies are especially slow swimmers. Sapphire and Phoebe don't even think about letting go of Helix's horn.

As Helix swims toward the extinguished hearth, Sapphire says, "I guess we better head to Sardis with you. The flood might last longer than this bubble."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell continues riding Helix, hoping that if either of the fairies should lode their grip, they'll fall against her.

She tells them, "You're more than welcome to join us. I hope the trip doesn't inconvenience you too much."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Better than burning," Sapphire says. "I haven't mastered fire enough to resist it without Phœbe's help."

Phœbe says, "I'd rather be vaporized by the sun god's wrath than drown, so I'll stick with you ladies. And gentlehorse. Uh, dolphin, I mean. Dolphin-corn."

Helix thinks, I may be a lot of things. But one thing I'm sure I am not is a dolphin-corn.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell giggles. "How about a shape-shifting unicorn?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Phœbe laughs at herself a little as Helix continues to take the group through the tunnel. The tunnel is long and dark, but on the bright side, it only goes one way.

Strangely, that way seems to be down.

Our heroines start to see little glowing creatures. There are jellyfish, schools of krill, and a large shellfish with legs so long the fairies have a hard time thinking of it as a lobster or crab. "It looks like a sea spider," Sapphire says.

"We could ride on its back," says Phœbe. The creature's size is right for a fairy's mount, but the fairies do not let go of Helix's horn.

As Helix takes the group lower, there are more glowing objects below. Our heroines are sure they see what they think they are seeing—

"STARS!" The fairies look at each other as they say it, then at our heroines as if they need them to confirm it.

The stars are not as Sigrlinn dreamed they were. What stars really are remains a mystery. But now our heroines know where the stars go at night. Under the world. That's where our heroines are now. The world is indeed flat, but everybody knows that. What nobody knows is why the water doesn't drip out from under the world…

…or what happens if Helix swims below the water…

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn stares at the stars for a moment, then smiles. "I had a dream like this once." Such a shame she can't have valkyrie wings right now, or meet her friend Brynhild. But meeting Artemis will, hopefully, be every bit as good and helpful.

Sigrlinn swims forward, unsure of whether she wants to be the first to break the surface of the water, but knowing she has to eventually. She looks around for a glimpse of Artemis' boat.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn swims down toward the stars, and Helix is able to keep up with her. It seems the fairies have no intention of letting go of Helix's horn.

As she draws closer to the surface of the water, she sees there is indeed a silver boat with six nymphs inside, all clad in silvery wolfskins an other attire one might expect the Hunting Goddess' companions to wear.

The moon boat is anchored, though Sigrlinn can't tell exactly how it's anchored. The image is distorted by the ripples of the water at the bottom of the world. All she can see is that the nymphs are fiddling with some sort of line. Their boat is rocking. They seem to be looking up and away from our heroines' direction, their gaze following the line to their apparent anchor.

Sigrlinn can stick her head out of the water if she wants to…

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn sticks her head out of the water, and an arm as well. She waves to the nymphs in the boat. "Hello?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Suddenly, Sigrlinn's air bubble bursts, propelling her from the water toward the empty blackness of the night sky below! Not wanting to fall into space, she somehow wills herself back into the water.

((Ireth rolled a 10 with her Ascension spell, which gives all 5 characters 2 moves. You will leap into space, but then can move back into the water. A lower roll would have complicated things, though not terribly.

Sigrlinn can cast Ascension on others to prevent them from floating to their doom. And yes, gravity is unrealistically going down into space.))

She hangs upside down with her head out, but the nymphs don't say hello to her. They're too busy struggling with a strange spider-like creature walking upside down on the surface of the water. The creature stands much taller than a person, and the nymph struggling with the line is actually being webbed by this monstrosity!

As the boat rocks, one nymph falls overboard. She is screaming as she falls into space, though she is falling somewhat slowly…



THE SITUATION:
* Two of the nymphs are in immediate danger, but Sigrlinn can only save one at a time.
* Kell is mounted on Helix. A mounted charge would allow her to attack the spider in a single turn. (Also, mounted charges hurt!)

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Seeing two nymphs in danger, but only having time to save one, Sigrlinn shouts, "Kell! Charge that monster, cut the line!" and lunges toward the nymph who's falling into space.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Helix, "Let's charge the spider," then pulls out her spear and urges her mount forward.

Kelleia:2D6 → 3(2 +1)#mounted charge against spider - attack with spear

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn's magic is allows the nymph to propell herself--the wrong way at first, but she catches on quickly. The huntress ends up on the boat with all of the nymphs--

--but one gets whipped up toward the spider! Helix's charge misses by a mile, and now the creature's reeling the webbed nymph in. Her terrified eyes stare into its mandibles! She screams, "MMMmmmMMMmmMmMMMmmMMMMMmmmmm!!!!"

((@tbgg, don't forget, you roll #2d6+1 for melee and magic now.))

Sapphire flies out of the water, letting the bubble-burst propell her into space twenty feet. Her wings keep her in place. There is a fiery glow around her hands…

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn barely has time to steady herself on the boat before a screaming nymph is pulled toward the spider's mandibles. She whips out her hand cannon, aiming a shot at the rope of thread in hopes of breaking it.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell wheels Helix around, then makes a second pass at the spider, hoping to strike its underbelly. Raising her spear, she signals her sidekick forward.

Kelleia:2D6+1 → 5(1 +3 + 1)#attack spider - pass 2

This is SO not our day!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell speeds by on Helix. As she swings and misses, she hears a plunk to her right as a bullet ricochets off the spider and harmlessly into the water. The her left, the fizzle of Sapphire's fireball.

The only one who hits its target is the spider. Its fangs bore into the flesh of its webbed victim.

The nymphs on the boat cry out and grab their bows. The one that fell overboard tells the rest to hold their fire. "There's still a chance! Take the time to aim!"

The other four nymphs aim their bows.

Phœbe leaps off of Helix and trusts Sapphire to catch her in her arms…

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Wheeling Helix around for a third pass, Kell thinks to him, Come on, sidekick, we need to add something of value to this fight.

Signaling the unicorn-turned-dolphin forward, she readies herself to make a third attack.

Kelleia:2D6+1 → 3(1 +1 + 1)#attack spider - pass 3

((I seriously can't believe how rotten these rolls are.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn hears the nymph's call to her companions, and puts away her hand cannon in favor of her bow. She casts Heaven's Arrow and holds the shot...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Another miss! It seems the poor nymph is going to die. As much as it pains her to, Sapphire tosses Phoebe to the dying nymph. She clings to her (easily, thanks to the web), and uses her sacrificial healing magic to fight the poisonous bite. Whether this will save the nymph or result in to dead bodies remains to be seen.

The unarmed nymph on the boat tells the others: "Now."