Dragon's Egg - Act II

[Legendary Sidekick]

((No one is on the boat, as far as I can tell. And same as Ravana: I didn't know where the boat was.

I better hurry with that avatar! Maybe Thursday… tomorrow is quite busy.))

 

[Steerpike]

((OK. I bolded it in the original post so people will see it. I could have just written a more succinct, clear sentence to start with . But the boat is reachable only by swimming to it, at least from where the party is now)).

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I let Nod down, then strip off my armor and the dress Arn made for me.

"It's only 40 feet away, and I dare say I'm the best swimmer here."

((Primal Instinct must cover this somehow.))

Clad in nothing but crude undergarments made from my old Mauve gown, I tell the party, "Ready arrows in case I get ambushed." Stone knife in hand, I enter the water slowly, so as not to splash, and go after the boat.

 

[Ireth]

I nod and quickly ready an arrow again, pointing it at the water. If anything does attack Baldhart, I hope I don't hit her or Nod while aiming at our enemy. "Ready."

 

[Nihal]

I watch Baldhart enter on the water warily, stretching my arm so torch casts additional light on the water.

I don't like it...

 

[SeverinR]

I remain in the shadows watching the newcomer carefully, and the hallway, for anything that might have been attracted by the yelling.

 

[Ravana]

((Yeah, I caught the location of the boat the second time I read through it. Think I was reacting to what was said afterward, not the original.))

((As for the avatar, Steerpike can always just use a photo of an Irish Setter while we're waiting on it. )

((And actually Algernon is probably a better swimmer than Baldhart, but she's already in the water. Since she said she entered it "slowly," however.…))

•

"Wait… someone oughta should get some rope out. I got some in my pack… somewheres in there.…"

 

[Steerpike]

Darin shrugs at the water. "Hard to say what the source is. Might be deep, and fed from further down, too far to disturb the surface. Might be currents below what we can see. Could it be from the sea, this far north?" He kneels at the edge of the water, cups some into his hand, takes a sip and then spits. "It's fresh. Well, that might not be the right word. But it's not sea water."

He steps aside Baldhart strips down as much as decency will allow, gathers Nodrick, and the pushes out into the cold water, the halfling on her back, hanging on to her shoulders. The water is deep enough to swim in, and uniformly cold. Baldhart is halfway to the where the boat is pulled up on shore in just a few strokes.

A couple more strokes, and the party members see a ripple near the middle of the water. A dark shape, barely discernible, breaks the surface of the water briefly, and by the barest of margins, before disappearing beneath the surface. Neither Baldhart nor Nodrick see the movement.

As Baldhart nears the boat, she skins her knee against the ground, then is able to push herself onto her feet. Here, the ground appears to slope away into the water, becoming shallow before she reached its edge. A few steps and she is out of the water, dripping wet and with her garments clinging to her in a most immodest fashion.

The object next to the boat is a lizard's leg. The severed edge of it is ragged and torn, as though bitten and pulled apart. There is no sign of the body that the leg belongs too. Looking at the canoe reveals no serious defects. There are gouges and scrapes along its side, some perhaps from sliding against rock, others appearing to be bite or claw marks. The canoe is big enough to hold four people. Five, if one of them is Nodrick. There are no paddles evident.

The recessed area near the canoe is not another passageway, but is just an alcove that extends only five or six feet beyond what the party could see from their initial vantage point. There are other areas of the cavern that may hold passages, beyond where the boat is found, and one clear passage that Nodrick can now see directly across the widest portion of the lake from where they stand. This portion of the lake is perhaps eighty to one hundred feet away - it is hard to be sure because Mauve's torchlight does not reach the far end entirely. But there is just enough light for Nodrick's sharp eyes to make out a tunnel at that end of the lake. It is perhaps twenty fight wide, and the lake water extends into it and then disappears into the darkness.

 

[Ireth]

My eyes widen at the sight of the ripple near the middle of the body of water, and I immediately loose a shaft toward whatever it is, hardly thinking about what I'm doing.

((+1 DEX mod, -1 for ouchy prosthesis, -2 for the shield, adds up to -2))

((Damage, just in case...))

Whatever was there, my arrow does not hinder it. I sigh and shake my head, cursing my foul luck. How soon can we get out of this horrid place?

 

[Steerpike]

Cadell's arrow disappears into the black surface of the water. At the time he fires, Baldhart is still swimming vigorously toward the boat, so she does not hear the relatively small splash made by the arrow striking the water.

 

[Ireth]

I sigh and take Rydh's shield off of my arm before readying another arrow, watching where the water rippled and hoping nothing else will surface. Even with the extra weight removed, I still doubt my ability to shoot; the padding in the prosthesis is rough, and where it fails to guard my skin, I swear I can already feel splinters digging into my stump. I don't dare let my weapon down to deal with them now.

 

[Nihal]

"Don't provoke it, don't!" I hold Cadell's arm before he's able to shoot again.

 

[Ireth]

I look at her with my eyes slightly narrowed. "I don't intend to shoot unless it shows itself again, to keep it from harming Baldhart or Nod. But until that time, I will not let my guard down. Please let go."

 

[Nihal]

I take a deep breath...

"Then don't do stupid things."

...it didn't work. I release his arm.

 

[Ireth]

"Thank you."

I look back at my target, hoping I do not get another opportunity to shoot, for Baldhart's and Nod's sakes.

 

[Sparkie]

Well, we're stuck now. Check that: Baldhart and Nod are stuck now.

"Boat or not, we have to get those two back over here safe. We need a distraction."

Common sense tells me not to do what I'm doing, yet here I am doing it. I begin to remove my armor. While I do so, I say "Wait until I wade in, then wave them back over here. When they start to come back I'll start splashing and making a ruckus. Hopefully, that thing in the water won't go after them."

 

[Ravana]

"Uh, don't do that." Algernon is shrugging out of his pack and fishing around in it. In a moment, he comes up with some rope. Then he pulls a hammer, far smaller than his primary weapon, from a belt loop.

"Shoulda tied this to her first. Or leastways the little guy. They was in too much of a hurry." It gets looped around the hammer's handle a couple times instead, just below the head, then tied off.

He looks up at the ceiling, checking his clearance.

"Oh, almost forgot. Someone hang on to this end." He hands the loose end to whoever's available.

And lets fly.



[Yes, it says Hiljikki. Guess that's why it was so bad a shot. I think even aiming for an inanimate target the size of an alcove, that was probably a miss. The -2 is for medium range, by the way.]

Splash.

Well, at least it got the attention of the others, no doubt. Unless that fell within arm's reach of the far side, Algernon reels back in and tries again.



[Yeah, it was the name alright. See how much closer that one was?]

Splish.

"Mebbe if I yell 'Thor!' like I usually do?"

 

[Sparkie]

Huh. Perhaps this fellow is no simpleton after all.

"Now that's an idea," I say, and I approach Algernon. "Would you mind if I gave it a try?"

 

[SeverinR]

I move to where I can have a clean shot at the thing in the water and still watch the hallway.

"You don't have to go in to far, just splash around like a dying fish, it will get its attention. Have them stay still." I announce glancing at Algeron.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((Steerpike, I think in the time it took for everyone to speak, Baldhart and Nod would be in the boat. My pool is 40 feet across, and at almost a foot shorter than Baldy, it's only 7-8 strokes to cross. Your post seemed to imply Baldy and Nod are already at the boat, so I'll wait for a GM post to confirm they climbed in before I move things forward.))

I ignore the commotion behind me, but remain as quiet as possible. First move - get Nod inside the boat. Next - get out of the water and in the boat with him.

As I start the climb, I look back at Mauve. I wish I had a body like hers, dressed like this.

...

So will the men.

Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, Baldy. Your body is perfect for what you do.