Ghosts of Gauntcliff: Chapter Six

[steveflam]

Juergin runs ahead, calling to Dorgio as he catches up to the man with surprising ease. "Dorgio, I have a small rowboat. We can use it to go and find survivors. Dark One can scout ahead in the fog and find survivors. You can tend to the survivors while I row."


No matter what Dorgio decides, Juergin makes it to Melmoth and uses some donkeys to get his little skiff to the north shore. He gets in with or without Dorgio and rows out, sending Dark One to find survivors.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Elliana’s room-

Primeiro heard nothing. He waited; he knocked, and got no answer from Elliana’s chamber. Looking about, the young man sees that the hallway and adjacent gardens are quite empty. Perhaps everyone has gone to help with the rescue efforts on the seashore...

...or perhaps not. Primeiro turns the handle and lets the door open wide. Quietly.

[ewancummins]

Elliana’s room-

Primeiro heard nothing. He waited; he knocked, and got no answer from Elliana’s chamber. Looking about, the young man sees that the hallway and adjacent gardens are quite empty. Perhaps everyone has gone to help with the rescue efforts on the seashore...

...or perhaps not. Primeiro turns the handle and lets the door open wide. Quietly.

Primeiro finds the room in disarray, with clothes thrown all over the place and bed a total mess. He smells sweat and perfume in the still air. The window is shuttered, so he has little light to see more.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Damn peculiar, Primeiro thinks. Glad that he fully armed himself in preparation of a return visit to the ruins, he quietly pulls a small throwing axe from a loop on his leather armor and inserts it underneath the open door, jamming it in place.

He takes two steps farther in, and then pauses to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light. "Mademoiselle...?" His hand rests on the hilt of his rapier.

[ewancummins]

Damn peculiar, Primeiro thinks. Glad that he fully armed himself in preparation of a return visit to the ruins, he quietly pulls a small throwing axe from a loop on his leather armor and inserts it underneath the open door, jamming it in place.

He takes two steps farther in, and then pauses to let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light. "Mademoiselle...?" His hand rests on the hilt of his rapier.

No answer comes from anywhere in the room, but Primeiro hears something scratching against the shutters near the bed. When he looks, the young gentleman sees nothing that could make the noise, at least nothing on this side of the shuttered window.

[Adam]

Bennedict hustles to the shore, using his healing abilities to assist the wounded.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro first looks more closely at the bed, just to confirm that no one is in it. Then he moves over to the shutters. He opens them with one hand while keeping the other near his sword.

___________________________________
With the storm, Primeiro will assume it's a tree branch blowing in the wind, but -- after recent events -- he isn't taking anything for granted. If it doesn't seem particularly windy out, he'll proceed even more cautiously.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Along the Shore

"Go," he says, clapping Juergin on the shoulder. "I need to help Denys with the wounded."

Dorgio speaks a word and his left hand begins glowing with light. His path illuminated, he begins making his way toward Denys and the injured.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Bring rope!" Everline yells at the rescue workers. "Tie yourselves to each other before going into the water or the ship! We mustn't lose anyone! Put someone at the end of the tether on shore at all times!"

In between shouting this helpful advice, Everline searches for signs of life in the wreckage.

[ewancummins]

ELLIANA'S ROOM

Primeiro first looks more closely at the bed, just to confirm that no one is in it. Then he moves over to the shutters. He opens them with one hand while keeping the other near his sword.

___________________________________
With the storm, Primeiro will assume it's a tree branch blowing in the wind, but -- after recent events -- he isn't taking anything for granted. If it doesn't seem particularly windy out, he'll proceed even more cautiously.

The air outside is calmer than Primeiro might have expected; a light breeze pushes tendrils of fog through the yard. Light rain falls; but the shower grows heavier as Primeiro watches. No tree stands near the window. He sees a shadowy form about the size of a child or a dwarf, moving hunched in the bushes…

“Admiring the view, monsieur?”
A woman’s voice—Elliana, coming from behind his back.

[ewancummins]

Jürgen, on the water in his rowboat

Dark One whispers, “This fog is thick, even to my seeing.”
The shadow-dwarf slides off the boat like an eel escaping a fisherman’s net, and glides over the water.
Jürgen is left utterly alone, rocked on a boat that might as well be the only thing afloat in a world of rain, mists, and rolling waves. After some time— is impossible for the boy to be certain of how long he waits—his shadow returns.
“There is a man in the water ahead, not too far. He is weak, but he lives. The big fish is coming, circling. Be wary, boy.”



Everline, wading near the wreckage

Everline moves hip deep in the cold sea, pelted by the downpour, searching through the fog for signs of survivors. A broken spar floats by. No one clings to it. Somewhere out of sight, wood crunched and groans as timbers split against hidden rocks. The teenage adventurer bumps into something soft and flabby, cold and wet. Before she can look down to identify it, the object has drifted away, swallowed by the mists. Someone shouts “Rope!” and a length of hemp cordage slaps the waves that roll around her hips.



Dorgio and Benn, on the beach aiding the wounded
Working together under Dorgio’s magic light, the two healers try to save a dozen badly injured or nearly-drowned men, women, and children. Passengers and crew are mixed together, so that ragged sailors lie next to well-dressed aristocrats. Several of the patients have suffered impalements from big splinters.

Rainwater mixes with brine and the blood of the injured, forming miniature rivers that flow seaward across the wet beach.

Denys crouches beside a teenage girl. He pumps her limp arms and then tries blow breath back into her damp, pallid body. The girl does not respond.

[steveflam]

Jürgen, on the water in his rowboat

Dark One whispers, “This fog is thick, even to my seeing.”
The shadow-dwarf slides off the boat like an eel escaping a fisherman’s net, and glides over the water.
Jürgen is left utterly alone, rocked on a boat that might as well be the only things afloat in an world of rain, mists, and rolling waves. After some time— is impossible for the boy to be certain of how long he waits—his shadow returns.
“There is a man in the water ahead, not too far. He is weak, but he lives. The big fish is coming, circling. Be wary, boy.”

"Lead me on, Dark One. I know who you told me Norzak was eaten by a Shark. I Know of these foul sea monsters and keep my distance if at all possible, my friend."

Jürgen rows faster as Dark One leads him. He wonders if these mists are the sea gods themselves, angry at whomever, or just mists every sailor encounters whilst at sea.

He calls out "Hello! Call to me! I am here to help you. Guide me to your voice!"

[ewancummins]

Jürgen

A man’s voice cries out in the fog, thin and wavering,
‘’Here, I am here…”

After paddling in that direction for a few minutes, Jürgen spots the dim outline of a cask or maybe a chest with a round top, and the head and upper body of a man who clings to the floating object. The distance is about twenty or thirty feet. More than that, he boy can’t see in the fog.
Dark One whispers,
‘’I can’t see the big fish, boy.”

[steveflam]

Jürgen

A man’s voice cries out in the fog, thin and wavering,
‘’Here, I am here…”

After paddling in that direction for a few minutes, Jürgen spots the dim outline of a cask or maybe a chest with a round top, and the head and upper body of a man who clings to the floating object. The distance is about twenty or thirty feet. More than that, he boy can’t see in the fog.
Dark One whispers,
‘’I can’t see the big fish, boy.”

Jürgen whispers to Dark One "That is not good. The shark might be under the man, we need to hurry! Dark One, I have a thought. You can go in the water and scare away the shark, can't you?"

The lad rows in the mans direction as fast as he can. He is glad to have what is left of his rope to reel the man in. Once he is close enough, he will talk in a low voice so the man can hear him.

"Get ready I am going to pull up next to you. Are you bleeding?"

[Ail]

Eustace retires to his room after breakfast, planning for his spells and working on any poultices, dusts and other components he might need. When he's ready, he anxiously waits for noon and begins meditating when the time comes.

Primeiro reaches his room a bit early, and Eustace ignores him while he prays. But he registers that he's gone in search of Elliana. He hears the commotion, and lets it pass by until he finishes his praying. Looking around, he doesn't see Primeiro anymore, and he spies out his window to understand what is happening.

He is shocked to see the wreck and hear the cries of the drowning people and their rescuers, but he can't see much due to the fog. He curses this bad luck, but he intimately believes this is no accident.

OOC: Kno Religion +12 OR Kno arcana +11 OR Kno Nature +9 to discern if this fog is natural or caused by some entity = 1d20 (plain) = 14
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3515589/

As he reasons that everyone has gone to the wreck, and believing earnestly that this is a distraction caused somehow by their foe, he reminds himself of Primeiro that went off alone and may be in danger alone, somewhere. He leaves his room, fully equipped, and turns in the direction of Elliana's room, praying to Belenus for his absence from the help to the wounded, while justifying himself that the heroes are probably crucially needed somewhere else.