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Upcoming Storm on HMS Acacia
#1
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Hello all,

As noted at the ending of our last game session (November 4, 2018), a fierce storm is headed our way. I am trying not to meta-game, as my character doesn't have any ranks in seamanship or the like. However, she has a high intelligence, so I think it not-inappropriate to list out a few things here for the party's consideration.

* Kearse: I believe you have a Mending orison. Please keep that handy. Your ability to instantly mend a torn sailcloth, frayed rope, or bent plank, might save our lives!

* Ring of Energy Resistance (Electricity), Major: Who has this? Is anyone wearing it? If not, let's have somebody wear it -- Kearse, maybe? Thorfinn? the Captain? the Pilot? If it protects against electricity, that means somebody might stand a chance against a lightning-bolt strike.

* Speaking of resistance, Bahiyya is able to cast Resist Energy on anyone who may need it. The spell will grant DR/30 vs. a chosen energy type, for 130 minutes. She will gladly do this.

* In addition, Bahiyya can cast Animalistic Power (+2 Str, Con, Dex) upon someone if needed -- Thorfinn, captain, first mate, whoever.

* Symon: can your invocations -- namely Witchwood Step -- be invoked on/for others, or are they Self only? If they can apply to others, Witchwood Step would be a marvelous asset to anyone working on deck during the storm.

* Studded Leather +5 (Improved Balance): Is anybody wearing this right now? It grants a +10 competence bonus to Balance checks. Again, a great boon for anyone working on the deck. Does anyone want to wear it? If not, what about having one of the soldiers wear it? Oleg, for example? Or if the captain, pilot, or first mate are armored, maybe one of them could wear it? To be fair, you guys might not want to lend such armor to an NPC -- if something happens to the wearer and he is never seen again, the armor goes with him. But it's something to consider, maybe.

* Light: I don't know what time of day/night it is, but I assume that, regardless, it will be dark during the storm, with poor visibility. Furthermore, during a violent storm, normal flame-based light poses two problems: 1) being snuffed out and 2) causing fires. We have Everburning torches/lanterns, as well as (some of us) the ability to cast magical light. How about sharing some of those torches with the crew? And/or, those who can cast Light and Continual Flame spells, how about casting some in key areas of the deck, like on the steering wheel/helm, and/or right on the midmast or something? The idea is to provide safe, constant, non-flammable light for the crew.

* Kearse: You have several good Mass spells, such as Mass Aid, and Mass Conviction. You also have Divine Protection, and we have a Wand of Lesser Vigor too. Don't discount the great benefits of "smaller" spells like this. Boosting saving throws and temp. hit points of the crew could really help.

* Bahiyya can Dimension Hop to/from others, and also has the Regroup spell. E.g., if she suddenly saw a group of crew/friends being swept overboard or about to, she could cast Regroup to bring them back. She can also cast Stand, immediately setting a prone person on their feet. In addition, she can see invisible things (and magical things) if she casts spells for that. If the captain wishes her to go on deck and tie herself to a post or something and keep watch for these types of things, she will do so.
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#2
Mending orison will not help since it only affects an object of up to one pound (sails are worth several sailors in weight.), so that will not help us.  I can use a scroll of Celestial Brilliance upon the mainmast to give the ship 14 days of day like illumination, since I do not have Continual Flame currently memorized.  Kearse only has one Mass Aid spell memorized, and a whole bunch of Mass Cure's available.  The lone Mass Aid spell will require everyone to bunch up for a few moments since it will only affect creatures withing 55' of the caster, but it will bestow +1 morale bonus to hits and saves versus fear, as well as 1d8 +13 temporary h.p. for 13 minutes.  That is not much for a storm that can last hours or days.  Guess Kearse can't prevent much just heal after the fact, like the cops only show up in time to outline the body 99% of every deadly situation.  His Healthful Rest, Positive energy Aura, and singular healing spells will be his most effective assistance to the cause.  Are you ready to grow gills yet?.

PS. Kearse will have to change his spells come the morning, since he was only geared up with his combat spells.
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#3
* That Celestial Brilliance spell sounds ... well, brilliant! If you don't want to use up the scroll right off, we do have the ever-burning torches and maybe the captain could suggest a place to mount one on deck.

* We may not need/want to cast all of our spells right away -- I suppose we must wait to see what the storm brings, first, and how long it lasts, and so on.

* Re: Mending, it's true that it can't fix everything, but it might help here and there with little things -- snapped chain, frayed rope, or the like. Maybe Kearse could check with the captain and see if/where such a spell may be useful.

* I do wish we had gills, or Potions of Water Breathing, or one of those magical figurines that turns into a boat, or something. Thorfinn and Symon can do Water Walking, so that's good; but you and I have no such luck. Personally my plan, if things go south, is to hop into Symon's arms or on his Hellcat back, and let him Water Walk me to safety. Kearse, I suggest you do the same with Thorfinn. Big Grin

* On the plus side, I keep trying to remind myself that these guys (captain, pilot, crew, etc.) are professionals, and have no doubt sailed in storms before. They know what to do! Bahiyya's a landlubber, though, so all of this is a bit strange and frightening for her.

* On the minus side, I had a horrible thought that perhaps this portion of the sea is haunted or cursed or something, and that the same fate that overtook the Mary Celeste -- I mean, the Alexandra -- is about to befall us!  Undecided

"When in danger, fear or doubt; run in circles, scream and shout ... "
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#4
Did you and Symon find the Alexandria's logs and rutter (charts)?  I would think that  sailors would share information about haunted or cursed areas of water (as in the Bermuda triangle, the Bering sea triangle, and the paranoid avoidance of the Saragossa sea).  A sea captain would only sail into "rumored areas in great desperation.  I think we are facing a giant sea turtle of mythic size.  The ones that resemble an island, then sink once a ships compliment lands and is well into exploring this "uncharted land mass".  Or sunken R'ley... I R'ley think that might be it.  Wink
   
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#5
Yes, Symon and Bahiyya did find the captain's log as well as some maps, lists of routes, etc. Thus far, Bahiyya has made a Decipher Script roll for the maps/routes, but I rolled super-low on the roll to decipher the Log, so the Log remains an unread enigma for now. Part of the reason that Bahiyya kept summoning a private, our-party-only meeting in our quarters, is in fact to display and discuss these findings. (There is a second reason, too, which will be made apparent in the next game session.)

On another note, I see that Kearse has the Amanuensis orison. That's wonderful! I strongly encourage Kearse to use that orison to copy key portions of the log and/or maps. For two reasons: (1) Because copies/backups are always good, especially when you're being tossed around on the ocean; and (2) if we decide to reveal any of these writings to the captain or others -- for example, "Hey, Lyrlord, have you ever been to this location here, or seen this poem?" -- it may be wiser to reveal only that portion of the writings, rather than waving around the entire journal, map, or whatever.

(Lyrlord, remember, is the merchant who's into maps, lore, oddities, and whatnot, and who had actually encountered the Earth Wyrd before and related some of that information to our party. He may be a good person to talk to about our findings, particularly if we are unable to decipher the Captain's journal on our own.)

As for re-enacting the ill-fated voyages of the "Dagon," "Call of Cthulhu," and other such stories, I'm just not going to dwell on that. Too horrifying. Big Grin
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#6
Amanuensis may not be as cool as manumission but it shall be used for the betterment of our odds.  Lylord (Skinyeard) is not our only go to guy for reading those logs (He better be writing "Freebird" or "Sweet home Alabama.), the Captain and his crew already hold us in high esteem.  Kearse only partially trusts Lylord for some reason, his accounts of his adventuring days admit to losing his whole crew, but was sparse on details, if you know what I mean.  Kearse wants to use Amanuensis to "fill" out our library.  In a fantasy setting, with an orison like Amanuensis, you would think books would be a dime a dozen; but they're not....  Oh yea, medieval  book burning's every five days, that's right.  The PC culture prevails with torches and pitchforks!
   
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#7
Yes, but resources -- paper, parchment, papyrus, vellum, and the like -- as well as ink, pens, and literacy -- are all still rare-ish. So amanuensis is, alas, only a partial solution in your quest to bake society to a warm, crispy, well-done state of biblio-abundance.

As for help in deciphering, sure, we can ask others for help. And it may turn out that the captain (or others aboard) know something about the Alexandra, or this slavers' group, or so on. I thought of Lyrlord primarily because he seems like the sort of person who would be adept at deciphering and reading codes and cryptic things.

If it turns out that he was actually a bard in the past, though, I will LOL. Big Grin
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