"I think one of us best get o'er there" said Fairbanks "I'm a bit busy at the moment; you mind?" replied Flynn, still trying to get the two ships as close together as he could "Not 't all, not 't all" Fairbanks pulled a device which looked like a modified crossbow from his pack and launched it over to the frozen ship. The device was clearly of Fairbanks's own invention, and it let out a puff of reddish smoke as it fired. The projectile was a large hook attached by chain to the launcher, and it landed draped over the other ship's spar. Fairbanks retracted the chain with a crank so it was secured on the spar, then he leapt over the Renegade's side, swinging toward the Lunar. He landed too low, and slammed against the ship's side, but he was only a few feet away from a hole in the hull, which he climbed into. He threw the device back to Flynn, who caught it and offered it to the rest of the crew. "Anyone else need a ride?"
Ryan didnt wait to find out if everyone else was going, and at the first clash of steel he pulled off his leather belt and tied it around his hands then proceeded to cut the rat line which attatched to the main cross brace of the sail. he grabbed the rope and swung down, letting the rope wizz through his now leather bound hands. in a few seconds he hit the deck - hard and rolled to his feet with a small amount of injured pride. the boat in question was simply huge the little sloops mast hardly reached 1/3 of the galleons masts . 3 firing decks and possibly 2 sleeping decks. probably 80 guns and although the hatches where closed on this side Ryan didnt suspect anything less than 12 pounders. Ryan landed roughly mid-ship and the first thing he noticed was the absence of a main mast and in its place was a 6 foot stump comprised of splintered wood. there was an indent on the deck where it had landed and a section of railing missing on the port side. the other three masts appeared intact if a little chipped but the sails looked like the bed sheet his last dog fought him for - torn to shreds. obvious cannon ball holes and and possibly chain shot for good measure. the two story aftercastle and most of the railing was peppered with grape shot (a charge of ball bearings instead of a cannonball) yet there were no bodies on the main deck the rigging that usually attached the main mast to the rest, and to the deck were either missing or snapped and blowing in the breeze. Jogging to where the confrontation had taken place he saw William come from below deck cleaning off his weapon "what was all that about then ay?" asked Ryan
As Ryan spoke, a scuffle could be heard below deck, and Fairbanks let out a yell, followed by a loud popping noise--one of Fairbanks's kinetic pulse bombs. "William? Ryan? I do believe I've found the captain!" Fairbanks emerged from below deck holding a disheveled and filthy looking man by his arms "He seems to be under the impression that we're pirates"
"He seems to be under the impression that we're pirates" "well bugger me sideways and take my hat!" Ryan exclaimed as mimed taking his hat off and bowing to the newly found captain who could not stand upon his own two feet. the man was just past middle age with gray flecks through his hair that reached his shoulders and was most likely intended to be tied up. the deep wrinkles on his cheeks and neck showed that he spent most of his time at see. but the most interesting feature of this man was the scar that ran from the corner of his mouth to his left ear, which was missing a lobe. Fairbanks gave a questioning glance at Ryan who replied "oohh we go way back, see this?" he motioned to the scar "this was a present from me a good 5 years ago"
Hey guys... Name: Johannes Tryst (Johan for short) Sex: Male Age: Early 40's Class: Water Sorcerer Physical Description: Before he was shipwrecked, Johan was moderately athletic and handsome. His face is only marred by a long thin scar that runs across his face, given to him by Ryan Whitecastle in a barfight. However, since the incident, he has become much more pale and gangly, with a noticeable stoop due to lack of nutrition. He is about 5' 11" with long, stringy black hair (originally close-cut and clean). He also grew a beard while he was shipwrecked. Background: Johan was born and raised by a modestly wealthy family on the island of Mattara, where he was pampered and provided with a good education. He also had a natural gift for water sorcery and became moderately famous on the island. Johan became incredibly wealthy by using his water abilities for monetary gain: he bought cheap, infertile plots of land, then enriched them with his abilities and sold them at a much higher price. With his wealth growing, Johan decided to travel the world at the age of thirty, circling the globe for ten years and continually making a profit off of his abilities. At 41, Johan, now a rich man, decided to return to Mattara to retire and live out the rest of his days in luxury. However, on his way back to his homeland, his ship, The Lunar was attacked by a horrible sea beast known as the Irithid. The entire crew was killed almost instantly; Johan was spared only because he had rushed downstairs to find where a leak was coming from that was sinking the ship. To his dismay, he found it in the treasure room, where the rising water had swept away most of his gold. In a stroke of luck, however, one of the Irithid's eight eyes was looking into the room, and Johan, thinking quickly, grabbed a broken board and jammed it straight through the beasts' swollen eyeball. The Irithid, in immense pain, retreated to the bottom of the ocean, but the damage to The Lunar was severe. Although the ship remained afloat thanks to Johan's ability to freeze the water around the boat, thus keeping it seaworthy, much of the sailing equipment had been damaged beyond repair, and it was impossible to even entertain the thought of fixing a ship of it's size with only one man. For five months, Johan drifted at sea in The Lunar surviving only off of the large food supply and water he changed from salt to pure with his sorcery. He is still out there, shipwrecked... Personality: Johan is a little bit "unhinged" from all of his time lost at sea, at least at first. While not totally insane, he still can sometimes have a hard time discerning between reality and fiction. Nevertheless, he is still intelligent, and can easily socialize while not confused. He is also an expert businessman and can get impossible deals to become reality. Johan can be a little stuck-up sometimes due to his former wealth, but deep down, he's not a bad guy. Inventory: Johan only has the bare essentials on him. He wears sodden and ripped clothes, but it's clear they used to be fancy. He also carries a small knife, a piece of one of The Lunar's tattered sails wrapped around his waist like a belt, and a small box of nails (even Johan doesn't know what he needs nails for, but for some reason he likes to keep them around). He also has a canteen of water that he carries around. Skills: Refraction- Johan can reflect projectiles and magic attacks, shooting them back at their throwers. This move is relatively simple and does not take a lot of energy to execute, so this is Johan's usual move. He has become relatively experienced with it, and is able to use it in clever and inventive ways. Ice Shards- Johan can freeze water around him, then use Refraction to sling it at the opponent or freeze the ground below their feet to make it slippery. This takes a fair bit of energy to use repeatedly, so Johan takes care to use it wisely. He can also shape the ice into points, and can even make a makeshift "ice sword". However, while it can cut through whatever a normal sword could cut through, it can't withstand much punishment and thus can't be used in an actual swordfight, as it would shatter. Enrichment- Johan can use his abilities to fertilize ground and clean wounds. While he originally used this to make a profit by fertilizing ground, it can also be used to quickly clear a wound or flush poisons out of the body, thus helping someone heal. Besides these, Johan is also somewhat proficient with swords, particularly rapiers. However, he is not incredibly strong and tries to stay out of close combat. Like many water sorcerers, he is a quick learner and can figure out how to do simpler spells after a brief time. Element: Water ----------- Johan was sleeping below deck. To anyone who happened upon him, he would probably be mistaken for dead, as his breaths were shallow and soft. Johan felt a bump as the ship rocked suddenly. He popped up, instantly awake. "Whaza?! Lindle, did we hit something?" There was no sound. Oh, right... he's dead. Sounds of someone moving could be heard on deck. Johan wearily got to his feet and rushed upstairs. As he rounded a corner, he ran face-first into someone else. Startled, Johan reared back and suddenly heard a loud popping noice as something in front of his face exploded with the force of a bomb, stunning him. Strong arms grabbed him, and he was hauled upstairs, only half-concious. The first thing that he saw once his eyes had adjusted to the daylight was Ryan Whitecastle. "You! You still owe me 56 aurei!!!"
Fairbanks continued holding the man with his arms behind his back. "I think it's time you tell us what you're doing here" he said in a vaguely threatening tone "and what happened to your ship"
Johan struggled harder against Fairbanks. "Why would pirates care about me and my ship? If it's gold you're after, I don't have much anymore, but I can pay you back if you can take me to Mattara!"
Flynn had steered the Renegade close enough to the Lunar to lower a boarding plank. "Laredo, stay and watch the ship, will you?" He crossed the plank to the Lunar. "Who's this, then?" "Evidently he's had a bit of a financial squabble with our friend Mr. Whitecastle" answered Fairbanks "other than that, you know as much as I"
"You! You still owe me 56 aurei!!!" Ryan smiled at the disheveled man and snorted which may be taken for laughter. "i owe you? ye always were as tight as a cats ass." and before anyone could interject Ryan continued "As i recall that money was mine by right and just 'cause yer lost yer shipment dont mean you dont pay yer your protection!" then to the others on board he explained " 'is name is Jhoan Tryst. a cunning fool if i ever met one. The only merchant who could by a loaf with 3 sticks and a Grya Nut. but in saying that your probably best tossing him over board..."
"If it's gold you're after, I don't have much anymore, but I can pay you back if you can take me to Mattara!" Bentolo tapped his iron-toed boots on the deck with a perceptible click-click-click. The man was lying, weak on the deck. If they took him on board, they'd have to provide rations, maybe twice, three times as many as usual, just to keep the man alive - he seemed pudgy from years of trading, and would probably have a voracious appetite. Bentolo was unpleasantly reminded of his father's accountant, a red-faced, jowly man who had imagined he was good with children, yet in reality terrified and disgusted women and small animals. And he was demanding money off the crew - further, a quite substantial sum. He took his pistol from its gaudy holder and pointed it down at the man. "You have one minute to tell me why I shouldn't put a musket ball through your skull, sir. And I warn you - I've had to eat termite-infested sea biscuits for the last four days, so this had better be good."
"Like I said, I'll reward you handsomely--wait a second!" Johan seemed to be talking more to himself than to the others now. "Why would I run into Whitecastle here? This all seems too suspicious... Aha! Of course! This is all another hallucination!" A sad smile came to Johan's lips. "I thought I'd finally get off this stinking wreck. Ah well..." Johan began humming absentmindedly, periodically glancing to see if the others were still there. "Hmmm hhmmm hmm hmmm... if I stop thinking about them, they'll go away... hmm hmmhmmm..."
"I think we best bring him aboard the Renegade" said Fairbanks "Aboard the Renegade?" said Flynn "You're as mad as he is! Why in God's name would we bring him 'long with us?" "Well we can't just leave him here" "I think we bloody well can leave him here, don't you see he's loopy?" "He'll die if we don't help him" "He's managed this long hasn't he?" Flynn turned to Johan "How long you been out here, anyway?"
"Hmmm hhmmm hmm hmmm... if I stop thinking about them, they'll go away... hmm hmmhmmm..." Bentolo turned to Fairbanks and, with a deep, resigned sigh of frustration, addressed him: "You're right. We don't need to keep him, and we can kill him at our convenience at any rate." To Flynn, before Fairbanks could interrupt: "No way are you getting any sense out of that man until he recovers a little. I'd put a bullet through his head if I could be sure he was lying, but until he warms up a little, there's no point." He placed a hand on Johann's forehead, focusing on drawing power up his arm and into the man's temples. If all went well and uninterrupted, the man would be unconscious within ten or so seconds.
"Hmm hmm hmm-- wait a second! I'm not supposed to feel hallucinations! So you must be real!" Johan grinned widely, exposing surprisingly white and clean teeth. "I'm sorry we all got off to a bad start. My name is Johannes Tryst, water sorcerer and merchant. I am at your serv..." Johan passed out from Bentolo's powers.
Johan woke up later aboard the Renegade. He had been put in the captain's quarters, which smelled overwhelmingly of pigeon dung. When he woke up, Fairbanks was sitting on a crate near his bed. The crew had been taking shifts watching him, as they were still unsure what he might do when he woke up. "Good to see you back, then" said Fairbanks. He got up and shouted through the open door "He's awake!"
Ryan stood at the wheel of the ship when the shout was heard. "He's awake!" 'oh great' he thought to him self. The captain could only mean trouble to Ryan, who had no doubts that the captain would try to take command of the sh- His thoughts were interrupted as something caught his attention sitting on the horizon. "Someone get up mast and tell me if that is land i see." he shouted out to all those on deck
Johan rubbed his forehead. Things were still pretty fuzzy. "This isn't... The Lunar... This is your ship?"
"This isn't... The Lunar... This is your ship?" "Aye, welcome aboard the Renegade." replied Fairbanks "We couldn't very well just leave you be on that old junkbit of yours, could we? Lucky for you Bentolo o'er there was able to whip up some sorcery; I can assure you Ryan's plan would have involved a significantly greater amount of smacking." They heard Ryan's voice from the deck "Someone get up mast and tell me if that is land I see." he yelled "Excellent; any luck'n that'll be Kargaroc now. 'Course, I'm not looking forward to going up a canal to the lake. Locksquatters are worse than pirates, you know. At least pirates admit they're robbing you. 'Course pirates are also more like to slit your throat, so maybe not." He left the chamber to get a look at what Ryan had seen.
"'Course pirates are also more like to slit your throat, so maybe not." "It's not too late for that." Laredo called out as he shimmied down a rope to meet the newcomers. "I know you guys said you were hungry for something other than stale sea biscuits, but I ain't eatin' no people. That just don't sit right."
but I ain't eatin' no people. That just don't sit right "when the choice be between yer mate and yer crap you might change that opinion." he said it with a tone to suggest he had been in that situation. "now climb up that bloody mast and tell me where we are."
now climb up that bloody mast and tell me where we are. "I don't need to climb no mast to tell you that. We're in th' middle of a damn fog bank. That's where we are." Laredo crossed his arms and cast one eye upward as he spoke.
"When was the last time you got a sober look at the place, Morgan?" said Flynn "Look, the fog's cleared up already. I reckon it was just coming off of the Lunar. I can't be sure, but I'd wager that's Kargaroc we're seeing now."
