The Voyage West RP

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Corth had been staring at the icon, trying to figure out how he would destroy it. Then, suddenly, it seemed to dissipate piece by piece into the air.

Did I do that? thought Corth to himself as he tried to figure out who - or what - had destroyed the pearl. A few seconds ago, he had been intent on destroying the item. Maybe Vailorath... Corth stopped the thought as soon as it began. It was ridiculous.

Corth turned towards Ryllen. Having your God abandon you - for that is what it certainly looked like - was a devastating experience as Corth well knew. Corth only wondered what act of desperation Ryllen would take, now that he had been ousted as a fiend worshiper.

Corth had to wonder what would happen if people found out he was - or had been - a devoted follower of Vailorath?

 

"It's done," Kala muttered softly.

"How many row boats do we have aboard?" Kala demanded of the nearest crew member she could spot.

 

The nearest sailor to Kala, a Northlander with skin weathered by the elements responded.

"There aren't any rowboats aboard. Isn't a lot of reasons for a longboat to be carrying one. Even a ship this size still has a shallow keel for river travel and we'll just beach the ship like any other longboat when we reach our location. Raiders can't rely on small craft to take them from the boat to the shore.
"We don't need them at sea, for if this ship goes down, it's going to be the gods who save us. You sink and the gods leave you be out here, you'd die of thirst before you reach land."

 

Silandris was starting to have a grip on what was happening on the board.
He wriggled a bit and said

"I dont want to obtrude my opinion but we dont know if deamon worshipers ever comited any crimes.
Yes...deamon worshiping is bad bussiness but maybe some of them can be saved.
They should probably be thoroughly qustioned"

 

Max turnd to regard the Half-Elf who had just spoken. He hadn't payed much attention to the man before, but thought he should offer advice.
"First point I feel I should make is it's Devil worship we are dealing with here. Not Demon. Geting the two confused can result in a painful death.
Secondly, the man obviously knows nothing of value to us, unless you with to hear him go on and on about the beauty of his patron. I am againced the idear of execution and since the necklaces dissapearence, we can probably say that Lycaenia has abandoned him to his fate, whatever it may be."

 

Silandris listened looking the human directly in his eyes

"We cannot hold a man captive if he has done nothing wrong.He didnt harm anybody on this ship
and as far as we know he is innocent"

 

"Innocent of what exactully? He confessed to the worship of one of the Fiend Lords, which is a crime in almost every land in the world.

However if you mean he hasn't harmed anyone I would agree with you, but what is to be done with him is for the captain to decide I belive."

With that said, Max walked off to the other side of the ship and stared off into the horisen again. It's not that he didn't care what happend to the man, but he was a fool to have anything to do with Lycaenia, or any fiend for that matter.

 

"Master Spellman is correct. We are aboard someone's ship. We respect their law as we would in another country. The descision is the captains, even if we dislike it."

 

Silandris followed the man with his eyes as he left for the other side of the boat
"He doesnt understand" he thought in himself
"A man does all sorts of stupid things when cornered and sees no exit" he took a deeb breath
and closed his eyes
" Yes I suppose you are right" he turned his eyes towards the woman that stood right beside him
"Its the captains call"
"But anyway I will stay with my opinion that this deamon worshiper needs only to be reasoned with not punished, at last not severly"

 

Alandra spoke up, a strange glimmer was in her eyes.

"We're at sea, any death through drowning or exhaustion would be at the hands of the gods. We don't die at sea without divine intervention... the death of sailors from shipwrecks cames at the hands of Lothgar who governs over shipwrecks and he prevents Yuteko from saving all of the sailors. Sailors die of thirst because Emun denies them water. Sailors drown because Selogan drags them into the murky depths. Some just die because Illorun was there. However those deserving in salvation receive the mothering care Yuteko can bring and return to land hardly for the worse. If we turn Ryllen over to the sea for the gods to judge, a good goddess like Yuteko can hardly stand by and let an innocent man drown or die of thirst for crimes he didn't commit.
"Don't mistake this for being the same as when a god allows a murderer to kill an innocent man, for here we've taken the dagger from our hand and truly given it to the gods."

 

"Very well. If that is the way it is done at sea, then that is the way judgement will be carried out."

 

Urgeld scratched his head.

"Well we certainly can't keep a man who admitted to following a Fiend Lord aboard this ship seeing as the Devil Lord he worships may return to him sometime later in this journey."

"Which is why we should take off his head." spoke Haukor.

Urgeld shook his head, "I'll kill a man when he's armed in battle or a man doing harm to another, but I shall not allow an execution in front of me, a warrior shouldn't one who can't defend themselves."

Urgeld looked out at the sea.

"Maybe there is merit to Alandra's suggestion. I've always believed the gods only intervened when necessary, but I suppose there is more chance for fate to act if we turn to the sea."

"We'd best pray that Lady Lyceinia doesn't return to him as he's at sea, rescuing so he can cause harm when he returns to land." said Aewilar, "Though I can't imagine she'd find much reason to aid him when he has nothing to offer her. I can't imagine a devil like Lady Lyceinia would help him live when his death means his soul is hers."

"Someone bring me an empty barrel, I won't be so cruel as to simply throw in him in cold water." said Urgeld.

 

Corth got up - stiffly, now that he had a sore hip. I'm too old for this he thought. Corth was shocked to find that the crew of The Sea Giant were so stupid - even for sailors.

"Are you kidding!? The Gods don't give a damn what happens to us! If we throw this wretch Ryllen overboard, he'll drown. Nobody cared about him when he was in the ditch, and nobody cares about him now. Lycaenia - A Fiend Lord - is not going to help him now that he's failed - miserably."
Corth looked at Ryllen, quivering. Half the crew wanted to chop his head off, and the other wanted to throw him overboard. His future didn't look too bright.

"If you're going to kill him. Then do it. But don't say that it's 'in the Gods' hands'. Because it's not. It's in our hands. We decide to throw him overboard, or we decide to cut his head off."
Corth looked at Haukor - a potential zealot if Corth ever saw one, which he had, many times.

"After he's dead - or overboard - that's when the Gods intervene, if he goes overboard, then one of the Gods will pick him up - which I doubt. Even if 'The Gods' make him drown, it was still us that killed him in the end. If we cut his head off, he dies here and now, and, someone like Ryllen? I think he'd go straight to Vailorath."

Having said his piece, Corth had to find a place to sit down. His hip was surely going to bruise.
Damned Wizards...

 

"I second that" Max said from the other side of the deck where he had been thinking.

"If we drop him in a barral in the middle of a blasted Ocean, he is going to die as surely as if we cut off his head. Do not expect the gods to interfear. He is a single mortal with a soul who's fate is already decided."

 

"I agree. It would be probably for the best if he stayed on the ship under close guard and some heavy labor.We have nothing to loose.If he causes trouble we can easily trow him overboard"

 

An unexpected roar echoed across the longboat and Mogrub charged Ryllen, the ogre's greatclub came crashing down upon the comparatively fragile body of Ryllen, quickly extinguishing the man's life. An air of shock or at least surprise fell over the ship as Haukor, one of the few who seemed to be unfazed by Mogrub's actions, spoke up.

"Well Mogrub has done what must be done and spared us the moral debate.

Urgeld on the other hand was clearly livid.

"By Borgerix, why did you do that? You acted as the same mad follower of Cerborar you where when I first met you!"

"I was doing what I was told."

"Who told you to do anything?"

"Voice in head... different ogre then me."

"Why did you do as it said? Didn't I make it clear I wasn't interested in killing a defenseless man?"

"Ogre made me feel like old self again... angry."

"And why where you angry?"

"Ogre said that the man I killed hated me because I'm not human and them who hate ogres would punish me so I got angry and smashed him."

"You stupid ogre, most humans hate ogres, but you don't kill them because of that. You hated humans when I first met you. Anyway, why did you listen to the voice?"

"It seemed like something I should listen to."

Urgeld shook his head.

"I want you to go to the back of the boat and wait for me there. Then I'll decide what to do with you."

Urgeld then went and found Aewilar.

"I leave Ryllen's "burial" in your hands."

Aewilar nodded and headed towards Ryllen's body, Urgeld in turn headed towards the rear of the ship.

 

"So she wanted him dead? That's why I don't traffic with the infernals. Great way to end up dead and damned in my opinion."

After the last reminents of Lycaenia actions had been handled Max went below deck to think.
He had so many lose ends in his life he knew he was going to get tangled in them eventually, but the... incident... with the demons so many years ago would do more then that.

It would see him dead, damned or both.

And the demons knew it.

 

Silandris turned pale.He wasnt sure on how to react.He wanted to say something to the captain but he reconsidered.He looked around too see if others were as sickened as he was.
His mind froze and he felt helpless.
There is no point of sticking here-he sadly said
and left for the storeroom

 

The day gave way to uneasy night. The ship was settled in an uneasy silence, the events of the day weighting heavily on the minds of most for clearly an outside force was at work here. The crew awoke to a red sky in the morning, a bad omen according to sailor superstition. As the morning progressed into afternoon, storm clouds moved in on the longboat blowing a stiff wind against the longboat. Urgeld began to shout orders to have his sailors prepare the ship for rough weather. Amidst shouting orders, Urgeld's head swiveled and a look of shock came over his face.

"Prepare to repel boarders!"

It quickly became clear what had caught Urgeld's attention, grappling hooks had become embedded on the "rail" of the sides of the longboat. Before the sailors had time to dislodge the grappling hooks, scaly, animalistic faces appeared over the sides of the ship. Urgeld drew the axe from his back.

"Sahuagin! We won't let them overwhelm us as they have done to other voyages! Now is the time to prove yourselves my fellows, find yourself glory!"

A snarling sahuagin boarded next Urgeld becoming the first casualty of the battle. The sahuagin put up it's trident in hopes of catching Urgeld's axe on the down swing, but Urgeld's superhuman strength drove the magical axe straight through the trident, splitting the sahuagin in two. Shortly after the first sahuagin death, Mogrub left the imposed isolation that Urgeld had put him in, an unsafe look of glee in his eyes. The sahuagin came poring onto the deck of the longboat with more climbing up all the time.

 

The storm had come on almost to fast to be natural. Max thought.

However all thoughts of bad weather were driven from his mind at the sight of the borders.

Sahuagin? Here? This isn't their roaming grounds is it? Regardless I have no intention of falling to these vermin

He let lose with a wave of force that sent one of the invaders flying into the mast. The sound of it's spine snapping was audible even over the storm. Max followed up with magic missiles that sent two more to their death, but they kept coming.

He couldn't use fire because the waves would make it usless, and lightning would kill all those on deck. He would have to stick with energy, and sent another magic missile into the fray.