CH1: Falling in the Deep End

[Mysticsage]

Both your heart and mind were beating a mile a minute, as the fight or flight response kicked into high gear. The three of you had decided in that split moment to try to fight for your own survival. Powered by the sudden rush of certain death you watched the other two nod and begin to rush full speed on deck to their positions, with you hot on their heels the entire time.  Fueled by your emotions, and with a clarity of purpose, the three of you might be able to survive, your father always had stories of surviving impossible odds on sheer will power and a clever wit.

You had a plan, now it was just a matter of execution, and step one was to go hunting for clues before the ship went from bad to worse. This was perhaps your only chance to go hunting for anything useful before the storm would demand your entire attention. It was that knowledge that allowed you to climb above deck without even flinching as sheets of rain came crashing down on your collective heads as lightning wrenched across the sky like the claws of a massive dragon matched only by the ferocious winds.

In all the stories that your father told, he never really talked about the tunnel vision that occurred in these scenarios. At least not in a way that you had understood, until that moment, when you were really experiencing the full force of the storm for the first time. That tunnel vision to do what needs to be done, was allowing you in that moment to accomplish the most dangerous dead sprint you had ever done in your life without even registering what was happening around you. However, despite the dangerous environment you make it to the captain's quarters, drenched like a rat, winded, but unharmed.

Slamming the door open without a second thought and stepping through the threshold, without a second thought, that tunnel vision became a double edged sword. You were so focused on looking out for anything that might be useful left behind, you didn't even think to make sure it was safe.

The thought of traps never crossed your mind, until you felt the sensation of a tripwire snapping against the bare skin of your leg.

[info]give me a fort save for the sprint and a reflex save to try and get away from the tripwire.[/info]

[Schnizzer]

[info]
Fort: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+2 : 14 + 2, total 16[/blockquote]
Reflex:  [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+5 : 10 + 5, total 15[/blockquote]
[/info]

[Mysticsage]

Steady on your feet as you hear the snap of the trip wire, you manage to tumble back out of the room before you hear the smashing of glass and the lick of flames on your back. Turning around you see that the room had been trapped with a flask of alchemist fire centered on the desk and papers that had been your main goal.

[error]take 1 point of fire damage [/error]

Luckily, it seemed like the crew didn't have time to set up any kind of deadlier trap other than the single flask, so it was a simple matter to rush in and throw the papers that were actively burning out into the storm to extinguish itself.

Doing a quick search of what was left, easily accessible, and not horribly scorched, you find a couple of things, a compass, a half-burned sailing chart/map, a set of common lock picks, a broken trip wire, some dried foods, and a charred scrawled note that had avoided most of the fire.

There does seem to be a few places where things may be hidden, including the drawers of the drafting desk was at the center of the blaze, and a chest at the foot of the bed. However, to look deeper into any of these places would require time

[Schnizzer]

Armand's eyes went wide as he heard the little snap. "That little rat bastard..." was all he managed to get out before diving back out in time. Armand patted his back off and grabbed what he could salvage cursing himself. "Rookie mistake and you should know better!" He chastised himself as he looked through what he was able to save. He put two lockpicks in his belt pouch and hide the third one in his pant leg. With his luck, he would need it eventually. He then took a quick look at the note to see if he could learn anything new before trying to figure out where they were with the map and compass.

[info]
Sleight of hand for concealing a lockpick:[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+7 : 2 + 7, total 9[/blockquote]
Armand will read the note before attempting to not lead the others into death. [/info]

[Mysticsage]

The note is heavily charred from the fire, but the few bits that you could make out read as:

Follow the course-

-The Unicorn-

-We have provided you with plenty of-

-Sir Herlock-

With this, our deal is done.

These scraps are blurred and separated by the various amounts of charred spaces that remove most of the context.

[Schnizzer]

Armand stares at the note and tries to make anything out before growling and tucking it into his shirt. "No time to figure it out now," he thought to himself. He then turned his attention to the map and compass. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself as he attempted to remember his father's lessons. His attempt to calm his nerves obviously wasn't working as he was still getting tossed about by the rough waves. He held the map and compass and attempted to figure out where in the hells they were.

[info]{roll} Trying to figure out where they were and what direction they needed to adjust, as needed.
Knowledge (Geography) [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+4 : 20 + 4, total 24[/blockquote]
[/info]

[Mysticsage]

Using the compass and the remnants of the map, you were actually able to get your general bearings, at least you hopped. Mapping the route that you were supposed to take and accounting for possible drift due to the storm you thought it might be possible to avoid some of the worst currents. Raynolt for his part seemed to have control of the sails. He had managed to climb halfway up the mast and secure the sails so that the ragging wind wouldn't end up tipping the boat sideways. However, all the stability in the world meant nothing if the person steering didn't have the strength to wrestle the boat under control.

Veritas was trying his best, but the half-elf wasn't even in the right weight class to be trying to wrestle a boat of this size. Your route was the only reason that the boat wasn't completely dashed by the waves. More than once Veritas lost complete control as the boat even despite the sail continued to pick up speed. The boat groaned heavily under the protest of the storm, making sounds like a dying whale, that was far from pleasant.

"I can't keep the wheel under control!" He screamed, but something else caught your attention.

A wall, no- a mountain, of fog, that consumed the entire horizon in every direction. With its stark nature seeming to merge the sea and the clouds it was clearly unnatural. And at the speed you were going, there was no avoiding, only a few seconds to think before being consumed.

[Schnizzer]

Under better circumstances, Armand would have enjoyed watching Veritas struggle. This was not the best of circumstances, so he would have to laugh about it after surviving this. As he heard the sounds of the ship under the stress, He leapt into action and ran up to Veritas to help him at the helm. He didn't like the look of that wall of fog that was ahead of them but it was in the direction he needed to go. As he stood at the helm with Veritas, he stared ahead with determination on his face. Armand was going to make it to that island if it were the last thing he'd do. "Everyone get ready and hold on! We're going in!"

[info]Armand will try to help steer the ship.
[/info]

[Mysticsage]

In your attempt to steady Veritas, you have to wrap one arm around his waist and the other around the wheel. You manage to keep him from slipping or hurting himself, but the path of the boat was too far gone to recover from as you made contact with the mist.

And you did make contact, with the mist. As the ship rushed forward, instead of slipping through the dense fog as you would have expected, instead it acted almost like a solid wall. As the waves pushed you forward the ship began to tip upwards. Like a cart struggling to climb up a hill, the boat continued to turn upright. Just when the fear hit you that the ship, for some bizarre reason, might tip head over heels in the process, the fog gave way like a knife through butter.

In one swift motion, like a knife cutting through butter, the ship literally split apart the fog. Your stomach was in your throat as the boat was propelled through the tear in the fog with a mightly slam. The fog quickly shifted to fill the gap that you left behind as you moved faster and faster as you couldn't even see an inch beyond your nose. Here in the mist, all of your senses seemed dulled, as if you were being surrounded by cotton. Despite the soft nature of your surroundings, every hair on your body stood on end, and a tingling sensation ran up and down your body. Though that might just be the adrenaline talking.

"This fog seems to be an entirely different weather pattern, than the surrounding area. I haven't heard of anything like this. Even from the mast, there is nothing but white," Raynolt calls as he climbs down.

[Schnizzer]

[info]Has the storm abated in the fog or is it still going?[/info]

[Schnizzer]

[info]Perception: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+6 : 6 + 6, total 12[/blockquote][/info]

[Mysticsage]

As you look out into the fog, trying to get a sense of the storm, you realize that you hear the storm still but the rain has significantly lessened around you. However, the thing that catches your attention the most is the lightning. Your boat seems to be traveling at a fast past, but the lighting that you see casting dark blue shadows through the mists of white seemed to be moving in slow motion. This is the first time that you have seen the actual structure of lightning, as it tried to claw through the fog. However, as you watch the lightning instead of falling in straight lines it curved oddly in unnatural circles right before your eyes. As if someone or something was actively bending the storm in the fog to their will.

One bolt of curving lightning arched across the sky drawing your sightline further into the distance, and that's when you saw it, like a second sun, A white orb floating in the sky. The first bit of real light you have seen in days.

[Schnizzer]

Armand watched the lightning and was bothered by a few things going on. Before he could panic he had to figure out what was going on. He shouted out to their master of sails, Raynolt, can you slow us down at all?

He then took a moment to study the light and lightning to figure out what he was seeing and how much danger they were in. He then looked over at his sponsor to see how he was fairing. No, he quickly thought to himself. Raynolt and Veritas were probably the only two people he could trust right now. They were in this together, sink or swim. He chuckled to himself, poor choice of words perhaps.

Veritas, How're you liking your adventure so far? Have you ever heard of anything like that? He smiled and there was a grim humor in his voice as he spoke up to the young man next to him.

[info][blockquote]Rolled 1d20+4 : 16 + 4, total 20[/blockquote][/info]

[Mysticsage]

"The wind is acting weird in this fog," Raynolt said with a grimace, "the sails stopped moving the moment we entered this place."

However, it was the orb, that held your attention. As you focused on that orb that tingle that had begun to crawl up and down your skin intensified till you could feel it in your bones. Whatever that light was, it seemed to be the source of the influence, the magic, that seemed to be drowning the space in power. A level of power that would make even powerful mages sweat with envy. As you continued to look at it, something in the air actively shifted, and a thought crossed your mind at that moment.

What if, while you were looking at the light, the light was looking at you?

With that thought in mind, you turn to speak to Veritas he chuckles with nervous energy. "We're all alive so far, so that's a plus. I didn't plan for a sea of fog, but I guess this is one way to start things off. But I think we have a bigger problem the wheel refuses to turn. It's like its frozen."

[Schnizzer]

Armand's eyes went a little wide as he started to walk away from Veritas. He wasn't a fan of being watched and certainly not by a giant floating ball of light in the sky. I wouldn't celebrate not being dead quite yet. Raynolt, we have a problem and I am not sure how much time we have. Whatever that is, He pointed to the ball of light in the sky, I think it knows we're here and is pulling us in. I need you to keep an eye on that and around us. I want a warning before we run into any more trouble.

He then moved quickly to the captain's quarters. Veritas, I'm going to check to see if there's anything else we can use or learn in the captain's quarters. He wasn't sure if there was more he could do so he decided if the ship were out of their control anyway, he would take a moment to find what he could that may be useful to them.

[info]Going to try and actually make a quick search of the captain's quarters besides what was on top of the desk
Perception: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+6 : 13 + 6, total 19[/blockquote] [/info]