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 Laughter is the only thing Ranka can be bothered to summon forth when she wakes up. The mutiny had gone down as planned, every step executed perfectly, only for a dragon to show up out of nowhere and destroy the boat. Hillarious. She wasn't going to get much done just laying in the sand in any case. Hauling herself up to a sitting position, Ranka takes stock of what's in her immediate vicinity. A length of wood that had once been a pole hook before the shipwreck damaged it beyond use for its original purpose. More importantly the wooden case she'd been pawing through right before the dragon attack was still there. She'd been frantically searching the belongings of the overthrown soldiers, and with a stroke of luck had managed to find her carving tools stashed away in a Dominion bootlicker's bunk. Snapping open the case she's pleased to find all of her chisels and whittling knives are present, alongside her most recent project. She'd been in the process of making a few more darts to supplement her normal supply, but the three she'd started on would work for the moment. Pleased as she is to have found some belongings, Ranka is side swiped quite abruptly as a wave of nausea overtakes her, the world dipping and swaying wildly. It had been several days since her last drink, and the boat sickness was beginning to return. A feverish sweat was flowing, and Ranka's fingers trembled as she continued to take stock of her person. Clothing was a mess. Her shirt was utterly ruined for the most part, thankfully Ghostwise crafts were a bit hardier than the shoddy work of the last land dweller village she'd passed through. The heavily folded silken sash she wore tied around her waist and chest was quickly knotted off in a few key spots and served to preserve her modesty, when combined with her water proofed mantle. Her trousers had thankfully fared somewhat better, they were torn in places but would work for the moment. Worst of all her boots were scuffed to all hell and it was unlikely she'd be finding any polish out here. Finally Ranka hauls herself to her feet, vertigo setting in and causing her to clutch at her head. Absorbed as she is with her ailment she doesn't recognize Secca is not of the shava when the woman begins speaking to her. Ranka lets out a faint dry heave before responding back in Nimhi <"The Sea was starving Sister, no one should risk its ire like that."> She shakes her head as she swoons, tremors setting in through her hands <"I just hope that its- >" She pauses and lets her head run through her people's lexicon of near forgotten words, "appetite? what was appetite..." she says quietly in Sarumish. After a moment she nods and continues,once again in Nimhi <"-appetites were sated, I feel like I'm still hanging over the maw.>" Taking a few steadying breaths, she barely notices as Secca briefly speaks with Mazhar and heads off to scout the area. Once she's managed to center herself to some degree, she stands and finally notices the skewered minotaur. Much of the shaking in her body is cast off as the shock of seeing a violently wounded person hits her. Within seconds of spotting him she's at Mazhar's side offering help to one of the mutiny's key players "Sea take those squid lovers... I'm not properly trained as a healer, but I've had to yank arrows before, this can't be that different right? Let's uh... let's get those out of you." It wouldn't do to have one of the castaway's heroes bleeding out on a beach or dying to an infected splinter. It takes some time to deal with Mazhar's javelin problem, but once it's been settled Ranka turns her quickly souring senses back to more immediate matters. The Sea would likely provide an abundance of food in coming days, the corpses of dominion soldiers and prisoners alike would draw scavengers of all sorts to feed on. The real trick would be finding enough clean water to sustain anyone still alive. quote:Rolling Survival to forage up a source of food and water for the immediate future. It'd suck to die of starvation right after surviving a shipwreck haha.
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May 14, 2018 04:11
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Ranka hummed as she meandered up and down the beach, anything to keep her mind of how the world was so unpleasant to be in with the state her body was in. First thing was first, the barrels that had floated up, a few buckets of wet sand were tossed in to keep the water from quickly taking them back. A few choice critters are pulled from the beach and tossed in the bucket she's found, enough for a quick boil in the bucket itself, but nowhere near enough to feed even the three castaways that had washed up on this tiny island. Her stomach growled as thoughts of what to make flitted through her mind, Mother Waclawa's makeshift fish cake coming to the top of her craving list. The Grand Mother had made do with what they had while deep inland and away from the fresher bounty of the Sea, birds that foolishly risked flying near the raft quickly found themselves turned into a gorgeously seasoned treat using all of the remaining shells from their dinners down the river. Starving, queasy, and all around upset Ranka clapped her hands together hard in an effort to refocus herself. The woman who'd been speaking the shava's tongue was returning, and it wouldn't do to be stumbling all over herself when she returned. She covered her ears when the bard suggested and was all the happier for it when the bellowing voice echoes out over the water. Looking green around the collar in the face of the noise, Ranka nods slowly at Secca when she outlines her plans "I figure we'd be along at some point, but I'm not gonna leave the biggun here alone, he's pretty rattled still." Ranka's lips twitch up on the corners ever so slightly as Secca makes a comical exit and reveals more of the shava language, Ranka gives a respectful look and nods responding in Nimhi again, her tone decidedly less stiff than when she'd thought she was talking to another of her kind <"It's all of our duty to go to the Sea in the end, but let's avoid it as long as we can. Go safely wave-sister. We'll follow your mark, if the behemoth is up to it.>" As Secca departs, Ranka turns her attentions back to Mazhar. Food would be taken care of with enough group work, water was going to be an issue, but with some travel they'd likely find a larger source to drink from. Next up was equipment and supplies. She'd need tools to build shelter with, but more immediately, the biggun needed a weapon. She'd seen him briefly in action while on the boat, but it certainly hadn't been with the comparatively tiny hand axes he had on him. Ranka wasn't willing to wade out into the ocean proper, but surely the lagoon itself would hold some debris that could be fashioned into a weapon. Ranka's discomfort at being chest deep in lagoon water is quickly rewarded as she stubs her toe on something jutting out of the silt, and immediately in turn managed to stumble face first into the water as her trouser's cuff hooks on something heavy. What she'd stubbed her toe on turns out to be a rather sturdy looking harpoon, a rather sizable upgrade over the half carved darts she had stashed in her carving kit, but the real prize of the moment is the massive slab of metal she'd tripped over. It takes her some doing, but a shava of her size can only do so much. Huffing and puffing with effort she calls out to Mazhar "Hey biggun! Found something you might have fun swinging around, could clear them cobwebs out of your head if you get the blood pumping." She's only managed to unearth a portion of the weight thing, but she offers up the top of a steel admiralty anchor. "Not exactly a normal weapon, but I figure with your bulk you could put a hole in a thing or two with this." quote:
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May 15, 2018 06:55
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Ranka gives a sympathetic smile as Mazhar lays out his condition, he'd taken the brunt of the mindflayer's wrath during the mutiny, so it was no surprise he was in particularly rough shape.. She waits until he's finished, best to not interrupt the flow if he's starting to come back to his senses. When the minotaur declares he's fit for battle Ranka gives a nod "You watch me and I'll watch you, I'm no slouch in a fight, even if I could use a drink right about now..." She gives a small sigh as the world dips left "Ranka. Ranka Volyn, of boat-clan Bondar. If you think that slab of metal will work out, well then let's chase down our fellow castaway, hopefully before she runs into something hungrier than us." quote:Joining Secca on her journey south!
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May 15, 2018 08:56
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Jogging down the beach in the state she's in is no easy feat wit her land sickness is not helping matters, likewise it's not a great feeling that Mazhar had resolved to follow her and she had to take three strides for every of his one to keep ahead. Rounding the beach reveals the bard once again, but thankfully it also appears that more have survived the shipwreck, one of which seemed to be casting a spell of some sort? Fear strikes out as a dragon roars, death surely coming for them from above. Ranka's brain freezes, inclined to simply have her lay down and wait to die in light of this terrifying stroke of luck, but the world decides to swerve violently in that moment and she goes tumbling head over heels in the sand. Ranka's ingrained training is less happy about the idea of simply giving up and so her body twists instinctively, the majority of the fall's force landing on her shoulder as she immediately springs back to her feet, the shock pushing her back into a full sprint as she sees Secca dive into the Sea. quote:Advantage on a Wisdom saving throw is 21 & 21 Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 08:36 on May 16, 2018 |
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May 16, 2018 05:09
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Ranka ain't scared of nobody or no thing!
. Even if I hadn't seen seen Dermid casting, he's essentially inflicting the frightened condition on everything that fails, which my Brave halfling feature gives advantage on saves vs.
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It was pretty plainly clear that Ranka wasn't exactly in the best state, her body swayed side to side and her face betrayed the sickened feeling she was dealing with. Given her tumble on the run over and having carelessly dropped a very pointed weapon, it probably wouldn't be the best idea to put anything sharp into Ranka's hands right now. The situation as laid out in front of her however seems dire, and dire situations call for drastic action. With a groan Ranka comes to a stop at water's edge and quickly pops open her carving kit, two of the darts she'd been working tumbling to the ground, but her grip finds purchase on the remaining one. Moving with disoriented purpose, Ranka swings her arm rapidly forward and launches her dart, far too early at a glance it seems. It's a common sight to see the members of a ghostwise crew armed with spears on the edges of their raft, stabbing into the waves with practiced ease and coming up with one or two fish from the river. River fishing is a task they're trained to do almost from the time they're physically capable of picking up a fishing spear. It's no surprise then when Ranka's shot sinks deeply into a shark's back, sure the "spear" she was using was an eighth of the size she was used to, but when the fish you're trying to spear is 100 times bigger than the normal fare you're after, old instincts more than cover the hard work. quote:Gonna be busy tomorrow so dropping this now. It'll resolve after whatever Dermid gets up to. Disregard if Dermind somehow kills every shark or drives them off Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 00:09 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 17, 2018 02:11
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There's half a moment's irritation on Ranka's face as she looks out to sea and realizes the harpoon she'd found was destroyed, but it passes near instantly. She'd been carelesa enough to drop it and the thing had been soaking in the lagoon for who knows how long. Easy come easy go. It's not surprising that one of the already short Ghostwise has to look up to a gadjo, but Urszula's particularly imposing height strikes a cord of jealousy, and in her already soured mood she ignores the woman, focusing instead on Johann There's a pang of familiarity as she looks at the young man's face, gears grinding away in the back of her. She stares awkwardly until suddenly her gaze takes on a predatory bent, the contents of a near forgotten bounty post coming to mind. This man was a potential incursion point for the things from the depths and close attention would need to be paid. Ranka cursed that Mother Waclawa wasn't with her, the Grand Mother was the Bondar's best exorcist and would know how to handle things. Getting her glare under control, Ranka gives Johann a small nod "If we can scrape together some tools, building a raft or a canoe isn't a problem for me. I'm not a trained boat crafter, but I've been building things on river boats my entire life." Ranka glances over her shoulder at the dissapating smoke and shakes her head. Tapping Mazhar on the leg she says "If that one out there-" she indicates Dermid "-doesn't get around to it, do go give that beastie a thwack or two yeah? Good eating on a shark and we could use the rations." There's another glance toward the smoke, and Ranka takes off at a jog "Not trusting that smoke... Either it's folk like us who escaped and just got spooked, or its surviving crew trying to signal for help. Either way it's not good to leave them be." quote:Forgot my lunch at home, so lunch break post instead of eating~
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May 17, 2018 19:26
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Ranka runs through a full gamut of emotions as she rounds the bend, surprised shock at seeing more corpses, mild alarm at the giant centipede as it scurries away, pleasure as it appears there's even more survivors of the mutiny, and finally irritation when she realizes it's one of the Sintali. Ranka let's out a sigh, she's dealt with some fine sintalese folk in her time, but the likelyhood of this being one? Pretty low given that he was likely on a prison ship alongside folk like that possessed man back at the beach. Ranka's circuit of emotions comes to a dead stop when the man takes a drink from a flask, her flask! Surprise, alarm, pleasure, and irritation are swept aside as a cold fury begins to roil away in her guts. Ranka's footsteps are rock solid as she walks forward, the heed paid to her land sickness pushed aside in sight of medicine so close. Shaking her head she points at the man's bird with her staff <"Boy"> Ranka pulls from what little of the spoken side of sintali she knows, using a descriptor reserved for a child in need of scolding before slipping back into the common tongue "today is a very, very! Bad day to screw around with me." Ranka lets out a brief sigh as she moves her staff from the bird and points to the dinghy "You! Mindful of the sun's place if you're going to bother hiding, I could see you a mile off." Her staff whistles through the air as she violently points it toward the sloop "You? You're not even fully behind that crate you moron, I could hit you with a dart if I had a mind to do it and you wouldn't be able to do a drat thing about it." Ranka doesn't even bother to stop pointing as she turns her gaze on Nax "Worst of all? You. If you're going to keep a pet? Try to train it not to look at the people you're working with." She clicks her tongue in irritation and spits "Ranka Volyn, I don't care if you've heard of me. I've been beating the ever living poo poo out of people like you for the last 15 years. That's seemingly behind me for now given this whole mess, but in this moment? You've got something of mine and I'll have it back." There's an errant pause as Ranka lets her words sink in, but soon enough she finally swings the staff in Rax's direction, pointing directly at her flask "Now you can go on and give me my flask back, and maybe I put in a good word with the other survivors we've gathered up." She plants the staff back in the ground "Or maybe you do something stupid, I crack this staff here off your head a few dozen times, and I use you all for bait in my crab traps." quote:Trying to Intimidate this prick into backing down/giving me my flask back
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May 18, 2018 00:52
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Ranka isn't particularly taken with the idea of being chained up again so soon, certainly not by a pair of amateurs like these. The Sintali's word meant all of two copper to Ranka, his people had been robbing hers for well longer that she'd been alive, but any potential ally in a situation like this was worth considering. Raising an eyebrow Ranka lets the corners of her mouth droop as she responds <"I expect you'll recognize the signal when it comes."> Standing still Ranka allows the Vendal to approach, and at the very last moment kicks her quarterstaff into the air and starts swinging. quote:Rolled a nat one on initiative, Halfling Lucky turns it into a 21 Initiative.
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May 18, 2018 02:44
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The gunshot wasn't really unexpected, but Ranka is certainly unhappy when the bullet actually hits. There's a moment where she attempts to express her displeasure with the rude fellow, but she had trouble finding a polite statement of dissatisfaction. Instead she lets out a pained blood curdling scream, doing her best to match the intensity of Dermid's dragon roar. Tightening her grip as best she can while ignoring the pain, Ranka stumbles to her left, propping herself up with her staff for a moment before lashing out with it as hard as she can toward the vendal's knee. She's rewarded with an unpleasant crunch, though given her state she's not sure if it's something moving in her body or the result of her strike, but the halfling doesn't stop there and quickly delivers a satisfying followup kick to the same spot on the now battered knee. Grunting through her teeth, Ranka glares at Nax pointedly and spits "This would be the signal." HP: 2/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 2/3 Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. quote:Move: Moving up to flank with Nax Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 04:31 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 18, 2018 04:26
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If Ranka weren't currently on death's door and fighting for her life, she'd be pleased to see Nax upholding his end of the bargain. As it is she's in far too much pain and not at all drunk enough to really care. Sunniva may be screaming in rage now, but Ranka's pained screams haven't really stopped. Raising her quarterstaff horizontally above her head, Ranka brings the flat of it down across the back of both of the vendal cutthroat's knees, punishing her for having the gall to turn away to deal with Nax. HP: 2/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 2/3 Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. quote:Action: Flanked Advantaged Quarterstaff vs Sunniva: 21 vs AC for 3 damage after resistances.
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May 18, 2018 05:23
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HP: 7/9 As the foes topple, Ranka goes slack to the ground, her hand clutching to her shoulder, fingers quickly plucking out the larger fragments of bullet before clamping down like a vice on the wound to ease the blood flow. Looking up from the ground towards Nax, Ranka gives a what she can manage of a shrug with her good arm "Told you there was a good few of us." A lot of the swagger has dropped out of her tone, bloodloss and shock from the wound reasonably tempering her attitude, but there's still a smirk on her face as she gestures with her head toward the dead Vendal "simple folk like that make a habit of bad decisions, but I'm glad we could get you out of a clearly bad situation." Ranka doesn't continue speaking, but gives Nax a pointed look, her voice echoing in his head <"Do see you don't repeat the mistakes of your former crew here, yeah?"> Ranka eyes the sintali up for a moment, it was always so hard to tell if their type would keep to a bargain, as she lifts her flask out of the sand and tries to drain any last moisture out it. Her flask well and truly drained, she clicks her tongue in annoyance and stashed the flask in a hidden pocket in her mantle. Absent anyone jumping to her care, Ranka begins to patch herself up with what she can. Ranka plucks what she can of the smaller bullet shards and then a rather delicate table napkin is pilfered from inside the rather nice mess kit she'd nabbed earlier, and is unceremoniously jammed into the bullet wound to further halt blood loss, after a time it seems like the bleeding has mostly stopped, so she extracts the cloth and ties it in a firm not around the hole to keep any insects from getting in. After tending to her wounds, Ranka meanders about the beach until she spots Rust, she inclines her head in greeting as she wanders up. Her posture is rather tense, her wound making it hard to keep up the mask of professionalism that would let a bounty hunter walk up to and talk to a mark, but it's clear she has no hostile intent. "Thanks for that. Figure I could handle myself if a melee, but certainly wasn't expecting that Hob to have gotten his hands on a gun let alone one in good condition." Ranka's eyes flit to the side as she continues piecing together what little she knows of Rust "Seen your posters from time to time, and they paint you as a particularly dangerous sort, but I 'spose I'm glad for that." When treasure starts getting picked over and Nax calls for a share, she jabs a finger at him and offers up her portion of a 9 way split, her voice echoing in Nax's head <"A promise is a promise as they say."> She points to the dead vendal and off toward the beach where the Hob's corpse was laying "Flashy hands here was in a pretty bad spot between the dead'uns. We had ourselves a bit of a mind talk and he agreed to help me out to get away from that lot." She tilts her head "Wouldn't trust most sintali further than I could throw'em, but this one seems alright." After the goods are distributed and treasures purloined, Ranka walks off and rests her back against the dinghy. Settled for the moment she glances down at the small treasure in her hands. The small wooden box was nothing special at a glance, but Ranka knew its like immediately and had eagerly plucked it from the pile before it ended up smashed for whatever trinket was rattling around inside. She spends a few moments sliding panels around and examining the script, but emotions take hold soon enough and she lets out an ugly choked back sob as tears begin to well in her eyes. The burst dam continues to unload for a few minutes, but eventually Ranka wipes at her face and lets out a sigh of relief as her grip tightens on the puzzle and mutters to herself in nimhi <"Grand Mother, your daughter is still on the path... Don't forget me.>" quote:Ranka will give up her share of the gold to give Nax a split. Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 08:10 on May 19, 2018 |
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May 18, 2018 21:08
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  When Ranka offers up her share for Nax, he seems more than a little surprised, looking off in her direction as she makes her way down with a pinch of his brow, letting her words wash over him. She feels that creeping voice come back into her mind. <A Sintali's words mean nothing more than the clothez he wearz. His debtz however mean everything. It iz good to be in debt to each other, as Nax Tirrinu is to Ranka Volyn by her vouchzafe.> They both owed each other something now. There was no reason to kill each other if they both had reason to collect one day. That was the Sintalese form of friendship, or at least, the start of one. Taking his four doubloons and spinning them in his finger, and with a palmer's trick letting them disappear one by one as they rolled down his knuckle and into seeming nothingness, he approached with some apprehension as she nursed her wounds, fiddling with his jacket and taking a knee down and then leaning back on a plank as he started to unroll something from the clothes. "Zay, did you know that Nax Tirrinu apprenticed to a barber in Zajtun? Nitte, you barely know him, zo you would not." He revealed a few tools, including a fine pair of precision scissors, a thread and needle, tweezers, and a metal syringe, very fine in point and made of copper, along with something wrapped up in brown paper. Barbers often work as surgeons, much as carpenters, when an apothecary or healer is not available. In the Sintales, barbers are a particularly prized profession, as hair is often seen as a sign of status and the focus of fashion among people. Though of course there is always rumors that the guilds of such things turn to other practices: Extortion, trafficking, and assassination, to name a few. Haphazard truce agreed upon, Ranka inclines her head when Nax reveals yet another hidden talent "Wouldn't have expected it from you, but I've been blindsided by folk before," she pauses and considers the past for a moment "Usually though it's the opposite situation, the humble fisherman hiding the fact that he's a trained knife fighter when I try to haul him in. That kind of thing." When he begins pulling out her tools she takes then hint and pulls the bloody cloth away from her shoulder, exposing the open wound to him "I'd hope you learned both halves of the trade while you were an apprentice? Or is this just a roundabout way of saying you don't like my hair?" "Za, can it not be both?" He offers playfully, holding the delicate scissors in his very practiced hands, as he looks up to her. "A bounty hunter, then? An unusual profession for the boat people, but Nax Tirrinu grew up here in the far west on the Cazzerides. Knew only of your people through stories, and he doubts most of them." Most. But it seems he would not know her by reputation, which is a mixed blessing. It would mean he has not heard all of the stories, though he has likely heard enough to think of her as diabolical enough, considering what the Sintalese especially say about the shava. He does however dutifully get to work at the wound. Its one thing to simply grin and bear it, but the bullet had shattered into several pieces. "We shall not be able to get out ever piece of the goblin's, but lead poisons the blood and takes away your years of life. Years are better spent lived, yes?" He looked up to her for a moment and then back to it. "Zay, what is the plan? Other than the obvious, if it is not too much to ask." Ranka lets out a pained bark of a laugh "I suppose I've not paid my hair as much attention as I could." She grimaces as Nax gets to work, extracting more shards of the bullet than she'd been able to by hand. Sitting and screaming isn't engaging enough, so she starts talking through the pain as best she can. "I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Sintalese nobility, but there is a good amount of bad blood between them and my people." She paws at the ground and picks up the small puzzle box she'd plucked from the treasure chest "Little objects like this, lost tidbits of our history, are things the nobles are fond of adding to their collections." Ranka goes silent, hissing through her teeth as a particularly jagged shard of metal comes out of her. Moments pass and after catching her breath, Ranka continues "I'm sure you know at least the very basics of the Shava lifestyle? Well, each ship has a single person known as a Seeker. We head out into the world to follow up on rumors of our heritage, sometimes returning with objects like this little puzzle. Our history is almost completely lost to us, so you can imagine how important something even this small is yes?" She absentmindedly slides a few panels on the puzzle around with her uninjured arm's thumb "Collectors get jealous of the amount of lost history we find, and so they take advantage of our need to take on passengers in leaner times and will steal from us. Seeker job number two is retrieving those stolen trinkets. Filling out generic bounties is more of a me thing, I've been away from home for too long." Ranka winds down, and sits silently, gritting her teeth as Nax works. When Nax inquires after a plan, Ranka is shaken out of her silence "So far? Gather as many like-minded folk as we can. There's plenty of food to be had on the island for now, so we won't starve. In the meantime I need to find some tools. A good hammer or two and a plane will start me and any other trade-minded folks we might find on the path to making a boat so we can escape." She sighs "Better than sitting around waiting to die. For me personally? I have a murderer to find, but I lost my only major lead when I was caught and thrown on the Ceaseless, so I don't really know what I'll be doing going forward... I've been gone for years, and I can't go home with nothing to show for it." "Do you mean the aristocrats, maestros or the patricians, Ranka Volyn?" He smiled at her question of the nobility. "Sintalese nobles are not just born. They can be made, or bought." Respectively, in that order. "All have a place on the Pregazzi. That is, what you might know as the Council of Twelve Hundred. Of course, by the very nature of that, only twelve hundred nobles can ever exist, whether aristocrat, maestro, or patrician. So, what happens when a new son is born, a new master releases his opus, or a magnate purchases his first fleet?" He chuckles. "They see a barber for a trim. Nothing should be allowed to grow too long untamed. I mostly know nobles by their hair, surely... But also their necks, Ranka Volyn." "Perhaps one day you might tell me what is worth Seeking, and I may tell you what is worth Collecting," and with a hiss between his teeth, and an extremely painful moment for Ranka, he extracts the last piece of shrapnel, raising a bit of cloth and pressing it down on her shoulder. "But it might be a bit sudden. Za, we have yet even to kiss, and sharing secrets seems far more intimate than that." His words are carefree as now, he moves to place the scissors down "Please press down," he suggested, moving to remove his hand from the cloth. The Sintalese were stereotypically obsequious, and nothing he said ever felt like a command. He began to unroll the brown paper, revealing a somewhat tar-like, brown substance in a paste within it. "For the pain?" He asks, testingly, looking at her with a inquisitive glance. It was rather obvious what that was. Those who became entranced by Sintalese culture were not known as lotus-eaters for no reason. "We'll see I suppose. I am, I expect, one of the more open minded of my people you'll find. I'm not opposed to learning what I can. Maybe teaching some in time." Ranka's teeth clack together hard as pressure is suddenly removed from her wound, but she obediently replaces his hand with her own when prompted. It takes the halfling a moment to recenter herself, but when she does she glances over and sees what Nax is offerring. Her nose wrinkles as she glances at it, but the incessant swaying is beginning to start again, and the sharp pain in her arm is more than distracting. Nodding her head, Ranka props herself up more steadily against the wood she's leaned against "May as well since you're offering." "Maybe so long as Nax and Ranka owe each other," he says, making the preparations as he moves to get a ember from the fire and brings it over to heat, taking a little tin spoon to melt the brown tar with. "We can be of assistance to each other." He keeps his attention entirely on the work, very precise and sparing with his movements. He is someone who has learned discipline at some time, despite his easy-going personality. Slowly he took a draught of the melted bubbling liquid into the metal syringe. "Though it might be unfair. The ask on Nax Tirrinu's end might be a bit high," he moved back, placing at first his hand overs hers on the wound, catching her gaze, and letting his hand move down to her arm, pressing two fingers until he found the vein, which took a moment. Her body was smaller, and he wanted to do this right, but once he found and tapped it, he set the needle against the skin. "I should like to see every mind-flayer dead and sinking to join the devils of the Nine Hells." Ranka considers Nax's proposal seriously, memories of her treatment aboard the Ceaseless and the fates of those who'd been hauled to the Captain's quarters. She gives a faint nod and begins to speak, first in Nimhi but she quickly corrects herself <"The Sea is a...> The Sea is a hungry thing. It needs fuel to keep back those things must remain trapped." Ranka's fist clenches for a moment as a few particularly unpleasant scenes come to her "You'd be hard pressed to make me not want to upkeep my part of the bargain." Ranka slips into nimhi as she trails off distracted by her thoughts of the Ceaseless, her tone almost reverent as she speaks again <"The Maw makes no distinction between meats."> quote:
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May 19, 2018 04:58
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HP: 7/9 Ranka isn't very talkative for the remainder of the day, she'd had an initial rush of energy after Nax's "medicine" had been taken where she'd been nearly been a force for matching Secca's enthusiasm, but halfway through collecting seafood she'd kind of just trailed off mid search and wandered back to the beach camp. People wandered to and fro, setting their skills to tasks that needed doing, and for the most part Ranka sat still next to a clattering bucket of shellfish. Ranka wanted to blame the lethargy on surviving a shipwreck, but between blood loss and the injection Nax had given her, it was clear what was to blame. At least everything was feeling rather pleasant. Given she doesn't have the energy to bustle around camp, Ranka lazily paws at the sand, eventually digging up several pieces of sun bleached driftwood. Absent the will to do any additional heavy work, she pulls her carving kit from her back pack and her hands fall into a well learned task. Her fingers feel numb, but Ranka has done the preparation for turning rough bits of woods into shavan craft work thousands of times in her life, little bits of her presence left behind anywhere she happened to lay her head. It isn't too long until she'd sectioned off some driftwood into 12 chunks and carved them down into 12 small rough discs. Ranka is still focused intently on her work when people begin to introduce themselves, mostly unaware of the conversation she draws another small knife from her kit just as things get going in earnest. In the hazy state she's in it takes a few prompting coughs and a jostling bump, but she eventually speaks, her voice slurred "Ranka Volyn... Bondar woodworker, used to be anyway." There's a few more rhythmic scrapes as she keeps shaping the edges of the tokens in her lap "Now I hunt people down and beat on them until they return what they stole or until I have to drag them to the person who wants them." As the conversation dies down and people begin settling down for the evening or preparing to take a watch, Ranka finally finds the power in her limbs to stand again. In doing so she nearly sends a bowl of soup that had been balanced on her thigh toppling to the ground. With a few blinks she looks up and sees that the sun is set, she shakes her head, guzzles down the now cold soup with a shudder, and sets to gathering up some suitable leaves and such to line a small sand pit with for sleeping in. quote:Doing a small fluffy side project as an inconsequential downtime thing. Pardon our dust
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May 20, 2018 05:48
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HP: 7/9 Ranka is an odd sight slumped against a box as she is, her hands really the only part of her moving at all, but she pipes up between little thwicks of wood being shaved down "Going down beach to find stuff," Ranka waves a knife wielding hand non-commitally, pointing at Nax it seems, or perhaps just flailing. The better part of a half hour goes by before Ranka jams herself into talks again, she'd managed to summon the effort to turn her head toward The Exalt and had been staring for quite some time. Her voice cracks when she talks again, but there's a bit more purpose in it "Gonna work on the sloop. Couple hours to hollow it out enough. It'll be tight, but better than sleeping exposed, at least until we find a better spot to camp."
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May 21, 2018 21:02
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 [Third Watch the previous night] It takes some time for Ranka to be roused from the slumber she's fallen into, the drugs she'd been fed by Nax certainly not helping matters, but after a few shakes and a less than friendly nudge of a boot she's up. The after effects of Nax's "medicine" aren't exactly pleasant, but the pain in her shoulder as been reduced to a healing itch. The scene isn't much different that it was from dinner earlier, Ranka is still carving away at a dozen round discs made of light driftwood, but now her fingers are moving much more deftly and smoothing away flaws that her intoxicated hands couldn't deal with. Ranka breaks from her work after a time and coughs awkwardly to address Quill "Glad you managed to get out alright..." She glances out toward the waves "I'm happy I managed to get you in on the plan, but it doesn't change the fact that it felt like poo poo to try pressganging someone into a dangerous situation." She coughs again, her throat dry from the aftereffects of Nax's drug and a tense situation weighing down on her "So uh, sorry about that whole thing. Again, glad you made it out okay." Quill had not slept well through most of the night. It was not because of his missing book, although that didn't help, but more that he had never slept without a roof over his head in all his years at the temple and in the musty back alley establishments in Iram. His internal clock and general restlessness eventually roused him from his fitful slumber to join his Halfling friend on the lonely night watch before the dawn. He had been watching the whittling Ranka that was doing with keen interest, in between watching the nearby jungle and shoreline when the statement directed at him caught him a little off guard. "No issues. We all live. We continue to live. This is good yes?" Ranka gives a slow nod "I guess for the time that's true." She pulls a piece of sanding paper and begins to grind away the rough edges on one of the discs in her lap "I suppose I can't rightly complain about being alive." It's been a good six or seven hours since Ranka had recieved an injection from Nax, and now that thr intoxicant was beginning to wear off, the gentle sway of the world was returning. Clutching at her mantle, Ranka draws her flask out and in a practiced motion unscrews the cap, but she gives a disappointed sigh when she realizes it hasn't been magically refilled. Placing her flask back in it's hidden pocket, Ranka sighs and corrects herself "Don't know how long I'll personally last without a stiff drink, but we'll make do with what we have." Quill taps his beak a little, watching his smaller friend having some issues, then he remembered the little trinket he had found earlier. The compass that pointed to Cockaigne, he had perhaps hoped that this was some sort of semi-magical location that pointed too... He wasn't sure where it'd point to actually but he expected it to at least point to somewhere, but instead it seemed to point to something. Deciding that, maybe his friend could use a little pepping up he shuffles over to her side of the fire, reaches into his robes and pulls out the little magical compass. "Gift?" Ranka tilts her head and gives a little smile when she sees the compass "That's a precious thing to give up in a situation like ours... You sure?" Ranka tilts thd compass back and forth, taking in the details of the fairly battered craftsmanship, when she notices the phrase carved in the bottom "to cockaigne? Someone you know?" "No. Identified, points to alcohol." He taps his talon on the compass and points into the direction of the needle. It was pointing towards one of the visible shipwrecks from the shore, even when he moved her hand slightly it still pointed directly at it to prove his point. "No good for me. Good for you?" Ranka barely manages to keep her eyes from widening so hard they split "That's... Uh, that's frankly amazing for me." Her grasp on the compass is almost reverant, and it's clear her mood has massively improved. It takes a bit before Ranka can even think to put the compass away and refocus on the here and now, but she eventually can peel herself away. Refocused she turns to face Quill and smiles "If there's anything I can do for you or make for you to repay this, you just need to ask." The Kenku grins, he'd hope she would like the gift and it seemed as though she did greatly. He motioned back to his side of the fire to resume his watch and- *Sputt* Looked down in confusion as to what he stepped into. Wet sand? This far from the shore? It seemed to be coming from a river running from the water barrels near the- "Awk!" He ran over to the water barrels in a start but, no it was too late it seems. There was a very noticeable lack of things that the pair should have been watching, such as the crabs, the bucket and a whole 40 Gallons of water and an even more noticeable copper tap hammered right into the side of one of the water barrels. He quickly reached out and turned it off. Ranka is on her feet in an instant, fists at the ready when she hears Quill let out a burst of alarm. Shes lets out a little gasp when she sees the scene and mutters a nimhi curse under her breath. Jamming a drying out branch in the fire, Ranka thrusts a temporary torch over the sand and narrows her eyes, there were a spread of light footprints moving toward the barrels and deeper ones weighed down leaving. With a shake of her head, Ranka moves to confirm her suspicion and gives one of the footprints and sniff, and the copper tap on the barrel the same. Wrinkling her nose she pulls back with a sigh "Kobolds. Looks as though they headed off toward the lava tube the hobgoblin from yesterday was trying to get to." "poo poo." Ranka kicked a clump of wet sand up and off into the distance "Looks like they're headed toward the lava tube off down the beach, the one without spiders, we should make sure the folk headed out that way know." Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 22:30 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 22:19
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Ranka lets out a faint whistle between her teeth when the galley party makes land "This is bigger than it seemed from camp..." People begin to depart however and she's quick to follow. It's hard to hide her natural curiosity about a ship so big, but Ranka manages to refrain from running out waist deep into the water to examine. It was a work of art compared to the lashed together junkers her people maintained, but she'd need proper daylight and some hours alone with the beast to truly learn anything major about it. Discarding her focus on the ship, Ranka hustles to keep up with Jan'ti, there's a palpable electricity in the air around Ranka as she follows, the compass to Cockaigne open in her palm and a smile on her lips "Whether we find anything else, at least we'll be finding the important things here today." HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 2/3 HD: 1/1d8 Ranka is Inspired! Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol. (Pointed at the far end of the galley) quote:Rolled a 10 investigate to learn what I can about this boat. Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 22:42 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 22:36
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Ranka takes another moment to run her fingers along the deck of the elder ship not noticing the whiff of rot in the air, her nose not quite rid of the foul rank of the kobolds after she'd taken another whiff to pinpoint their location, she's tempted to pull a hammer out of try to pry free a board, but commits to the idea of coming back another day with a large crew to pull the ancient wreck to pieces. The wood seemed to be alright and it would save her hours or days of work in setting up a proper shelter or perhaps even a cutter of their own. The overall state of the ship likewise sparks a hope, between the compass Quill had gifted to her pointing to some decent amount of stowed booze and the overall state of the outer hull, there was probably a decent haul of nails inside to be pulled from the parts of the boat that remained mostly above the waves. Ranka's hopes were similarly raised over the prospect of finding some measure of forgotten bounty, no sailor worth their salt would just abandon a good stash of alcohol, so it was quite likely there was a bounty of forgotten things laying about that could be of use in the coming days, whether on the island or after the party had made its escape. HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 2/3 HD: 1/1d8 Ranka is Inspired! Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol ≥ a gallon. (Pointed at the far end of the galley) quote:If Jan'ti wants to head on in after alerting us to the totally undead sailors, Ranka will one hand her quarterstaff and hold the torch with her other before dropping in first. I'm open to other approaches though.
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May 22, 2018 23:59
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"Foul..." Ranka stands defensively as she waits for the light to descend, she' utterly repulsed by what she sees, but it's hard not to recognize the intelligence behind putting together a rather tasteful, if macabre, display. Staring at one of the skulls, she motions for Urszula to bring the light over "Need to take a closer look at these." Moving from skull to skull, Ranka starts putting things together, her fingers running against cracks in the bone in some and mostly unmarred bone in others "Damage isn't uniform or even present in every skull, rules out a flayer." She takes another few moments and sighs "Gnawing looks more recent that the large trauma points on the skull too, likely done after the person was killed." Looking upward, Ranka squints at the little bit of light seeping in "The displays mean we're likely dealing with something intelligent, the wounds aren't uniform but are present in most of the trophies here. I'm thinking we're dealing with an ambush predator, who at this point is most definitely expecting us." Ranka's head is swaying, but there's a hint of fear and the optimism of having a good drink after clearing out this hell hole that cuts through things, so she nods and points to the nearest cracked open room "If we take this slow and careful, check each room to make sure whatever is here doesn't have any hidden pathways, then we should be okay." Motioning toward the back of the ship, Ranka suggests "Let's clear out the officer cabins first and then move our way forwards? I don't want to give this thing a chance to get the drop on us." HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 1/3 HD: 1/1d8 Ranka is Inspired! Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol ≥ a gallon. (Pointed at the far end of the galley) quote:DM called for an Int check because I guessed at mindflayer undead. Rolled a nat 1->Lucky'd into an 11->hero pointed to a 17 Learned some stuff and successfully extrapolated at some more Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 03:50 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 03:12
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"Oof... that's, uh that's not great." It was surely good that the critter beneath them wasn't going to be sneaking up on them any time soon, but it was still mostly an unknown and likely terrible danger. Ranka's teachings had never been aimed explicitly in the methods of destroying things like that, so she'd have to rely on the more worldly opinions of her present companions. It's tempting to just leave, but the undead beast lurking in this boat could easily make its way down to the beach, if it had a mind to, and murder them in their sleep. It was likely a hungry beast, and more importantly it was standing between her and a sea temperature incredibly old drink. It had to die. Ranka's party planning is put on hold by the appearance of a pair of skeletons begin shuffling through the waterlogged portion of the boat behind Jan'ti, not the most formidable of foes, but a good warm up. Slightly overconfident, Ranka tries to slam her quarterstaff into the nearest skeleton, but between her less than optimal footing, attacking through the water, and unfamiliarity with fighting the undead, she simply gets it lodged, jammed in the rib cage and subsequently lodged against the door frame as the skeleton turns to face her. Not one to be discouraged, Ranka hops to the right and closes in on the opposing bunk's occupant, she has to partially dive into the water to get at her foe, but a few quick underwater strikes result in a muffled crack, the undead's leg broken off at the knee. The creature tries to take a step forward in response to Ranka's assault, but finds itself stumbling through the water without proper support beneath it. Ranka allows it to clumsily fall past her, taking a solid grip on its lower ribs, and pushes with all her might, aiming the creature toward where her quarterstaff still jutted out into the hall. The extra heft the lanky skeleton offers isn't much, but physics isn't a kind customer and the force applied is more than enough to break the first skeleton's spine cleanly in half while shattering the second. HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 1/3 HD: 1/1d8 Ranka is Inspired! Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol ≥ a gallon. (Pointed at the far end of the galley) quote:Ranka makes a quarterstaff attack against the skeleton adjacent to her: 16 vs AC for Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 08:52 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 05:23
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Ranka barely manages to keep from gagging when the disgusting creature in front of her emerges in its filthy glory. Ranka's mouth was thankfully closed, the idea of that smell getting into her mouth almost more distressing than the gunshot she'd recieved the day before. The rattling of bone and the twang of bowstrings from behind her is not reassuring, and the sound Quill makes when he takes a nearly mortal blow is disheartening, but she had to keep her mind on the here and now. Jan'ti was doing a decent job of harrying the lacedon from in the water, and as it drifted back and away from her spear thrusts, it's met with a savage blow to the neck from Ranka's own weapon, a spinning roundhouse kick meeting it as it moves with the force of the first blow. The beast hadn't even had the time to hit water before Ranka was off, wading through the flooded hall to leap onto the ladder onto the deck, her staff being waved wildly above her to make any future shots the skeletons felt like taking much more difficult. HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 1/3 HD: 1/1d8 Ranka is Inspired! Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol ≥ a gallon. (Pointed at the far end of the galley) quote:TheNabster is away from their computer, but did mechanics in the meantime, Guiding Bolt hit at 19 vs AC for 10 radiant to the Lacedon.
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May 24, 2018 15:25
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The small collection of treasures is a pales in worth when compared to the bounty that is the cask of cider, if Ranka had her eay she'd crack it open now and simply start downing it, but equal shares was the name of the game with this lot, and it wouldn't do to start making waves before escaping. Bolstered by the fantastic discoveries, Ranka looks toward the end of the tunnel and lets out a drawn out sigh "Mother Waclawa always said not to leave any part of a wreck unchecked..." She begins pulling off her boots and lets out a disatisfied groan, focusing now on the hole the Lacedon had come out of "Quill, I know you're a bit rough off, but I could use a touch of encouragement if you can muster the strength to give it." Her mantle flops wetly to the ground and she gives it a couple taps to pop her flask out of its concealed pocket "Someone keep that if something bad happens yeah?" Ranka gives her arms and legs a quick loosening, and then makes to descend into the Lacedon's lair. HP: 9/9 AC: 19 Hero Points: 1/3 HD: 1/1d8 Features: Nimble: Can move through other creature's spaces. Lucky: Reroll ones on attack/ability/saving throws, keep the new result. Brave: Advantage on saves vs being frightened. Cockaigne Compass: Points toward the nearest source of alcohol ≥ a gallon. quote:Ranka will descend into the gross flooded hell pit in search of filthy lucre. She's spending her inspiration to negate the disadvantage of not being able to see.
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May 25, 2018 03:19
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Grime, rust, slop, bones, and a whole lot of nothing. Ranka was already uncomfortable having submerged herself in The Sea, but the lacedon's choice of decor certainly wasn't helping her to keep calm. The siren call of cider above was at least an anchor she could pin her hopes on, even if diving onto this hole didn't pay off. Just as she's about to discard the dive as a lost cause, she hits the jackpot. The sword in front of her wasnt a thing she could use, but it could likely come in handy for one of her compatriots, or be pawned off in the future. The circlet on the pinned skull would likely increase the value of the precious stone they'd found as well, if it didn't do something when fused back together, windjammers were an odd sort. The circlet comes free easily, the flesh that once held it aloft long gone, but the sword is another matter, lodged in the hull as it is. Planting her feet on the hull, Ranka lodges her small body between ship and the blade's crossguard and begins to push with all her might. [19 Strength check to remove the blade] The broadsword slides out, almost too easily. As if it were made for her hands, it comes free, glinting and almost blinding her with a flash of reflected light, and she feels a sudden, heady rush. There is a shudder in the water, but she's increasingly further, and further away. Suddenly, the feeling of water all around her seems to slide off her form, as her eyes open somehow a second time, and she gazes instead upon a sky full of stars. "Will you keep this promise?" The voice is silk, draping itself already with resignation at an expected answer. A visage is before Ranka now the likes of which she had never seen. Taller than most elves she's known, which is already quite tall for one of the shava, with platinum hair that drapes down to the ankles, covering a body that is otherwise only glad in gossamer, a heart-shaped face looking up to the constellations, and then down to Ranka. Dark streaks like tears down each side of her almond eyes. She waits for an answer. Ranka is overtaken as a myriad of sensations wash over her in an instant. It takes more than a moment for her to really realize what has happened, or to become aware of the towering being next to her. It had asked something, but Ranka wasn't sure if it had spoken and she'd missed it, or if it was just making a broad declaration. "My people and I are not inclined to break our oaths. What is it you're asking?" There is a moment, a ripple in this memory, at Ranka's words, but her eyes crease, understanding and turning back away. "Why else would I be ashamed to ask? And yet I must. I cannot bear losing you again." As Ranka settles into the vision, it feels more and more like somebody else's, yet all the same she also understands that her words have a certain power, worth weighing wisely. "Will you return to me? I will wait, you know I will. The sunset cannot last forever. The war must come to an end." Ranka takes her time considering what the being is saying. It seemed clear that it was treating her as someone else, but she'd never been incredibly experienced with these sorts of things, there were likely layers upon layers of subtleties to be missed. Her gut reaction is to release the blade and simply leave it behind, but to abandon something so old, even if it wasn't a trinket of her people's past, it was as close to sacrilege as the shava had. Ranka is hesitant, but she does eventually agree. Looking back on the moment, she isn't sure if it was the memories settling over her which influenced her decision, some base greed at the potential of returning this blade to it's previous owner's descendant in exchange for long lost tidbits of history, or perhaps just the naive willingness to trust that the shava had, which led to so many of their artifacts being robbed. A compact had been struck though, and Ranka was not one to go back on her words. "I am a Seeker of lost things, I reunite the stolen and the misplaced with those that treasure them. I root out history where it is lost. I will find you." quote:PC entrapment!!! I can't just say no! That'd be super lame
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May 25, 2018 07:12
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Ranka splutters as she breaks surface, snatching up her mantle and flask from the ground as she snaps at Urszula "Shut up and run, or we're dead!" The Seeker takes off at a sprint, heedless of the sudden lack of light. She smashes hip and chest first into many things, but adrenaline honed reflex sends her smoothly sailing over her obstacles, calling out to Urszula about every stumbling point she hits. In her head it takes minutes to escape into the sunlight, but in truth it's only a few seconds after the boat begins to sink that Ranka bursts onto the deck quote:Ranka is scrabbling her way out of the ship over anything that gets in her way, however unwieldy. Acrobatics result was a 19.
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May 25, 2018 23:42
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The quick trip back to camp is mostly a silent one on Ranka's part, still caught up in the fuzz of the half memory half vision she'd been thrust into. Eventually the remaining crew begin to rouse from their rest, and join in unloading the bounty the cursed ship had given up. Ranka does eventually decide to speak on what she'd seen "I'd swum down into the hole the reeking ghoul had come out of, and I wasn't really finding anything of worth, but then I find that silver sword stuck in the hull with the circlet there." Ranka indicates the pair and shudders "I'm pulling out the sword and suddenly I'm in a memory, I guess. I can hear myself speaking to this tall woman who'd appeared and the person who they were talking to was layered over my voice... It was odd." Ranka doesn't go into great detail over the specific wording of her promise, but gives a little shrug as she finishes up "Next thing I know me and the other voice are promising to find this person, I snap out of it with a dying person in my hands saying they can finally die, and then the sword is back and the boat starts sinking." Once the reports of ghosts and ghouls is done and treasure sorted out, Ranka points out toward the camp side lava tube "I'm sure some of you noticed the helpful addition of a spigot to our water barrel? Well it came at cost. We were hit overnight by a pair of kobolds who snatched some food and the bucket. I followed their tracks for a time and they seem to have set up in those lava tubes, or at least used them to travel to where they're staying, so eyes open in there." quote:Ranka is interested in one of the gaffs, her cut of the booze/money, and potentially hanging onto the signet ring as a clue, but I'm not super desperate to pick it up. Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 22:06 on May 26, 2018 |
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May 26, 2018 18:16
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While Ranka was less than pleased to have been back in the water so soon, she spent most of the downtime between arriving back and camp and setting off once more, scrubbing at her body to remove any remaining essence of the brackish water she'd been diving in. It took a good amount of time, but eventually she was back to the sub-standard hygiene level the rest of the castaways had started their stay on the island at. Sooner rather than later it's time to head out. Ranka does a quick rummage through her things, changing weapons, and tucking the dead ghoul's signet ring away in her mantle's hidden pocket before pressing it down with her now filled flask. The small sip she'd taken of the sweet nectar of the elves had been a blessing, but it was important to keep the good stuff stashed until she reached a truly dark moment. Her equipment sorted Ranka found her traveling companions for the morning and set off, there was plenty of beach to cover and likely a lot to be found before the oncoming storm deprived them of anything too nice. As she picks her way down the beaches, she nods to Dermid 'That trinket looks good once it was all snapped back together. I found the ring alongside this old thing " she gives the sword balanced atop the gaff, also balanced on her should, a quick flick "I guess the person was the captain, but something bad happened. Found them impaled through the face with the sword here." Ranka lets out a pleased noise as she sees something jutting out of the sand and begins kicking away the debris, she turns to Nax "You're a man of many talents, that bird of yours something more than I think, perhaps more well trained that I guessed? Or just a friendly tag-a-long you met on the path here?" quote:Rolled a 20 Investigation to try and rustle up some materials to make a sail from before the storm blows away anything that might be used.
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May 30, 2018 10:12
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Ranka, immediate thought on food, gives the shallows a good glance and nods "We should head back out here after the storm, see if the seafood here holds up. It'd be easier to gather in number." She continues to scan the shoreline and finally spots the sunken wreck. A long drawn out sigh escapes her lips as she considers what needs to be done, mumbling to herself "It fed on those sailors in whole, so sated for the moment?" Something changes in Ranka's face, her eyes hardening with resolve. She pulls her flask and takes a long pull from the Elven cider, might as well have a taste before doing something stupid. Placing her flask back in its pocket she turns to the two with her "There's sails out there we need. I'm not happy about the idea of this storm coming along and us coming back out another day to find they washed away." Sinking her feet into the sand, Ranka ponders what they'd need to do and gives a little half shrug "I'm not inclined to risk clan or crew on foolish errands, so I'm willing to head out there and take a shot at those. Not much of a swimmer, but I can probably sink down to the bottom and crawl through the sand some to avoid notice." She begins to place everything extraneous she's carrying and glances out toward the water, giving her companions a chance a moment to suggest alternatives. quote:I feel like doubling back to camp to get a boat, and then again to here probably exceeds our expedition time slot by quite a bit, so I'm okay heading out to try getting the sails. I'd prefer to have help, but Ranka is nothing if a bundle of bad decisions, so she'll do it alone if needed haha.
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May 31, 2018 10:35
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Ranka manages a shrug at Nax's questioning "Ranka Volyn will do what we need to survive and escape, the shava put the group ahead of the individual for the most part. I'm not a Grand Mother, so the drudgery falls to me." She falls into a contemplative silence as she prepares to swim and, after another pull from her flask, she dives. Things had been going fairly smoothly, but the sudden appearance of yesterday's foe was a daunting obstacle, but her breath was still far off from being strained, she'd managed not to tear open her palms on the reef, and cutting away the canvas hadn't caused too many ripples. Ranka would definitely be panicking if not for the thin veneer of bravado she'd displayed in front of her compatriots. It wouldn't do to panic now and attract the attention of the sharks, so she sets to retracing her steps, moving slowly and steadily through the water in hopes that things will turn out fine. quote:Nat 20(27) stealth check on the first die, but disadvantage so a final result of 15 Stealth to sneak on back to shore.
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Jun 2, 2018 05:50
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Ranka claws herself up onto the beach, gasping for air as she does. It takes her a few moments to catch her breath, but she gives the end up the sailcloth in her hand a few tugs, takes Nax's proffered arm. Giving another few huffs and puffs she finally stands back to her full, if not impressive, height and grins "See! No problems, one step closer to getting out of here, laden down with a bunch of treasure and bad memories." After re-equipping all of her belongings, Ranka takes a gander up at the sky "We probably have a little more time before we need to be back at camp for the river expedition to start up. I'd like to see whether or not there's more prospects around the bend or if we should just focus on going inland first."
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Jun 5, 2018 01:01
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Ranka's eyes bug out some when the trio come across the teeming mass of giant life. She grasps at a loose end of the fabric she has wrapped around her chest, rubbing the silk between two fingers as she takes in the scene "Well that there is our travel rarions likely solved, we might have to come out as a group to strike a few of these big beasties down for dinner, but it could be worth it." The trio weren't exactly pressed for time just yet, so Ranka spends a few minutes observing the crabs as they scuttle back and forth, common paths they tended to stick on becoming clearer to her. After keeping an eye out she points out a path through the weaving branches that would be a squeeze for someome walking on two legs, but would block the crabs from simply strolling up to them "We might not be in a huge rush, but I'd rather be done out here sooner rather than later. A detour down the coast might eat into the time that I need to work on the shelter." quote:Rolled a 22 survival to go through rather than around.
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Jun 7, 2018 02:02
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Ranka gives a little shake of her head in disbelief when Dermid brings up the absurd idea of becoming bored of eating the same food over and over again. She'd certainly broadened her culinary horizons since she'd been away from the clan, but her youth had well instilled a gratitude at having food of any sort, even if it had to be repetitive, being ungrateful for your stomach being full was ridiculous. She quirks an eyebrow when Nax brings up the potential threat in the crabs "Noted. If we do decide to tangle with these critters we should stick with ranged weaponry for as long as we can." She's ready to keep up the planning for their future hunting, when the scouting group finally clears the mangroves and emerged into sight of the cliff faces. There's a low and steady impressed whistle as Ranka glances upward toward the varied carvings "drat, if that isn't an impressive sight I don't know what could be." She takes a few moments to really absorb the sight, but eventually turns away from it. "This is a sight I'm sure will set some minds to wondering when we get back, but it's probably not the best day to reach for too much." She shifts around the pair of weapons she's carrying and hefts her sailcloth stuffed backpack "Storm is on its way and there's plenty of work to do around camp while most of the group heads inland. On another day I might want to put off some smaller job to go exploring, but I'd rather we didn't all die of exposure tonight. quote:If Dermid REALLY wants to go climbing a cliff to look at weird carvings we can, but it's probably a task better put off to when he can magically just float up and set an anchor/rope we can use to make exploring it easier
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Jun 10, 2018 07:29
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Ranka is irritated for a moment when Nax takes over the burden of carrying the sailcloth, but it quickly passes. Juggling a naked blade, a fishing gaff, and yards upon yards of canvas was clearly not working particularly well. The made it back to camp in a timely order however, so she's grateful for the presence of her taller companions. Ranka's hands fiddle with the puzzle box of her people's make as she relays what the beach team had found "I had a little swim with that shark, and it's friends, that were hassling Urszula there. Managed to get that sail cloth, but no luck getting your javelin back Mazhar, it's still pretty stuck in the critter." There's a constant clacking as she works her hands, winding down from the trip "plenty of man sized crabs to be found out that way, so we'll likely be fine for food if I can get some kind of drying rack up?" She shakes her head a bit "More interestingly there's some signs of civilization! There's a cliff face with all sorts of odd animalistic carvings running up it. Interesting, but the cliffs themselves seem pretty dangerous to deal with." She shrugs as a few sliding panels on the child's toy click into place "Something for another day to be sure, but there may be an interesting thing or two to poke at up there." It only took a minute or two for Ranka's report of their neighboring surroundings, and in that time she's worked the old toy, meant to teach children pattern finding, open which sends a small glass lens, a monocle framed in wood, tumbling to the ground. The shava were known for their wood working, so the reveal of glass work as a development is rather exciting. Looking through the lens is an experience in itself, etched on and through the glass is a faint outline of a sprawling landscape. Ranka was simultaneously 100% sure she'd been to this place, but likewise absolutely sure she'd never been in such a place. There were no bodies of water visible and the landscape itself seemed to stretch on for miles in all directions. In her gut she knew it was an image from before the Sea began to swallow the world. Ranka had only intended to glance at the thing for a moment, but she's transfixed by the image, and the better part of the hour break has passed by the time she can pull herself away. As soon as her eye breaks contact with the lens, memories come flooding back to her, fresh as if they'd happened the day before. Mother Dusa, cracking her across the back with a switch for having missed such simple clues in tracking her target. Mother Waclawa, disappointed with her daughter for having spent so long on land and getting flustered trying to jump between. Dusa again chiding her for focusing on easy attacks to the tall people's knees when so many vulnerable spots were attackable from her lower position with a staff in hand. Ranka's hands are shaking when she places the lens back in the box and snaps it back into its original position. She rises to her feet slowly after a time, and while her body continues to sway uncomfortably, the steps she takes along the sand are perfectly balanced. She glances up and down the beach, her eyes scanning the sand and immediately picking up the scattered trails of all her compatriots. Ranka's body has started to sway once again in the aftershock of her recollection, her brain still convinced she's on a rocking boat at all times, but for the first time in over a decade the feeling is almost comforting. So many things had happened that she'd begun to forget her roots, her reason for Seeking. Ranka hadn't been aware of her connection to the Sea for such a long time, she had been so close to becoming truly deaf to the call, but that ancient connection had suddenly snapped taut once again, threads of iron winding into it and strengthening it with purpose. quote:Dumping my full gain list in the ooc thread since it's huge, but the short of it is I gain a bunch of gear prof, 7 hp, I'm better in combat and tracking vs Humanoids, I have advantage during initiative, I ignore difficult terrain, and I make camping/traveling a hell of a lot easier. Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Jun 14, 2018 |
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Jun 13, 2018 04:00
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Tasked with figuring out the best way to haul the lot of their goods inland, Ranka opts to take a more proactive approach. She was certainly well versed in finding trails and spotting common dangers, but given that the task of the day, scouting upriver, had yet to be done, she sets off ahead of the group. Heading inland by herself proves to be an oddly easy task, booze addled reflexes are beginning to sharpen once again in response to her new mostly sober state. Months ago Ranka would have likely been stumbling through the underbrush, kicking up a racket that would alert everything within a ten mile radius as to her position, but today she's swiftly and silently darting between positions and paying no mind to the roots and vines failing to trip her up. Ranka is gone for a good while, returning just in time for the camp's assorted odds and ends to have been stowed for transport. Gear ready and other tasks being done she gives a small nod and reports "Thankfully not much to report, most of the critters have gone to ground in light of the storm coming. I didn't come across anything likely to cause us problems unless we suddenly start jamming our heads down every hidey hole we come across, bellowing the whole way there." As the expedition makes to head out, Ranka returns to the front, darting out into the woods and returning every few minutes to report on any changes that might have occurred since her last sweep through. quote:Just squeaked by with a 13 Stealth. Decided against using Urszula for a Help action, so she's still available and I deffo recommend using her now that we've got a success locked in! Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Jul 1, 2018 |
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Jun 29, 2018 11:04
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A shiver runs down Ranka's spine in light of their new arrival, but Dermid's performance had already knocked that set of cobwebs loose and Ranka manages to refrain from locking up in terror. Snatching up her reclaimed bucket, Ranka quickly scoops up a pail full of soil and dumps the lot on the beginning traces of a fire and stomps it out before it can really get going, it wouldn't do for the dragon to sight a smoke trail, however small, and just come and breathe lightning down their little hideaway. Her main concern set aside, Ranka defers to Mazhar's urging and retreats into the lava tube in search of safety.
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Jul 4, 2018 04:56
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 00:44 |
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Prior to Leaving the beach The swiping back and forth to pick a captain had been a somewhat emotionally taxing experience, but thankfully it was behind them. The group still had a few more minutes to organize before they needed to burst into action, and so Ranka sat down with the promise-bound longsword across her lap. She'd plucked what seemed like a wand out from the pile of goods the spider cavern team had salvaged, and was currently turning it over and over in her hands in search of clues as to what it might be. Her haphazard examinations had revealed a pair of labels she'd sussed out to mean off and on, and with an exploratory fiddling, she was rewarded with a sudden flourish of bright light jabbing off a short way into the distance. A mystery solved, Ranka turned the useful object back off and set to stretching. She'd be creeping her way through jungle and swamp here soon enough and it wouldn't do to cramp when she might have to be creeping past some murderously inclined insects. As she limbers up she stares at the promise-bound blade resting in the sand and sighs as she complains in Nimhi "<What will I do with you...>" She took her oaths very seriously, but the thing was longer than she was tall, and without any sort of sheathe to help transport it she was risking her own safety keeping it close while trying to sneak about.  A brilliant flash of light flickers by Ranka's head, gleaming in the sudden pillar of light, as the chakram blurs back into existence, buried deep in the truck of a nearby tree. Secca calls out just a little too late, "Watch your head!" A moment later, the half-elf jogs up to reclaim the chakram. She rubs the back of her neck, saying, "This thing is pretty crazy! It's here one moment, gone the next. I think it even comes back if you throw it right." A beat later, she adds, "Are you doing alright, Ranka?" If Ranka had been in the height of her training she might have sprung out of the way on instinct when a projectile flew through the air near her, but rusted as she is she foolishly just looks toward where the bladed ring had made impact and gives an impressed whistle. Finishing off her form with a few satisfying pops along her back, Ranka returns to her feet proper and gives a small shrug "Just dealing with the weight of everything. Physical-" she pulls her mostly empty flask out and gestures toward the lunargent sword "-and emotional." Her glance lingers on the blade for a moment and then slides over in Nax's direction "I've made a few foolish oaths, in odd circumstances, since we've been shipwrecked, but I intend on seeing them done." Ranka is silent for a few moments as she thinks about her situation, but eventually she pulls out the signet ring she'd scooped up earlier and rolls it between her fingers "I think you said it was House Jagganoth this was from? The ghost, or whatever it is, hiding away in that blade there wasn't exactly forthcoming with answers as to where it needs to go. I'm hoping that lead will pay off, but I have to wonder if they'll even humor a known criminal long enough to find out." Secca considers Ranka as she speaks. It was certainly fair to be stressed. It wasn't as though she'd turn down a quiet day of pampering herself, not that she was anywhere near the necessities for such relaxation. She nods, "I think that's very admirable, Ranka. There's something to be said for meaning it when you give your word, even if the circumstances are a bit... odd." That much, at least, was something the courts were lacking in. Oaths were little more than another method to manipulate and tease out advantage. She'd always found it a little disappointing, really, given all the values that the ballads and poems celebrated. When the conversation turns to the ghost and the House of Jagganoth, Secca looks thoughtful as she says, "Well, I certainly hope so. Suffice to say, any help I can offer on the matter is a given. It might take some time, once we're back on the seas, but I'm sure I can ply connections to arrange a meet." Ranka holds back a small groan as Secca praises her integrity, mildly ashamed of what had happened after she'd been shot, but her oath with Nax had been made, and unless he proved to be a traitor she'd be joining him in ridding the world of Flayer kind. Back on topic, Ranka releases a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when Secca offers her support "I appreciate any help you can offer... she's just so miserable. It's already a shame for something to be separated from its people, but to be tied up in a thing that's just been lost to time in a place so damned by the Sea as this? It's just an unbearable shame." Fishing the blade out of the sand, she offers it hilt first toward Secca "Neither of us really have the bulk to be swinging a hefty blade like this around, but if you're willing to promise her your help, the Lady trapped offers up some protection against all sorts of creatures, no need to actually do anything other than hold the blade in your hand." Ranka's face clearly shows she's a little conflicted over the sharing or passing off of a burden, but after a moment her reluctance clears and she nods "My size making the literal part of carrying this burden harder aside, it would be good for the captain, Our Captain, to have some extra protection up her sleeve." Her fingers flex around the grip as she proffers the blade "I can understand if you'd rather not get deeply caught up in a heavy task like this, but the offer is there if you'd take it." Secca does, indeed, take it. She says, "Well, I'm not sure if I relish the idea of needing extra protection, but... it seems it'd make your life easier, so it'd be churlish of me to refuse. Perhaps you'd find that chakram more to your liking?" She gestures with her non-occupied hand at the blade still sunk deeply into the trunk. "It seems like it may well help us escape the island to have you armed with suitable weaponry. From what I saw on the beach and heard of your exploits on the ship, you've no little skill when it comes to matters of that nature." Holding the blade aloft, she intones in Sarnathqar, <"O Lady of the blade, I solemnly swear to complete your mission upon my name, Seccacosantza Tolto VII. May you find the rest you seek in the days to come."> "I'd appreciate that." She gives her leg a pat as she walks over to pry the chakram out of the tree "I'm handy in a brawl, but closing the distance has never been a strong suit. If this little thing can return to the hand like you've said, I could get quite a lot of use out of it." With a small grunt of effort Ranka extracts the bladed ring from its new home in the tree trunk and turns in time to Secca making her vow in an unfamiliar tongue. When the miniature moment of ceremony is over, she lets out a sigh of relief "It's a heavy weight lifted to know I'm not working on this task alone." Ranka squints as she looks off into the horizon at the building storm, and soon enough she's back to business with her head cleared "If there's anything I can do to repay your help <Shipmother>, you only need to ask, but right now I should probably get to scouting ahead." Secca smiles, "Of course, Ranka, I'll be sure to let you know. And..." She looks up at the storm for a moment, then back at the halfling. "I'm sure you'll be doing more than enough in the days to come." quote:Secca has come into possession of the Lunargent Longsword.
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Jul 4, 2018 05:03
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