Upon a Sea of Flame Part Eleven
Seventh Day of the Fifth Month 293 AC
"Well met, captain Sword-Sunder. I must admit, the Golden Wind is truly an impressive vessel. Rarely have I seen its equal." After all, you are not without your own skill at flattery, and from the way Yrten nods proudly as he instinctively polishes the smooth ebony railing to wipe away some imagined speck of dust or soot, it seems to have found its mark. Turning to the mage you add: "Greeting, Wisdom, we have not yet been introduced. I am known as Scalathrax Ashbringer."
Her bow is low and graceful, seemingly unburdened by the grimoire in her hand: "A honor to meet you. I am known as Siduri, weaver of enchantments and at need binder of fiends. My mastery of magic extends to the sixth circle, and neither am I helpless should battle draw close." So saying she draws forth a silvery weapon that seems half-way between a pick and an axe, a faint greenish grow racing up the metal as it is unveiled.
You respond to the offer with a tale of your own strength: "My retinue and I have just returned from translocating three Efreeti Turtle ships, captured by sword, spell, and claw less than an hour ago, to my realm far from the Plane of Fire. Although two were taken completely intact, I regret our enthusiasm was too great for the third to withstand. Still, I am certain my vassals are capable of salvaging something of worth from its broken keel." It is bragging, yes, but with a purpose. It would serve all here well if they knew enough not to attempt treachery. You would rather have the Golden Wind's aid, perhaps some day its service, over its broken shell and the bodies of its crew.
The crew seems suitably impressed, eyes widening and urgent whispers passing from one to the other. Yrten by contrast chuckles in his beard: "'Turtle ships...' I'll have to remember that one for the next time I fight the ash-sniffers. It'll be sure to rile'm up something fierce."
"What are the ships called by their masters?" Tyene asks curiously.
"'Shields of the Sultan,'" the Azer captain replies. "A lot of the things that come out of the City of Brass are 'of the Sultan' to account for some lickspittle looking for scraps of favor."
"For something called a 'shield' the damn things hit hard," Waymar interjects. "What weapons do you have here, captain?"
"Well now, we don't have the brass bastard's pockets, but we make due," Yrten replies. He motions for some of the others to descend into the lower decks.
Still wary of treachery, likely from knowing a pirate's mind too well, you decide to descend yourself, taking a more man-like form. Not precisely fitting to the prideful persona you sought to present, but then the very fact that you entered a town and
paid for information likely put a dent in that image.
Below decks you see five light ballistas set on the sides and two heavy ones on the fore and aft, all wrought of ebony and brass. The bolts gathered beside them are all tipped with true silver, the better to pierce a devil's hide. Looking closer you spy arcane markings carved into the haft of a handful of the heavy bolts, the power of
thunder bound to stone and metal.
Enough to easily shatter the shields of even a formation of legion devils should it come to it...
"For lesser champions I can add my own enchantments to bolt and arrow," Siduri explains. "Though devils need no slumber they can be
forced into it."
"You have no intention of boarding yourself, then?" you ask, recalling the boarding bridges you had seen on deck.
"Considering the rather
unfair advantages baatezu have over the rest of us, I suspect they shall come to me whether I will it or no," the mage notes, a small grimace twisting her features at the thought. Able to defend herself or no, it is clear she disdains fighting face to face as much as her captain seems to appreciate it.
Ser Richard nods at the attitude, and were you not in the company of allies of dubious loyalty he would no doubt make some remark about how much easier his task would be if you followed that philosophy.
"Even if they ain't sleeping, this'll fix the damn devils," Yrten says as he holds up a vial of cloudy oil, glowing faintly as though a moonbeam had gotten lost within. To the second sight the vial seems to hold a much stronger enchantment than can usually be bound in such a form. "Aeon's Blood thrice distilled this is, powerful stuff. One hit from a weapon dipped in this and even a strong devil's gonna be
sent back to Hell like as not. 'Course one hit's all I'd get, and I don't like the sound of 'like as not' when it comes to fighting their sorts. That's where you come in..." The implication to his words is clear. He has no reason to betray you because he is counting on you to fight and kill the more powerful devils, particularly if there should be more than one.
"Precisely what manner of fiends are you expecting?" Day asks from where she had been peering around the siege weapons, likely trying to figure out what they use for rope.
"Well there's bound to be some of them maggot boys..." Yrten begins.
"
Orthons," Siduri interjects with the tone that bespeaks of great familiarity in clarifying her captain's more colorful descriptions.
"I heard told this ship uses
Spined Devils for most of its scouting, though they've surely got
something that can see through glamours and such. Can't see a devil worth its horns who wouldn't think of that."
"And who would their commander be?" you inquire, knowing full well how mighty the lords among the baatezu can be, especially when one does not have the luxury of bending all your strength against them.
"
That, our sources didn't know," the mage admits. "Some sort of sage or oracle is all we were able to infer from how the ship turned around ambushes of less... well-prepared raiders."
"What about engines?" Ser Richard puts in laconically.
"They've shown hellfire belchers," Yrten replies. "The shit that comes out of those may look a little like fire, but it ain't nothing so clean. Burn the hide off a salamander it can."
Rina tenses at the mention of hellfire, though she struggles not to show her nervousness
For your part you are satisfied that the raiders are telling the truth and as far as you could tell holding nothing back. Thus you ask of their plan for the battle proper.
That answer is not precisely to your liking, though hardly unexpected. Yrten had planned for you to fly in first and use magic to get the devil's attention, then draw back feigning injury to pull the ship into the path of the Golden Wind,
veiled by one of Siduri's spells. Once the foe is close enough the raider ship would unleash a hail of bolts and arrows upon the enemy decks before drawing alongside to board.
What do you reply?
[] Agree to the plan, you are far more resilient than you look in dragon shape
[] Propose a counter plan
[] Write in
OOC: Solid social rolls this time around.
