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Post by Vazad on Feb 17, 2017 22:30:02 GMT
"Yeah, I'll give it a shot. One sec." Ezra turned and scavenged some wire from one of the ship's lanterns. Snapping it in half and bending each piece slightly he tried to fashion some makeshift lockpicks. He approached the chest and got in close, listening for the click of the tumblers. His hands worked quickly as he attempted to pick the lock. Guile to pick the lock = 15
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 18, 2017 0:38:08 GMT
Dropping his disguise before they got moving, Victor spent his time adjusting the sail rigging, and manning the wheel. It takes a lot of his concentration but it's clear that he's an old hat at this, with cloak billowing in the brisk wind on the aft deck. At Gladius' comment about piracy, there is a distinct tensing of his imposing figure. "From the age I had a choice, I've made an honest living. Pirates only know how to take what they want, consequences be damned." His tone was gravelly, and the large man draped himself over the wheel for a moment to hold her steady. "We're all convicts now, walks of life got no bearing on it." Victor offered Gina a pitying glance, brow furrowed over his white eyes. "I know a few places we could head, but come daylight and high water they'll be after us cannons blazing. Also got no gauge on stores. Gina, mind taking a count belowdecks? I can't leave the wheel if I want to stay with the current to keep our distance." mMK3C5Zo3d6+1 General Edu (Sea Knowledge/Navigation) 3d6+1
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Post by HeadPikachu on Feb 18, 2017 2:51:58 GMT
Gina did her best to help Victor while Gladius and Erza focused on their box, though to be honest she had never been ON a ship, so she just ended up holding things and staying out of the way. At least she tried. She'd probably have to learn quickly, given that this was her life now...Victor said exactly what she was thinking as far as the convict situation went. She had been thrown in jail unjustly, yes, but now there wasn't much else she could do. Part of her wondered if she shouldn't have just kept her head down and not bring out her guitar earlier, maybe avoiding all this mess and getting back to her old life, but then again being a young woman around a bunch of drunk Marines was likely not going to end well for her anyway... Shaking the thought from her mind, she nodded at Victor. "Erm, right." She nodded, first trying to find the way below deck, then heading below deck herself to take count of everything. Dolly, meanwhile, found a nice little perch on a railing and settled herself on it, relaxing as relative peace and quiet returned to her little bird life. Gina had forgotten to return her after Erza treated her, and had been on her shoulder being adorable during their little escape. ...Now, what DID they have down here, anyway? Perception: 11 GenEd: 7
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Post by JPThunda on Feb 18, 2017 6:37:25 GMT
Gladius stood over Ezra's shoulder, watching him eagerly and fidgeting now and again, but when Victor spoke Gladius turned to face him.
"Hey, it's not all about taking stuff," Gladius said with a frown. "A big part of it is doing whatever you want, without other people telling you what to do. You know, being free," he said with a smile. "Besides, not all Pirates are the same. I don't give regular folks any trouble, if I can avoid it, and I don't steal from them. Just the guys who are out to get me. You know, like the Marines," he said with a grin. "And other Pirates. That's fair game. Thieves and Bandits too, since they stole it from someone else in the first place...and people that I really don't like...you know, bad people," he said, rattling off a list and tapping his chin thoughtfully, "...but not everybody."
"You're right about a few things though--we're all in the same boat here. And since I'm a pirate, that means you guys helped a pirate escape from the Marines. I'm pretty sure that makes you pirates now too, heh," he said with a chuckle, "and we don't know how much food and water we have, so we might not be able to go far, or anywhere at all for that matter," he added with a smile, "and anywhere we go, the Marines will chase after us," he said, putting his hands on the back of his head and looking out over the sea.
"Well...almost anywhere," he added, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "There's only one place I know of that pirates can go where it's hard for Marines to follow...," he teased, turning to look at Victor, up at the helm, "...the Grand Line."
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Post by Lockdown on Feb 18, 2017 16:26:34 GMT
Ezra's skillful fingers and careful ear as he fiddles with the lock handily defeat the lump of steel that had so flustered Gladius. Inside are a number if compartments. One contains an odd pendant with flashing gems for its eyes. Make an Occult Edu roll to determine any effects the item may have The remainder of the contents are slightly less mysterious, including several small bags which seem to have a some rolls of large denomination Belli, totaling up to Ten Thousand Belli, a locket that when opened contains a mirror and a picture of a blue-haired man, as well as a number of letters that are signed "Captain Damien Dross". But the most interesting item is found when Ezra's fiddling with the lock exposes a a hidden drawer in the base of the chest. Inside is a faded crinkled sheet of parchement, wrapped around something small but surprisingly heavy. Unfolding the parchment reveals that it is in fact a map that looks like it may be of the islands and waters surrounding Shimotsuki... and the item it had been wrapped around was a strange piece of metallic material, a soft soothing green color. It's smooth on two sides, with precisely worked corners, but the other two sides are jagged, as if whatever whole it was once a part of was sundered violently. It's about the size of Ezra's palm. Occult Edu Roll DC is currently too high to determine what this item is.
Victor, with some assistance from Gina's rudimentary knowledge of the local waters, as well as Gladius pointing out a massing thunderhead to the northwest that you almost missed blotting out the stars, you determine that the closest island that doesn't have a permanent Marine presence is Koolari Island. It'll take about four days to get there, and will require skirting the storm that Gladius pointed out, but is otherwise a good place to resupply, being an island with rich soil and a thriving sugar industry... and thus a thriving trade in rum.
Gina, heading into the small cabin on the pinnace, you find a trap door. Opening it, you're relieved to find that there are several open crates stamped with "rations" as well as a couple of barrels of water. At worst, with feeding yourselves and all your pokemon, you've got enough to last you all a week. The biggest issue you're seeing is the lack of privacy. The cabin isn't designed for long-term use, and only has a couple of bunks; so people are going to be sleeping either on the floor or outside.
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Post by HeadPikachu on Feb 18, 2017 16:53:53 GMT
Gina returned to the top deck, passing Gladius and Erza as they did their thing and headed to Victor. "Well, there's about a week's worth of rations down there, I think, keeping everyone fed. Should be enough to make it to Koolari." She reported, not entirely sure how much food Victor or Gladius would need...Or Erza; she's seen the skinny ones put away a LOT of food before. Really, Gina only knew how much she ate. "But, erm, there's not really enough bunks for everyone."
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Post by Vazad on Feb 18, 2017 22:12:05 GMT
Ezra listened to Gladius as he worked to open the lock. The man was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. He didn't have much choice other than running off to some abandoned island somewhere. The only part of the monolog that gave Ezra pause was when the man mentioned the Grandline, the only stories he'd heard from the place was stories of death. "What? Do you want to get us all killed? Do any of you even have any training on navigating?" A click from the lock pulled Ezra back to the task at hand. A short while later the job was done.
When the chest clicked opened Ezra opened it. "Alright! Let's see what's in here." Looking inside he saw that this was more than just a regular chest, it looked like whoever owned this must have used it as their personal travel trunk. "Huh, this must have been the Captains footlocker or something, this is some pretty fine craftsmanship. Let's see if there is anything interesting in here." Searching around the compartments he found a strange pendant, lifting it up he decided to bring it up to the group. "Huh, whatever jewels are in the eyes of this thing almost seem to glow." He set it down so that Gladius or one of the others could take a look while he looked through the rest of the contents. "Let me see if I can find any hidden compartments in this thing, I bet it has some sort of smugglers hatch in here."
Searching around some more he found the bags of bills. "Here's whatever cash they stored in here, might want to count it." Setting it to the side he continued. "Hmmm, locket... Letters..." Ezra looked through the letters quickly and noted that they were signed by the captain. "These were signed by the Captain, I guess it wasn't his then. Unless he hadn't sent them yet. Or he always keeps copies... Huh." He put the letters back in the box to keep them protected, they might be extremely useful. Finally, he managed to pop open the hidden compartment. "Hah! Here we go." Pulling out the parchment wrapped piece inside he looked at it carefully. Unwrapping the delicate paper he looked at the piece inside. "What a weird chunk of metal. Looks like it's a piece of something, it feels really heavy for its size." Putting it to the side as well he finally looked at the piece of paper itself. "This looks like a map. Maybe of around here? Anyone have any experience reading maps?" Thinking for a second a smile crossed his face. "Hey, do you think this might be a treasure map? We should take a look." Grabbing the letters he decided to peruse them more in case they held some sort of clue he could use to distract Gladius from dragging them to their deaths.
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Post by JPThunda on Feb 19, 2017 8:35:42 GMT
Gladius snapped around when he heard the lock click and the chest creak open, crowding Erza's personal space as he dove into the box. "Whoa, nice going Ezra! Let's see what we've got in here," he said, grinning eagerly.
Going through the contents of his chest only made Gladius's grin grow wider and wider. "Ten-thousand Belli! Sweet...and this cool pendant," he said, taking it from Ezra and putting it on as he looked at it. "A bunch of letters, that's neat, and...whoa...," he said, looking at the map and metal fragment. "A treasure map! And that must be a key! Let me see it!," he said, snatching at the map and the metal fragment.
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 22, 2017 12:41:35 GMT
"Koolari it is then..." Victor grunts approvingly. There were plenty of things an enterprising tradesman could do with ten thousand belli and a ship, but he opted not to speak up about it. There was no real point in trying to hold himself above the likes of pirates anymore. He'd turned himself in... then broken out of jail again, and stolen a ship. Truthfully if Gina hadn't had to deal with the likes of their warden, he might not have done anything at all.
Just remained.
No. That isn't what his crew would have wanted. There was ever the risk of them being brought in. Lives had been lost. His freedom was just as important as his life to those friends. Maybe he'd find some word, somewhere. "Someone will have to remain at the helm at all times anyway, so two on deck, two in the bunks will work. Gives you one to man the nest and the sails, and the other to steer. We'll be fine for bedding."
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Post by HeadPikachu on Feb 22, 2017 14:18:34 GMT
Gina sighed as Gladius and Erza went through the chest, especially after Gladius just put on some strange, CLEARLY magical amulet without a care. This was going to be a long trip. The letters did sound a little interesting... "Oh, that's good. Though I've never been at a ship's helm, so I might just want to be on sail duty. And you might want to make sure at least one of us knows how to steer a ship as well." She pointed out, moving beside Gladius and kneeling down to take a look at the amulet. The runes were fairly simple, and she had seen a few of them while trying to figure out why her guitar could blow things up. Let's see...something like 'clear' or 'transparent', 'sight', some runes specifying a body part... "I think this is some sort of sight-based charm. Maybe x-ray? Can't think of anything else with that rune arrangement." She clarified, reaching into the box and scanning through the letters, seeing if she could find anything of interest. X-Ray Pendant - An accessory item in the shape of a Luxray's head with strange scintillating gems for eyes.
Power 1/Daily - The wielder may use the X-Ray capability for two consecutive turns in combat, or for 30 seconds out of combat.
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Post by JPThunda on Feb 22, 2017 18:49:20 GMT
Gladius grinned at Victor as he steered the ship toward Koolari. "And it'll give us a chance to get to know one another while we're out on watch together. Sounds like fun to me."
He turned his gaze to Gina as she explained the pendant. "Transparent? Like see through?! Cool, how does it work?!," he asked eagerly, fiddling with the pendant until something triggered...and Gladius found himself looking through everything.
"Whoa...," he said, holding up his hands and looking through them. "It's like a hazy outline...so weird...," he said, looking at the others. First at Ezra, then at Victor, then at Gina with a big, goofy grin on his face. "This thing is so cool, heh."
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Post by HeadPikachu on Feb 23, 2017 16:14:25 GMT
Gina glanced up as Gladius was trying out the pendant, and noticed the big, doofy grin upon looking at her. "For you sake, I HOPE all you're seeing is a hazy outline."
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Post by Lockdown on Feb 25, 2017 3:18:42 GMT
Several of the letters seem to be copies that Damien created, while keeping copies of his own correspondence as well. They involve a series of messages to an individual identified only as "The Gentleman", who seems to be looking for someone. The description in one of the early letters is somewhat vague, but the specific traits that Damien was told to look for were a combination of red hair, purple eyes, and possibly displaying unusual powers that "don't fall under the normal sources of strange abilities" according to The Gentleman. Apparently the Belli that was in the bags was Damien's up-front payment, with a much larger reward hinted at for successfully finding and delivering the target to The Gentleman. The map, from what you all can tell, seems to detail a group of islands to the south-west of both the Shimotsuki and Kooli islands. It's somewhat faded and salt-crusted, but you can see that there's directions to one of the specific islands in a small archipeligo. There is also a symbol that seems to be some kind of pair of squat figures in martial stances facing each other in one corner. One of them seems to be a mass of squiggly lines with three of them apparently in mid-whipping motion. The other is a strange cone-shaped figure with brushy-ending limbs, sending small crystal-shaped objects at its opponent. Gladius, the strange fragment of metal is completely opaque to the pendant.
The first night and day pass peacefully for the newly minted (and recurring) fugitives. The pinnace is small and the waves tend to toss it harder than they would a larger craft, but the four manage to adapt and sleep relatively peacefully in shifts. As the second day begins to drag on though, Dolly begins to warble and chirp. An atoll has come into view, and there seems to be a major disturbance in the waters around it. Roll Perception and Edu Pokemon please
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Post by Vazad on Feb 25, 2017 4:02:04 GMT
As Ezra finished perusing the letters he felt a shiver go down his spine. "Well looks like this was definitely the Captains. That money was his payment from someone referred to as..." Ezra shuffled through a few of the letters until he found one that he was looking for. "The Gentleman. Must be some kind of codename or moniker. Either way, he was being paid to find someone that had some sort of strange ability that..." Ezra again flipped through the letters until he found the one that contained the exact phrase. "That don't fall under the normal sources of strange abilities." Looking up Ezra cocked an eyebrow. "You all seem to have strange abilities to me. What would be outside the normal sources?" Scratching his chin he continued to think about the issue. "Either way I guess we've might have made two powerful enemies." Sighing Ezra returned the letters to the chest. "I guess we'll just have to find out." A day passed uneventfully, Ezra was pretty used to travel by ship. He had worked on ships to earn passage before so he felt decently at home on the deck of one. It took his mind off of the problems at hand. Eventually, he saw one of the reef islands that dotted the waters around this area. A squawk from Dolly made him look closer to see what was drawing her attention Perception 9 Pokemon Edu 7
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Post by HeadPikachu on Feb 25, 2017 7:23:56 GMT
Gina looked over the letters with Erza, swapping back and forth as she pieced together one very unsettling fact from all this. "...I, I think this Gentleman was looking for me? I mean, I've got reddish hair and purple eyes, and I have my pockets." She said, setting her letters down with a frown. "Maybe the sources thing meant it wasn't from a fruit or anything? I've had my little pocket ability since I was young, but why..." She trailed off, not finishing her last question. Her expression turned from confusion to worry(and also confusion), and she remained silent, back in her own mind as a few things fell into place, only leading to more questions.
What had Dolly so upset? Gina went over from her spot near the back to pet Dolly, squinting at the disturbances. Dolly made more upset bird noises, and Gina really wished her bird could actually understand and speak right now instead of only being able to mimic sounds. Maybe she could teach her later. Perception: 7 Pokemon Ed: 8
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Feb 25, 2017 14:40:39 GMT
"If that's the case, all the better that we got you out of there Gina." Victor let out a deep rumble. "Someone was trying to buy you for your talents for who knows what. Speaking from experience, being owned like that, it ain't great." The giant moved little as he spoke, save the slight turn of the helm now and then. His eyes gave away nothing as to the direction of his gaze, he seemed as much a part of the ship as part of the crew. When the atoll came into view, Victor moved to steer wide of it. There didn't seem to be an island adjoining the reef and it wouldn't do to get hedged in and damage their boat trying to get turned around. sKafqW0I2d6 Pokemon Edu 2d6 Perception 2d6·2d6
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Post by JPThunda on Feb 25, 2017 15:18:00 GMT
Gladius chuckled slightly at Gina, and his grin widened. "Yep! Just an outline, hehe," he said, turning back to the treasures at hand, particularly the piece of metal. "Huh...wow, this is really heavy...and I can't see through it. Weird," he said, holding it up. It was around then that the amulet's powers wore off. "Aww, it ran out...oh well," he said with a disappointed frown, wondering if it might work again later...or tomorrow... Then the talk turned to the letters, one of which Gladius grabbed. "You think they're after Gina?," he said skeptically, looking down at the letter, then up at Gina, and back and forth several times. "Hmm...red hair...purple eyes...didn't eat a fruit...hmm...," Gladius said, "...I guess they could be...whoever this Gentleman guy is...," he added. "Odd," he said, putting the letters and metal chunk back in his box with the rest of his loot.
The next day, as they're all sitting around, Dolly points out something going on. Gladius hops up and heads to the front of the ship, eager to see what was going on. "I wonder what that is...," he said, peering off at the disturbed water. Perception: 9
Pokemon Edu: 5
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Post by Lockdown on Feb 28, 2017 0:18:06 GMT
The water is churning and boiling around the atoll, the disturbance surging too and fro. Gladius, Lina and Ezra are all able to make out the cause; while Victor's focus is completely on keeping their tiny ship from being caught up in the frothing waters. The three of them are able to make out two battling schools of creatures that seem to be competing for the rights to feed here, one side made up of pink and blue blobs with crown-like protrusions atop their heads, and flowing gelatinous arms. The other side is made up of a more uniform species, flashing spots of yellow on pink hardened carapaces, while sinuous blue tentacles weave and slash at their opponents. Ezra and Gina are able to identify them as Frillish and Inkay. Either one encountered enmasse at sea is a hazard, but together they spell terrible danger. Thankfully they seem to be lacking the leadership of their evolved counterparts, and thus the greater bulk of the schools are focused on one another, tearing and ripping with various attacks. But the other occupents of the atoll have fled, willing to risk their lives in the open sea rather than be torn apart by the fierce combat; and a few of the stragglers from both schools, seeing opportunity, have given chase. A kite-shaped form bursts out of the water, followed quickly by a sickly purple-and-brown colored... thing that best resembles a mostly-dead piece of seaweed with eyes. Unfortunately, they are pursued still, a trio from each rival school breaking off to pursue! Initiative Dolly - 15 Aquila - 13 Ezra - 11 Ann - 11 Gina - 10 Inkay 3 - 8 Inkay 2 - 8 Mantyke - 7 Precious - 7 (assuming agility training has been applied) Gladius - 5 Victor - 5 Frillish 1 - 4 Frillish 2 - 4 Frillish 3 - 4 Skrelp - 3 Inkay 1 - 3 Please place yourselves on the map, and you may each release a mon as a free action if they were not already out. Once everyone has placed themselves, you may begin posting in time with the initiative order
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Post by HeadPikachu on Mar 3, 2017 19:07:48 GMT
Angry hostile pokemon off the...Erm, left side of the ship? Was that port or starboard? Gina could ask later! Upon seeing the waters fill with very upset and already fighting pokemon, Dolly took off and swept into action, dodging the Mantyke that ended up between Gina and Gladius. Aiming for the nearest Frillish, the protective little birdie swooped into action, trying to peck at its head. Meanwhile, Gina was VERY startled at the panicking manta ray now right beside her, and knelt down beside it. "Shh, shh! It's all right; we'll make sure those nasty other pokemon don't hurt you. Just be still and stay near us." She soothed, MAINLY just not wanting a new foe directly beside her whenever the sea was definitely filling up with things she couldn't try and calm down. One less frantic pokemon to worry about if it calmed, assuming one of the others didn't end up ruining her tactic. Dolly's Peck AC(2): 5 Dmg: 19 Flying Physical
Gina used Charm to improve Mantyke's disposition, Probability Control used to reroll
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Post by JPThunda on Mar 3, 2017 19:36:37 GMT
Gladius looked over the side of the ship and frowned as the pokemon burst out of the water and started heading toward their ship...not that he could do a whole lot about it from where he was...and not without shaking up the ship. "Aquila, think you could go fend them off? I'd help but, well, you know...," he frowned. Aquila nodded from his perch on the handrail and took flight, sweeping low over the water. His wings tinged silver as he spun, doing a corkscrew through two of the approaching jellyfish before pulling up. With things seemingly well in hand, Gladius turned to look at Gina, who he heard talking next to him, and saw a little blue manta next to him that he had somehow missed... Gladius fingers twitched as he looked at the little thing. "It's...so...," he started, straining, "... adorable," he finished, his eyes gleaming like stars as he looked at it. Steel Wing AC:3 Roll:15 Damage: 45 Steel Physical to Frillish 2 and 3.
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