To Cure a Cabbit (Closed PS RP)

[Shinigori V2]

Paige looked at Valentia for a moment, then made a face. "Er, uh...Yeah...I kinda forgot about you...Uh, good job. Carry on? ...Heheh..."

[Kelne]

Kelne raised an eyebrow at Paige. "You are aware that every bit of that damage was due to the snake itself, right?" He asked reasonably, "We did try to keep it away from the ship. It didn't cooperate. Quite frankly, I consider us lucky that it didn't go about bashing holes below the waterline. There would've been precious little we could have done about that."

[Shinigori V2]

Paige looked at Kelne. And it wasn't a good look, either. "Had you not made it mad in the first place, it probably wouldn't have attacked! These kinds of things are usually more scared than you than you are of them!"

She moved in closer to Kelne, and raised the handle of her wrench, and began sharply poking him with it. "NOW. LISTEN TO ME. THIS. SHIP. IS. NOT. MADE. FOR. FIGHTING."

She backed up a bit, and took a breath. "Do you know how much work I went through to fix this thing up for Mr. Pervy? DO YOU? Now I have to go and fix it because you all wanted to beat up a snake!"

She turned to begin walking away. "Next time I find anyone fighting on the ship...I'll..I'll make you do something really gross!"

[Kelne]

Paige's rant didn't seem to have made much impact on Kelne. After all, he'd been expecting it. The most she'd managed was to annoy him a bit with the incessant poking. In fact, all it accomplished was to convince him that she did not, in fact, know why the snake had been there.

"Gods save me from the idiots in this world," he muttered, not particularly quietly. At the moment, he wasn't quite sure whether he was referring to Paige, Jeridan, or the snake. Probably a combination of all three with a good chunk of the rest of Gaera thrown in for good measure.

[Uncle Pervy]

And thus does Paige vent her frustration until she finds herself running off topic, then catching herself and declaring she's done with it all.

The night is a long one for Jeridan, who spends much of it being run ragged by Smokey Jay, as the small man barks orders to have this or that fixed before deciding things are good enough. If nothing else, Jeridan finds that he does pick up a few things about carpentry from the experience.

Conversely, Jak's night is extremely short as he manages to rest through the whole thing, The next day he awakens to find himself mostly healed and sleeping on a cloth pallet on the floor where his hammock is.

Valentia eventually gets to have her supper, and it is tasty indeed.

Paige spends a good deal of her night guiding the airship, before someone else offers to take the helm from her. Another good portion is spent inspecting places that need to be fixed, and making sure that the damage is confined to the ship itself, and not affecting the engines. Thankfully it is not. She is allowed to sleep in the next day.

Kelne finds his offer is taken up, and that he is often drafted into either aiding with repairs directly or using his carpet to serve as a platform for those who are reparing.

Dia's dreams that night revolve around blood and hellfire, which is all she can recall when she awakens in a cold sweat. For some reason, the shadow creature's words, 'I hope you are eaten by a flat-toothed herbivore', come to her mind as well.

And time passes.

Repairs are made, and soon enough the ship is in decent condition once more. Terror and tense nerves give way to familiar boredom and tedium. If the serpent is chasing them, then it is keeping its distance and leaving them be. The same general atmosphere as before hovers over the ship. Sailors do their sailing duties, and the rest are mostly left to their own devices.

For Jeridan, life is a bit different. He is set to work repaing the damage from the battle as best as he is able. The crew mostly shuns him, but he endures this with the quiet dignity he decided to keep about him when this whole thing began. After a few days, people start speaking to him briefly again. Soon, while he's fairly certain that while he's lost some respect in their eyes, at least he isn't hated and actively persecuted.

Dia begins to notice things as well. The cordial to friendly relations she had with the sailors has begun to wear away into a sort of distant respect. Few bother to speak with her unless there is a need, and they seem to be eager to end most conversations as soon as possible. The invitations to join in card games has dropped away entirely. Never are they really rude or spiteful; she is certain no one is spitting in her food or the like; but they seem happy when she isn't around.

The days soon pass, becoming a week, then two. There is a lethargic boredom that rules over the ship. But, something is beginning to change. The astrally sensitive notice it first, and Jeridan soon becomes aware of it. The presense of the Astral Plane is growing thinner here. Like a blanket with half of its threads pulled away, it simply doesn't seem to cover as well, growing weaker as they go further west. Enchanted items seem unaffected, but those who try spells find them harder to draw power for, and not quite so effective as usual.

The effect has been persisting and growing worse for about a day now, as the ship settles for the evening once again. The call to dinner echoes across the ship.

(OOC: HOKAI! Blanket 800 EXP for all.

*Jeridan gets +700 XP for being in character, and -500 XP for being a stupidhead >:|

*Paige gets +200 for abstaining ICly, and for the lucky toss.

*Valentia gets +150 for being IC and abstaining.

*Jak gets +200 for creative tactics.

*Dia gets +200 for being picked on, and for providing me with amusement.

*Kelne gets +100 for trying his very best, and for failing at all of it. Literally.

Level ups, if they happen, may happen. Just IM me your updated sheets.)

[JasonAB17]

As they all began to feel the effects of the astral plane in this area, Jeridan became slightly irritable. It was not that he actively antagonized anyone for any reason, he couldn't afford to after recent events. However, conversation with him became shorter and more to the point as they felt the pull of the plane less and less. He also seemed to be becoming slightly sluggish, as though he were tired when he moved about the ship.

It's a little known fact, to those on the ship atleast, that Mazoku are like celestials an elementals in that their bodies are, more or less, physical representations of an essentially astral being. However Jeridan, being a manufacture Mazoku, still had a good foothold on the physical realm. At the same time, this circumstance was a sizeable discomfort to him. It was as though he were a man who lived in the freezing north, forced to spend extended time in the tropics. On the bright side, he seemed to notice the emotional reactions of the crew around him less as they went along.

[Kelne]

Kelne, having been steadily, if only slightly, drawing on energy for enchanting purposes, had been one of the earlier people to notice the change. At first, he was annoyed. Then the feeling gave way to a vaguely troubled sensation. Pervy hadn't mentioned anything about the astral plane seeming weaker during his own trip. It was possible that it had merely slipped his mind, but that didn't seem the sort of thing he'd forget.

Still, whether that was the case or not, this was something unexpected. What the cause might be he had no idea. So far, it seemed a purely natural phenomenon. If not... Well, it would be nice to go without finding out the cause. But since when had he gotten what he wished for?

At any rate, it soon became clear that his project was going to have to wait until the return trip to complete. Such was life.

The call to dinner caught him looking reflectively out over the sea. Granted, it wasn't a sight that had changed much over the trip, but he still took a look every so often. With a shrug, he made his way below deck in search of sustenance.

[pd Rydia]

Dia was finding it hard to hide her irritation at--amongst other things--the distance the larger part of the crew was taking with her. It could be worse, she reminded herself, but somehow, that really didn't help her feel that much better. She did keep from snapping at people, however, and she went out of her way to be accomodating to the few who treated her more or less the same as before.

What with the discomfort between sailor and summoner, Dia tended to spend most of her time around the other Domans or with Fluffy, drawing Draconic lessons out of the excitable lapdragon. Having worn away much of her patience through the lattermost manner, Dia had taken the wriggling Fluffy into hand and had just begun a half-hearted quest for some sort of manual work when foodtime was called. With a sigh and a small, chirruping dragon supported against her chest, she turned around to head for the mess hall, to gather food for herself and Fluffy and to grab herself a seat--like as not, near the other Domans, the only people who would bother to let her sit near them.

[Jak Snide]

While his arm was healed, Jak wasn't feeling all that well. He'd felt the weakening of the astral plane as soon as it began, and it's waning left him feeling alone and vulnerable. The fact his arm wasn't quite up to scratch again didn't help matters. Thus, as Dia seated herself at his table, even the shadow of his hat couldn't hide that he was feeling pretty glum.

[Shinigori V2]

Paige, being as magically inclined as a large boulder, never knew of the troubles of the others who could feel the astral plane. Instead, she worked to get everything as fixed as it could be during travel, and making sure the engines where up to snuff. Having appologized several times for snapping, expecially to Kelne, she had taken to trying to socialize with the people she had been so scared of before. Taking a seat at the table during some downtime, she looked to Jak and Dia- "...Hey, why the long face? Food's no good?"

[Jak Snide]

He glanced at Paige, silently cursing at her lack of magical potential. He normally pitied blunts like her, completely cut off from the wonders of planar energies. But, as they say, ignorance is bliss. She had no idea of what wonders were fading away as they ate.

He kept silent and continued eating. He'd let Dia field this one. The mechanic's joyful obliviousness was sickening.

[pd Rydia]

Dia frowned at a spot in front of her bowl. She'd known Jak for years--not very well, mind, but there weren't many people she had met before coming to Doma with whom she still kept contact. She couldn't help but feel sympathy for his situation.

As for Paige's explanation... "Magic's fucked up." Dia poked her stew around with a spoon, keeping a watchful eye on Fluffy who seemed overly affectionate...and particularly interested in what she had to eat. "It's thin, around here. The mana flow, strings. Never run into it before--it'd make it hard to cast magic. And it...feels wrong."

Edited by: pd Rydia  at: 4/5/05 1:35

[JasonAB17]

Jeridan had little appetite, but did put in a slightly late appearance. He would take a half portion of whatever was being served, and pick at it. Occasionally, some of these pickings would find their way to his mouth, but for the most part he looked like he needed sleep over food. He pointedly didn't make eye contact with anyone present for more than a few seconds.

[Kelne]

Kelne, sitting near the group, simply nodded in agreement with Dia's statement. There wasn't really anything to add to it that wouldn't be idle spectulation.

It didn't look like the rest of the crew had noticed the situation yet. Nor would most of them unless one of the magic users told them.

[Shinigori V2]

"Ahh.." Paige's gaze wandered off. "I can't say I know what that's like...Magic dead and all..." She chuckled nervously. She knew that she didn't really understand, and she knew they knew.

[FlamingDeth]

Possibly being the only piece of matter on the ship less attuned to the astral than Paige, Valentia had a hard time determining what was wrong. Of course, she just figured that these folks just weren't used to being away for solid land for more than a few days.

Regardless, Valentia had spent most of her free time thus far devising ways to avoid having free time. She had been on voyages of such length before, and knew well enough that she would get bored quite quickly otherwise. In instances where she found herself having an excess of time available, she filled it with storytelling and banter with the more experienced of the crew.

Eventually, she did make it down below deck. After she retrieved her food, she went to what had become her 'usual spot', and began to consume.

[Uncle Pervy]

The Galley is full of it's usual noise and banter.

"Oy, Val!" comes the voice of a sailor nearby, Valentia's sandy-haired companion from gunning two weeks ago. "You up for cards tonight?"

"So I said to Grim, I said..."

"Hey Kelne, Matey! You good for a round of Blackjack? Need another one in, eh?"

"Myau."

"Mr Snide, the arm still giving you trouble?"

"How many more days til land, you think?"

"Paige! Engines are A-okay!"

Sailors mill about, getting and consuming their food. A couple of card games are being set up, as well as one contest of flinging knives at a crudely painted bullseye on the wall opposite of the door.

Ushyu has even made a rare appearance for supper tonight. Of late, she has become an increasingly rare sight, as she hides out in her nest she's made in the relative quiet of the cargo hold. Those paying attention note that she doesn't seem very discomforted by the thinning of the Astral Plane. That strikes the more magically inclined as unusual; she is magical creature, so the thinning of magic should bother her a little bit.

Dia, as she pokes at her meal, begin to get the sensation that something...odd is going on. Magic of some kind is nearby.

Valentia gets the feeling something just brushed across the back of her neck.

[Shinigori V2]

Paige calls back- "Alright! Thanks for the update!"

In most cases, one would think that to be sarcasm, but in Paige's case, she was honestly glad she was kept up to date with it. In the meantime, she looked around a bit, feeling a bit alienated from the new crewmembers due to her lack of magic and their abundance of it. She let her eyes wander to the cards, then the knives, trying to figure out if there was any score of any sort kept.

[Kelne]

"Sure, why not?" Kelne responded, "Just give me a minute to finish my meal," he continued, spooning up another mouthful of stew.

[Jak Snide]

Jak nodded his head to the inquiring sailor and gave the reply of "Not really. Bit stiff, that's all" before turning back to Dia and Paige.

"Imagine drowning, the deprivation of air, and the horrifying realisation that something absolutely vital is being denied. Now imagine, despite that, you keep living. That's what it's like."

[pd Rydia]

Dia took another few swipes at the stew with her spoon, seemingly interested in the activity. She breathed in deeply, looked up and around, and then shook her head, as if something were bothering her. Fluffy cocked his head to the side slightly, snuffling questioningly.

"Jak," Dia began, "You notice anything strange?" Without explaining any further, Dia tilted her head down slightly, avoiding eye contact with anyone nearby so as to focus on scanning the astral energies nearby--such as they were.

[Uncle Pervy]

It doesn't take Dia very long to find it, giving how thin the astral substance has become. It is not powerful, but she can sense it clearly. Something is passing through the ship on the Astral plane; having just gone past the table. It's out of phase with Gaera, but Dia guesses it can probably sense them as much as she can sense it.

Still, the only reason it stands out now is become the background Astral is so thin. Otherwise, she might not have noticed it at all.

[Jak Snide]

Jak looked at Dia in bemusement for a moment before realising what she was doing, and put his own astral senses to work. He didn't expect much, due to the thinning of the astral plane, not knowing the nature of what Dia had sensed.

[Uncle Pervy]

Jak quickly detects the same thing that Dia did. It seems this thing is moving toward the kitchen area.

[Jak Snide]

His brow creased with concentration as he tried to remember an old book he'd read. It'd made a reference to creatures which could shift between the planes, but never gone into any detail. It had said that such creatures dwelt on the astral, though, not beyond it. It also hadn't mentioned if any of them were threatening or not.

He continued to focus his mind on the extra-planar entity. With any luck this was just a coincidence, but in his experience "coincidences" never were.

[Kelne]

Kelne, noting the byplay, went about finishing his stew as if nothing was going on. All the while, he was putting his own, rather more limited astral senses to use. Unfortunately, whatever it was would need to be very close indeed for him to be able to spot it.

Other than that, he'd just have to wait for word from the other two about what was going on.

[Uncle Pervy]

Kelne is unable to sense anything immediately, but it does feel like something passed by.

Jak, and Dia if she's watching, notes that it has gone to the rear of the galley, and seems to be hovering near the stove. They will note it does radiate a mild enchantment to keep it proofed against fire; not unlike Kelne's coat.

[FlamingDeth]

Glancing about the room, Valentia found nothing out of the ordinary. Which was strange, since she would have expected to see whoever it was who had just walked past her. Perhaps it was just a particularly strong breeze? Or that creature that they were supposed to be curing.

Either way, it would likely remain an enigma, though she would keep an eye out for the source. For the moment, however, she simply finished her meal and made her way to the card game table, where she fully expected to lose every single game. While she at least knew what the rules were, that didn't change the fact that she had almost no skills in the games whatsoever. Any time she won, it was by sheer luck.

"Well then." she began. "What is it we're playing today?"

[Shinigori V2]

Dia speaking got Paige's attention back to the subject at hand. "Something strange? You mean, more than it was for you before?"

Someday, The engineer thought to herself, I'm gonna have to find some way to read magic like that...Maybe a machine...

[Kelne]

"In a word, yes," Kelne said simply, "I can't tell you much more than that at the moment."

Deciding to try a new approach, he stretched out with his mind, attempting to filter out the minds of all the crew members around him and spot something that didn't belong.

[Uncle Pervy]

Kelne clears his mind, and extends it. Immediately, he is confronted with something strange, as he feels the surface thoughts of those in the room. For the most part, they are stanard humanoid thoughts about standard humanoid things.

One, however, does not seem to have standard thoughts. Rather, what he gets from it is an odd miasma of senses, imagines, and impresses which seem to flow together in a somewhat cohesive fashion. He can feel a sensation of roughness against his skin, and strange feeling that everything is very bright and airy, accompanied by contentment. Images of curious runes, one like a three-pronged Y and one like an Ampersand float to his head from these curious mental images; coupled with what can only be a fascination with ones and zeros in this thing's thoughts.

Kelne's eyes automatically, but discreetly, seek out the source of this anomaly. The suddenness of these alien thoughts, and the general alien nature of them, cause him to abandon his telepathy. His eyes fall upon the culprit.

"Mya?" Ushyu says, as Kelne's eyes meet her own.

[Kelne]

"Well, I should have seen that coming," Kelne said ruefully, shaking his head. "Anything on your end?" He asked, turning his attention to Jak and Dia.

[Uncle Pervy]

If nothing else, Kelne finds himself quickly becoming the recipiant of a leg snuggle from Ushyu. She does seem a bit more chipper today.

[Jak Snide]

"This definitely isn't a coincidence."

He began to rise, looking towards the kitchen and trying to maintain his fix on the thing at the same time.

"It's stopped near the stove. Whatever it is, it's not simply passing by."

[JasonAB17]

Jeridan, who hadn't been payying much attention, did atleast notice when Jak stood up and walked by. He watched the mage go past with some amount of curiosity, but remained seated.

[Kelne]

Kelne nodded thoughtfully. By the sounds of it, whatever it was had bypassed them all in favour of the stove. Or something near the stove, at least.

Now that he had a particular area to check, he made a search for any minds in the vicinity of the stove.

[pd Rydia]

Dia frowned. "No one's started screaming yet. That's different from the last time I ran into something of this sort. why the interest in the stove, though...?"

Hesitantly, Dia attempted to reach out to the thing with a simple telepathic message: 'Hello?'

[Uncle Pervy]

"Looks like a bit of Blackjack today," the sailor answers Valentia. Of course, she has heard all the talking among the party, and thus may not be as interested now.

Purposefully avoiding the cabbit by his feet, Kelne gets a feel for the minds around the kitchen. He can feel the cook, Karl Zhard of Therney, feeling rather tired and quite ready to call it a day...with Linda, one of the female crewmembers. Interesting, how'd they manage to hide that one?

He also senses one of the knife tossers near the kitchen, who's feeling proud after getting in a nice shot.

Then there is a third mind, which is hungry and contemplating the stove. It doesn't feel humaniod at all

...Hey, where are you? It answers Dia





Edited by: Uncle Pervy  at: 4/8/05 16:00

[pd Rydia]

'In relationship to the ship, or in relationship to the astral plane?' Surprise at the question gave Dia cause to slip back into 'polite innkeep' mode. 'May I ask, who are you? Do you need something we might be able to help you with?'

[Uncle Pervy]

Ship? What's a ship? I'm just coming to get something to eat. There's a nice bundle of Pyro-resistant aether right here. Do you want some?