Campaign: Thievery! (A D&D 3.5)

[necar]

Peere had certainly changed and it seemed that kelemvor had taken an invested interest in the young man. Giving him a vision and showing that he had been touched by the god. Lumen's own eyes were blue in color but they had been that way since birth. He would never know if Kelemvor left his mark on him. In the temple they were taught to celebrate this sign even though there were those who spent a life time working in the church and never received the mark. When he was younger he would feel let down as others were gifted with this honor and he was stuck wondering. He was never vain enough to ask his god if it did either. As he gained more years he realized that religion was not about the individual but about the whole. So if anyone were to be honored then it was a net gain.

As Peere put his arm on the cleric's shoulder Lumen listen to the dream and the message. Five vials and a hollow stone. Then to keep an eye out. Then the message about out him being this man's salvation. That one could go two ways. One way he could work on now.

"I do not pretend to understand the deals of a god. But what I can do is to teach you about my faith and all that I know. As for your dream it might point toward the cure that you asked about or something different. Keeping an eye out is always good information. As for the cleansing orange blanket I do not know what that is. Maybe if research more and pray on it Kelemvor will grant me the knowledge. In the mean time lets continue your work below decks. I can teach while you are working."

And so for the next few hours Lumen taught the history and teachings of Kelemvor. Peere checked boxes and made notes as they worked. Lumen helped out when he could by reading a label or rotating boxes around. They worked and learned until the Captain called them all on deck.

She explained that they made good progress this day and that they did not run into any pirates. Lumen had a chill run up his spine at that mention. The last boat he had been on went under because of pirates and he hoped that this didn't happen here. Although this captain wouldn't let her crew slack.

As she pointed out crew member and apparently pointed out mistakes that they made in the past. She then mentioned a test for the new crew. Tests of agility, river-worthiness, strength, wit, ingenuity, and personal favorite cannon accuracy. Lumen had never fired a cannon in his life and he felt that he wouldn't like the experience. He was never a very strong man in the conventional sense and age had taken its toll on his agility. That left river worthiness, what ever that was, wit and ingenuity. Ingenuity sounded interesting as it might work in his favor.

The captain asked in anyone felt willing to take the test this day. He had had a pretty successful day so far so why not try it. Lumen raised his hand while looking at the captain.

"I would like to try this test on ingenuity. Unless you don't want older man doing stressful work."

[Sikako J]

The captain and crew laughed together. “No man aboard this ship is too old to be tested I assure you. If a crewmember isn’t worth their weight in salt, they do not remain aboard this ship..”

The bard spoke out under his breath, “Unless they have deep pockets.”

Clocksworth looked at Lumen much in the same manner a cat would watch a mouse that it is playing with. His mustached moved up and down as he chewed on hi slower lip.

“Oh this is going to be a good one, he loves giving tests to humans.” Tanis said as she found a comfortable rope bundle on the mast to lean against.

Tarvin grunted out in his deep baritone voice, “His tests are too strange. I don’t understand them.”

“Precisely why you would never take it my muscle-bound friend,” piped in Nikako flashing a friendly grin.

Clocksworth patted his vest a few time then withdrew three times from his pockets and set them down in front of Lumen, screwdriver, a set of odd spring clamps, and a heavy headed mallet. He then looked to Tarvin and nodded.

The large man reacted moving to a large barrel that had been sitting on deck in plain view of the sun. With a look of utter confusion he set down the barrel in front of Lumen then backed away.

“This is your test. This barrel is made with special properties that make it difficult to open. I have given you three tools to use to open it. You also have two questions you can ask me about the barrel, but for each question I answer you must give a tool back to me. You are to open this barrel without spilling the contents inside.” The gnome said with a knowling smile on his face.

[necar]

Lumen looked at the barrel and the tools and arched an eyebrow. Opening a barrel shouldn't be that much of a problem. Anyone could do that which meant that there had to be a trick to it. First thing he did was to pick up the tools and put them on top of the barrel.

He felt around to see if there was any type of latching mechanism that would open the barrel. Not being able to find one he took the time to look the barrel over. it appeared to be made out of ironwood which would make is hard to break open. There was a place where a small blade could fit into it but it was sealed very tight. A normal barrel would not be sealed like this. there was something fishy going on here.

He put his ear next to the barrel and tapped on it. There was some type of liquid in it but every now and then his tap would be louder then he expected. This along with the rule that he was not allowed to spill any of the contents made him wonder.

Lumen then called on his God to aid him in seeing if there was any magical enchantments on the barrel. As he concentrated he could tell that there was not magic enchantments but he did sense something inside. Concentrating harder he was able to see a moving aura that could only belong to a water elemental. There was the rub. He had to open this thing and not let the elemental out. This would be tricky then after all.

In Lumen's past life he had been a wine maker so he happened to know a thing our two about barrels. When a barrel was put in water the wood would expand. A proper barrel would expand out so as to not break and compromise its contents. The lid would swell to make an even better seal as well. Now if you got the barrel wet and not the lid though you could loosen it up to make it easier to open.

Raising his arms to the sky he called down water onto himself. Just like he had done the evening before to help fill an empty barrel. His rags were soaked through and he then walked to the barrel. Sitting on the deck he wrapped his arms and legs around the barrel. The bone dry barrel sucked the water in pretty fast. Lumen wedged the screw driver in between the lid and the sides and waited for the wood to swell some more.

In a whispered voice Lumen talked to the barrel.

"My name is Lumen and I am going to open this barrel. I would ask that you please don't jump out."

He test the lid and could feel it ever so slightly give way. As he pulled the screwdriver towards him and down the lid started to rise. Lumen then gather his will to say a quick prayer in case the elemental didn't follow his request. Lumen was going to pass this test in soaking wet style.

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ready action to command the elemental if it starts to get out

[Sikako J]

Tarvin watched as Lumen looked over the barrel. Bending down he set all three tools on the lid and proceeded to study it. His hands ran up and down the bone dry sides, he even listened to the darn thing.

“SO much fuss over a barrel. Why doesn’t he just smash the top with the hammer?” Tarvin blubbered out rubbing his head and pulling back the hair that was blowing into his eyes.

Nikako hissed out, “He is looking it over mate. There is more than one way to skin a blink dog..”

“What are you talking about, even petting a blink dog is hard enough. And besides the creature’s hide fades to ash after it dies if not magically treated..” retorted Tanis.

“It is a blasted matter of speech, you know an old saying?” Nikako rolled his eyes. “You have to admit he is taking a good amount of time with this. Looking for hidden compartments and the like. He even checked to see what was in it.”

“Yea he is doing much better than the last poor soul that tried out Clockworth’s test. But what his he doing now?” Tanis said as she watched the man lift his hands to the sky.

A magical plume of water soaked the man to the bone as he slowly made his way wrapping around the sides of the barrel.

“Hey Tanis, he can make it rain as well..” Tarvin said slapping her back in a joking manner that nearly threw her to the ground.

Furrowing her brow she looked at the large man with her finger pointed at him, “It isn’t rain if it just falls in one big orb dummy! He called water, he did NOT make it rain.”

“Clever..” was all that the Gnome said. His eyes narrowed as he watched Lumen begin to pry off the lid.

The captain was busy watching as well, “Now how will he stop the elemenetal?”

As soon as the lid was pried to a halfway point, it was launched into the air. A humanoid form of teal blue water poked its ‘head’ and ‘arms’ out, but remained inside the barrel. Two darker portions of water that may have been acting as optics or ears turned to Clocksworth who simply clapped twice.

“My my well done for such a large fellow. Not even a single question asked. You managed to determine a correct manner in which to open the barrel and keep the insides form spilling out. You have passed with high marks in my mind. You are qualified to remain on the ship as far as I am concerned.”
Looking to the captain the Gnome raises his right fist and placed it over his chest, “I pass this man and vouch for his abilities.”

[necar]

As the lid flipped off Lumen saw the water elemental stand up out of the barrel. He sent his will out into the elemental and command it to stay. The great part was that the elemental stayed. Lumen hopped to his feet as the creature stopped. He pointed to it and yelled out.

"Ta da!"

All eyes were on him and he immediately felt his face flush as stood there. No one laughed at him and the elemental didn't tear into to him either. Instead the gnome clapped his hands twice. This signaled that the test was over. The gnome then turned to the captain and pledged for Lumen. Lumen felt a wave of pride flow into him. It really was going to be a good day.

Looking around he wondered who was going to be the next from the group to take their test.

[Iarumas]

The day was spent in nice and calm conditions, Lucious spending most of it up on the sails and occasionally going down to get some food. Up there on the masts he could enjoy the heat of the sun and the breeze of the wind, and more importantly he could stare down at the captain and other female members of the crew, and his own travelling group of course. From up top he could see straight down any uncovered cleavage towards the jewels hidden beneath. So distracted was he that Nikako had to smack him a few times when he noticed the ship was banking too far in one direction. Other than that, half the day was incident free. Until the Captain had called them to the deck.

Once gathered she talked about testing and challenges to measure the readiness of the crew. Lucious watched as the old Cleric worked through the challenge with ease, giving him a fright when the water elemental came out. He wasnt expecting that. Once he was done, Lucious stepped up.

"I guess I'll go for the test of strength eh?" He asked with a grin.

[Sikako J]

The Captain arched an eye brow as the warrior who fought with Grum offered out to take the next test. He had a reputation from his past employeers and whenever anyone was a mercenary that worked for the people he had, the name got around. See looked him up and down with her good eye and then placed her hand to her chin.

“Alright Lucius shall be attempting the strength test.” She said with mirth in he voice. “As with all our test there is more than one way to pass them. You Boar-Spear shall be taking the strength of will test. Tarvin, you shall be his rival.”

Tarvin stepped forward with a blank expression on his face. His long hair blowing back from the wind gave him the impression of a demigod with well-muscled body and strong jaw. His dark skin contrasted greatly with Lucius. Holding out his hand he spoke in a deep voice.

“Best luck to you. Few have beaten me.” There was no boasting or bragging in his voice, just the simple fact he was relaying.

The captain motioned once more with both hands. The crew responded by bringing two large chests forward. Unlatching the chest, inside one could see that two pyramid like stones.

“These are hefting stones from the far west tribe of the wild beastfolk. They are used to bring a youngling from childhood to adulthood. You will place the pyramid upside down with the point just above your shoulder at the start. You are to keep your pyramid above knees, and must keep at least one hand on a point at all times. It will get heavier as time passes. The one to hold the hefting stone the longest within the rules wins.”

[Ysariel]

"Slaves ought to be well-treated," Shirin said, sitting up in the hammock and tying her long hair in its customary ponytail with a copper ring. "And the owner of a slave needs her consent before giving her away to another. Hanson couldn't have just gifted you to him like spoils of war. Maybe these northerners do things differently, but I still think it's wrong. As for the spell..."

Shirin thought carefully. The spell was not one that normally had a duration. It ought to have faded soon after. So either her knowledge of the magic was wrong, someone had created a superior version of the spell, or some magical item or creature was persisting it. Shirin remembered a strong humming sound when they were in the room last night; was that it? Whatever it was, they would be well-served taking a second look.

"I think something might be continuing the spell," she said, swinging her stocking-clad legs off the hammock. "Either a creature or an enchanted item - it might even be the scroll itself. Let me tell you what: let's get you some of that breakfast first, then once I've prepared my spells, we'll go and investigate and see if we can't wipe that magic off you. Sound like a good idea?"

She beamed brightly at Ishmael and gestured for her to follow.

* * *

Breakfast was a divine affair. Shirin had been expecting ship's biscuits, dried meat and fruits, and watery gruel. Instead, there was hot food, and by the gods, it tasted heavenly. After a helping of grilled tomatoes and bacon washed down with tart apple juice, Shirin opened her spellbook and studied by the sun's dawning light. An hour later she was ready.

"Stay above decks," she told Ishmael. "I'll handle this myself." She didn't want the bugbear bullying Ishmael around while she was investigating. With her staff in hand and her dagger tucked in her belt, Shirin strode down to Grum's cabin and knocked thrice on the door.

[mew77]

Kim fished, but instead of biting down, she simply grabbed fish and shoved them into a net. She whispered while she worked, "Oona, forgive me, fish forgive me, the circle of life demands you serve now...we will all return to the cycle in time."

She returned to the deck with a full net of about X fish. She was soaking wet. She simply shook off all the water and then wrung her hair relatively dry.
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"Ah so something of a mechanic mage or something", Desire said as she treid to swallow the information.

"Still, would be strange to see an octoshark, I don't even know what a real shark looks like.", she finished addressing the gnome.

Desire didn't know who thise Ol'e and Rivvers person was, but she had some idea that mistakes would end poorly for her.

Desire spoke with Tanis, when she responded Desire noticed her form flicker and she seemed to teleport closer.

“I follow the old ways of Bristleband. Your people know him as the King of Tricks. But my true talent lies in the power over wind. I can help speed us up, or tear the sails away from enemy ships.”

She received a hard pat on the back from Tarven that nearly knocked her down, “She is also good at making enemy boarding parties fly, aren’t ya now?”

"Bristlebrand, he was always such a fickle guest, I could never tell what he was thinking, neither did I want to, his powers over wind were mischevious.", Desire said to Tanis, "You make things fly, I make things explode, now if we could only make them fly and explode..."

"Wild bunch you have here Captain",Desire said with a chuckle. Desire continued making small talk all during breakfast.

After breakfast Desire walked around below deck. She had commanded the spider to remain in her cabin.

As Desire passed by she smelled something strong, bestial, the door looked rugged, despite word that the cabins were newly shaped. Desire could see Shirin approaching the same door and knocked.

"You seem concerned by something, is it the pale girl? I didn't realize until this morning, I didn't realize she was thrall to the champion...I swear the next time we come to Wartle, I'll break open the slave compound myself."

[Ysariel]

There was no answer. Either the bugbear was asleep, or missing, or ignoring her, or...

Someone coming down the passage disturbed her. "Desire," Shirin exclaimed, surprised to see the girl up and about without help. "Are your eyes better now?"

She nodded gravely. "Last night, Ishmael opened a scroll on the bugbear's orders. It cast a darkness spell on the area and put an enchantment over her that makes her suck the life out of anything she touches."

"We managed to calm her down and get her to sleep last night, and I was hoping the magic would've worn off by morning, but it hasn't. I haven't learnt enough to dispel magic, but the spell isn't supposed to be one of those with long durations. I'm guessing that some creature or thing is persisting it - probably the scroll itself. We'll have to find it... starting here."

The young wizard gestured at the door. "He's not opening up, but I'm not waiting for him to do so," Shirin said, took a step back, and aimed a kick at the door.

1d20+0 → [1,0] = (1)