(Griever) No Charn, No Foul pt3

Log Info

• Title: No Charn, No Foul (pt. 3)
• Emitter: Whirlpool
• Characters: Aryia, Edinaz, Jinks, Lysos, Seyardu
• Place: the Charnese colonies, Hextus
• Time: Saturday, October 17th, 2021, 06:30 PM
• Summary: Aryia, Edinaz, Jinks, Lysos, and Seyardu find passage on a galley from the edge of the Charnese empire into Hextus. Most are unsettled by a sea voyage with a crew of the undead but one is blinded by the story to come. The quintet arrive in Hextus.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Aryia        4'8"     110 Lb     Shadow Elf        Female    A heavily scarred mul with a resolved look about her.                      
Edinaz       6'10"    296 Lb     Half-Orc          Male      Grey-skinned half-oruch, extensive black ink.                              
Jinks        3'4"     39 Lb      Gnome             Male      A gnomish fellow in fancy garb and jewelry.                                
Lysos        5'6"     105 Lb     Human/Tsuran      Female    Dark eyed tsuran girl.
Seyardu      5'6"     150 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    A friendly silver sith-makar with a perpetual squint.     
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Getting checked in with the local army isn't terribly hard, once you're beyond the Thulite. Thul steam ahead, right?

Charn is all very ... administrative. Bureaucratic. There's paperwork to sign, intentions to declare. You're given stamped metal tokens that indicate what port you went through to head to Hextus, and you'll be required to present those later to someone else. It's all very annoying and tedious and more than a little confusing. Probably by design. Very by design.

Eventually, you're able to board *another* ship, a coastal galley, that will take you from the colonies to the ports of Hextus itself. This ship is manned by another literal skeleton crew. The use of undead for labor is entirely common in this part of the world.

Edinaz tries to take it all in stride. Be cool, man, be cool. When in Hextus, etc. Still, skeleton crews are /creepy/. So he sticks to himself.

Aryia was very, very thankful that she never knew her birth name. And that her name was thought up after she ran away. Hell, even her slave mark was practically ruined and gone under decades of scars.

Still, it did little to hide her anxiety when filling out paperwork.

And now she was on a ship. With skeletons. Why did she agree to this? To go back to the very place that ruined her?

The mute sticks to Seyardu like glue.

Seyardu said as little as needed, and not a word more. She had a wide berth from the skeletons, not wishing to cause trouble by causing any for the undead crew.

Jinks has found a perch at the rails, one leg dangling over the spume below as he leans against one post, wraps his hands about another. He watches the Palemen and their animated crew, glances occasionally to his cohort. The gnome leans his head out, looking down, and sucks in a sharp breath when the galley breaks over a wave and they drop. He can't help but smile. He feels the coming story in the Hymn, the tenuous bend of the Weave as it flexes back against the press of their efforts.

The gnome-- von Larks, of course- sucks at- and then licks his teeth, grinning wolfishly. His mouth opens and his tenor crawls across the deck, the minor key a haunting touch.

"A midnight mast.

A galley, avast!

Our ancestors surround

dug up fresh from the ground.

On the sea we are free.

Not the slaves; you and me.

So we exult in chorus;

'Praise him, great Thul Mundus!'"

Lysos is also wondering what possessed her to put her name forward for this mission. This 'adventure'. Of course, she always does this.. absolutely motivated to go, and then when the realities set in, she realizes she's in way over her head. Still, she tries to put on a brave face, ignoring the skeletons, doing her best not to think of what could happen if her bad luck chooses this moment to hit. Jinks's music, which is often inspiring, or at the very least uplifting and funny, does little to reassure her.. this pretending to be 'okay' with all of this is pushing her own anxiety up another level.

Edinaz nods to himself. Minor key, indeed. He doesn't watch the skeletons row, doesn't try to imagine who they all were in life. He doesn't. He doesn't. He... does. That's how he passes the time. Trying to figure out who the rowers were.

Aryia's irrational anxiety was spiking as they go. Velitrice? That was the name she put down? The side character in a Crimson Pen story!? She couldn't be bothered by the skeletons, she was too busy chewing her nails off and staring at the floor.

Well, that's a classy song! None of the undead join in Jinks' song, though, even if they might want to.

All the same, the trip takes a day from here to the ports and once again you're on land, disembarking from the galley to a port that's incredibly busy. Indeed, as you've arrived, you can see dozens of similar galleys and warships in the port, alongside a handful of Veyshanti merchant vessels. Numerous workers are unloading the ships. Charn looks busy!

But there's a sense of anxiety and urgency present amongst the populace. One doesn't have to be particularly perceptive to feel it.

Jinks would have found the rest once the horizon lost its luster. The gnome is an expert in distractions and everyone loves gambling. Bounder is simple, a dice game of chance favoring the dealer. Golem is a card game; suits of flesh, clay, stone, and iron. Strategies abound. Then Skiffs. Tedious and never-ending; hinging entirely on one player missing something and making a gross error in placement-- favorite in Veyshan. The gnome even brought dried beans to use for wagers. The others might not match the unabashed hunger in the onyx-black eyes of the gnome but it's something else to do-- besides watching the rotting risen row.

"I could eat," the gnome announces once they make landfall, craning his neck to look up at the tallmen surrounding him. "Pub? Something fancy."

Seyardu kept to herself, and was also one of the first off the boat. She stretched while looking around, taking in the various comings and goings idly. She stopped to look at the group, and nods to Jinks. "Yes, a meal may be good. We could find a place to eat. and see what rumors could he heard." She agrees

Aryia was not, at all, in a good headspace right now. Her face is gaunt, only growing more so as they make landfall. She watches Jinks with shimmerless eyes, her face blank as they prepare to go to to land. Without thinking due to the dynamic Jinks placed them all in, she motions with an unobtrusive and rote towards the small man, "Yes master. You're most generous. Thank you." What better actor than the real the thing? <Handspeech>

"Hahaha... food..." Lysos fake laughs to herself, following the others while listening to them. Then she slaps herself in the face once and takes a deep breath, actually looking past her own nose to look at the surroundings they have stepped into.

Jinks is having fun, somehow, diving head-first into this nest of of vipers. Maybe it's the persona he's adopted. Maybe it's leaving the guilt of recent events in Alexandria behind. Either way, the sour smell and tension of Hextus is sweet in his gnomish nose. And if he's able to embrace the thrill and adventure surely the bigger, stronger folk around him are feeling the same rush. "Fantastic," he motions without looking up to consider Aryia's expression.

'The Dominion bustles, certainly.' Observes the gnome in a low tone, looking around and reverting to the trade tongue. 'You can almost feel Bauglir's hand hovering over the board, choosing the piece for his next move...' <handspeech>

<OOC> Jinks says, "Can I snag a diplomacy to gather info for a nicer pub, Whirl?"
<OOC> Whirlpool returns. Yes, Jinks. You may. :)
GAME: Jinks rolls Diplomacy: (7)+12: 19
<OOC> Whirlpool says, "If ya'll wanna hit a pub you may :)"
GAME: Seyardu rolls diplomacy: (11)+14: 25

"Oh, is that what that feeling was?" asks Lysos. "I thought it was just a heavy dose of hopelessness flavoured with a dash of paranoia served with a side of utter distrust," she adds.