CH. 11: Dark Side of the Mond

[BishGada]

Baeros looks down on the short people arriving... "Hello little ones." he grins and stretch his hand at the up coming three.

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn looks at Baeros and shakes her head slightly. She doubted that greeting would endear them to him. "It is good to see all of you again," she said with a light smile. "Saren was kind enough to let us catch a ride with him here so that we could catch up with the Bullring."

[Breila]

Ouragana pays little attention to the conversation, she cranes her neck to see if Thaddeus is on deck of the Bullring.

[spyguy1503]

Gallath looks up at the tall man who insulted him. "You may be one head taller than me but this defect is easily removed"

(OOC: Very touchy about his height)

[JadedDM]

"Are these the black dragon fighters?"

Sierra nods. "Yeah, these are them."

"Hello little ones."

Sierra frowns at the ranger. "You know what's great about being my size? Perfect position to punch big oafs right in the family jewels."

Terra titters. "We're the perfect size to do other things to them, too," she adds.

Sierra turns and looks at her sister, not saying anything for several seconds. Finally, she says evenly, "I think I just threw up a little in my mouth." She turns her attention back to the others. "What's this about catching up to us? You were looking for us? Why?"

Meanwhile, Ouragana cranes her neck to search for Thaddeus on the deck of the Bullring. But a rather large crowd of crewmen has gathered there, all wanting to see what is happening, and it's difficult to pick him out. She thinks she might have spotted a flash of red hair, but she quickly loses sight of him, if indeed it was him.

[HorizonsDream]

"Well, I figured you were the best chance that I had to...get rid of some pirates," Jocelyn says. Right now, she seems a little vague on the matter.

[spyguy1503]

Gallath looks them over, studying for anything out of the ordinary.

[JadedDM]

Sierra crosses her arms. "Pirates? Alright, we can go and talk back on the Bullring then."

"Then it would seem this is where we say farewell," Saren says. "I wish you luck on your journey and pray that Octhanus will watch over you all."

Gallath carefully looks over the assembled party. He didn't know any of their names yet, but he observed them to see if he could gleam any additional details about them.

The priestess is wearing sky blue, which marks her as having the rank of pastor. This made her a fairly low ranking member of the Octhanus clergy. There was something of a cold look to the woman. Priests of Octhanus tend to be warm and caring, but she didn't exhibit either of these traits. The others seemed to defer to her, letting her do all of the talking. Were they her friends or just hired blades? She didn't look upon them with any sense of fondness, nor did they look at her with any kind of affection. She seemed uncomfortable speaking about these pirates in mixed company; Gallath noticed a light glance she made at Saren when she spoke of them. Did she not want him to know about these pirates?

The storm sorceress seemed rather odd herself. She was clearly human...and yet...there was something slightly off about her. Something almost...alien. A sort of uncanny valley, but it was nothing Gallath could put his finger on. She had yet to speak at all since he arrived, and her attention seemed to be focused more on what was happening on the deck of the Bullring than on the conversation currently happening.

The half-orc, in particular, seemed out of place. She also had not yet spoken and didn't appear at all interested in what was going on around her. She glanced out to the sea every now and again. She carried a beautifully crafted trident; it must have cost quite a bit of gold. Her shark hide armor was fairly expensive, too. Despite this, she looked like she lived in the wild. It was something of a contrast, to say the least.

The large, bearded man also seemed somewhat out of place. He didn't look like a sailor, but more like a gruff frontiersman, the kind of person you'd see living off the wild in the mountains or deep forests. Despite his rude comment about shortness, Gallath got the impression he hadn't meant ill by it; that he hadn't really thought about what he was saying. He may well often stick his boot in his mouth.

That just left the dwarf. It was odd to see a warrior with such a pronounced limp. Usually that would ensure one's retirement. Then again, perhaps he had retired. The dwarf was bulky, but it wasn't all muscle. He had the look of someone who had once been in shape, then had let himself go and was only now starting to work out again.

Yes, they all appeared out of place and mismatched. As if these people had not fit anywhere else, and so teamed up together for whatever reason.

[Nuke]

"So..." Val asks finally. "What ship are we going on?"

[HorizonsDream]

"The Bullring, Val," Jocelyn says before she turns to Saren. "Thank you," she adds with a light smile. "For being kind enough to let us tag along, and for letting me pick your brain a little bit."

[Nuke]

Val approaches Saren, "Thank you. I am sorry we could not be more help." Val turns and starts walking down the plank. Suddenly she turns back. "May I retrieve my cargo please?"

[BishGada]

"You may be one head taller than me but this defect is easily removed."

Baeros chuckles, "So, you are a brave little guy! That's nice. I've heard interesting stories about the Bullring team so I like you already."

"We're the perfect size to do other things to them, too," she adds.

Baeros winks at Terra, "Nice to see you have some reasonable people among you. I meant no insult, just... well... ahm.. anyway, nice to meet ya all." Baeros says but keep all his attention and smiles on Terra, "Jocelyn and Ouragana told me a lot about you. Val doesn't speak at all so it doesn't mean anything."

When the group departs the Seleya Baeros goes to Saren and say, "Your mission is an admirable! Many thanks for all your help. But don't get yourself killed rushing towards death's open hands like you did with the horde of undead. I hope we will meet in the future and we can fight evil side by side again. By the way, are you going to stay in Mond?"

He also looks for the woman who healed them back in the Queen. "Many thanks to you too. You are both treat to the eyes and a capable woman. Watch over Saren, he is somewhat careless about himself."

He then quickly takes a place near Jocelyn. "Hey, do you plan to find Andar after we finish with these pirates? He was under your supervision wasn't he? Maybe you should tell Saren where he lives? Besides we should give our farewells to him and Areilon, right?"

[spyguy1503]

Gallath speaks to them. "Where are you going?"

[Breila]

When she passes Saren on her way over to the Bullring, Ouragana bows to Saren: "Thank you very much for your hospitality, and for your healing. We would not have survived without you."

Her voice is so soft that Gallath can just make out that she speaks, not really what she says. The way she moves shows that she is at ease on ships, as a storm sorcerer would be expected to be. She greets the Bullring sisters politely and smiles at Gallath as she passes him to weave through the crowd, apparently looking for someone.

When she finds Thaddeus, she says: "Greetings, Master Thaddeus. I'm very happy to see you again."

[JadedDM]

"Thank you," she adds with a light smile. "For being kind enough to let us tag along, and for letting me pick your brain a little bit."

Saren nods politely. "I hope you consider carefully what we discussed. And I'm certain that Octhanus will arrange for us to meet again some day."

"May I retrieve my cargo please?"

"I'll have some of my men transfer it to the Bullring's cargo bay," Saren promises.

"Jocelyn and Ouragana told me a lot about you. Val doesn't speak at all so it doesn't mean anything."

"Nothing too bad, I hope," Terra replies. "Neither ever mentioned you before, though."

"Your mission is an admirable! Many thanks for all your help. But don't get yourself killed rushing towards death's open hands like you did with the horde of undead. I hope we will meet in the future and we can fight evil side by side again. By the way, are you going to stay in Mond?"

"Fear not," Saren assures him. "I am quite cautious by nature. But those zombies were no threat to me. My faith is quite strong. And yes, we will remain here for a day or so, and then sail off to Sanctuary to treat the more severely wounded."

"Many thanks to you too. You are both treat to the eyes and a capable woman. Watch over Saren, he is somewhat careless about himself."

"I shall endeavor to watch over the captain," Tivrella agrees. "Tenna' ento lye omenta," she says in Elvish, some manner of farewell, presumably.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality, and for your healing. We would not have survived without you."

"May the wind always fill your sails," Saren says, a traditional naval farewell.

After all say their goodbyes, the party follows Sierra, Terra and Gallath back to the Bullring while some of Saren's men retrieve Val's cargo to transfer over. Once back on the massive galleon, Sierra turns to the group. "So then, what's this all about? Something regarding pirates, you said?"

Ouragana finds Thaddeus near the aftcastle, making notations with a quill pen in some leather bound notebook. He looks up with surprise when he hears her. "Ah, Miss Ouragana. I have not seen you in...I suppose it's been a year now. How do you fare?"