Tales of Faerun

[mythicdawnmaster]

Ravenna chuckled at Quarylene's words regarding her once-upon-a-time Svirfneblin servants, particularly her little comment of the puny creatures making fitting sacrifices. Looking at the servants that swarmed around both of the mighty women, she smiled again at their attire, clad in garments similar to those of the chamberlains of human courts, finery and opulence stretched, tucked and ripped to fit their mix of devilish forms, it truly was a perversion- But what was not in Ravenna's court?

 

She opened her mouth to reply to the now bedazzling Drow but all of the contained air in her lungs was forced out in a sharp breath as the tight corset was fixed to her body as the laces were pulled incredibly tight, first Ravenna's torso was flung forward, and abruptly seized back to it's original position as the lace had made it's due course in pulling the panels of the corset together.

 

"It looks far better on you than the mannequin... and what deliciously large footware, I applaud you, although we shall see if my smiles shall be in amusement or impress as you take your first steps in those my dear." Ravenna grinned before her face returned to yet another wince as the laces were further constricted.

[AurianaValoria1]

Suddenly, there was a distinct thunk coming from the ship itself. Judging from the muffled sound, its origin was the outside of the Sea Compass's hull. Conall glanced around, his blue eyes widening slightly as he tried to discern what it was that caused the sound. The worst possibilities first popped into his mind before his ears caught the distant strains of some alien song...

 

"Merfolk," he whispered, gripping the table to keep himself from standing as he suddenly felt rather woozy, "All men, cover your ears! These are sirens, and they will sing us all to our deaths if we let them!"

 

He then rummaged through his pack to find something that could plug his ears.

 

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Quarylene stepped off of the pedestal with a slight wobble, holding out her arms for balance. After a few steps, she automatically slipped into the appropriate stride and hip sway to accommodate the towering heels of her boots. She grinned as she paced back and forth, getting used to the added height; it seemed her vampire body was far more agile than her old one had been.

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe looked around as she began to hear a faint melody in her ears, low and seductive and yet light and playful. She tapped her feet with the seemingly nonexistent rhythm and hummed along, not at all sure why. The tune seemed very familiar to her, and yet alien at the same time.

Arva swayed along with the strange music, his feet hitting the wooden floor as he wobbled toward the nearest door, grinning idiotically.

The young nymph bit her lip as Conall announced that they were hearing a siren song, and yanked her husband by the collar of his shirt, causing him to emit choking noises for a split second, pulling him out of their trance momentarily.

As the Arva covered his ears, Ianthe once again scanned the room with her eyes, seeing that Alphonse had stepped through the door already, and was headed out onto the deck.

Ianthe rushed out after him, not bothering to cover her ears, as she realized long ago that she was unaffected by the song. Just as she reached the deck, slipping on the wet wooden planks as she skidded to a stop, her heart sank as Alphonse stepped right over the railing and fell into the water below. Without a second thought, she jumped overboard and plunged herself into the salty waves beneath the ship.

Edited July 6, 2013 by tokyobleach

[nethgros]

Kowolj looked over to Rhaine and considered her offer a moment before accepting. Even if she did yell at him, she would help him whenever she could.

 

"That would be pretty good," he said before beginning to pull the projectiles out of his chest, cringing as the open wounds began to bleed again.

[spyro1201]

After hearing Conall's warning, Kyran listed his hands up to cover his ears, but the sweet hypnotic song of the sirens grasped him. It enveloped him and he could no longer control hiomself. Without uttering a word he stood up from his chair and walked outside of the cabin. Due to Ivan's undead nature, the sirens' song did not affect him.

 

"I wonder where he's going..." - thoguht Ivan upon hearing his friend leave the room with no mention of where he's going.

 

The elf reached the rail, climbed it and jumped into the raging waters of the sea, where Alphonse was as well.

Edited July 7, 2013 by spyro1201

[Deleted6317247User]

Shalena finally found her hand-crossbow and ran outside again. "Cover you damn ears!" She yelled at the top of her lungs to her crew. She knew that she was safe from the sirens songs, just like any other woman on board but the men weren't.

She noticed the drow wobbling out of the cabin to see what is happening. The pirate grabbed her by the arm and yelled "Get some candle wax from my cabin!" At first Nawen was hesitant but the pirate pushed her towards the cabin. "If my men are going to die, we won't survive the storm!" She shouted and it seemed that her words were good enough for the drow to stop dallying.

 

Shalena approached the railing and shot one bolt to one of the Merfolk. "Damned fish-tails" she thought to herself and shot another bolt. She turned to see how her crew were doing only to see Alphonse falling into the water. "Man overboard!" She shouted but the pirates who were close enough to hear her were enchanted by the song.

 

She grabbed the rope and threw it for Alphonse and Kyran. "Hold on to it!" She yelled but was unsure whether they're going to listen or not.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Xallistine sighed as he heard the call of the sirens, the powerfully alluring song doing little but make his eardrums tingle. He was he in personality only, as the Illithids rather genderless anatomy made not apparent their roles as either male nor female, the song could not effect him, and even if it could, his psionics could negate it's effects from seeping into his mind.

 

Bursting out onto the deck he revelled in the pouring torrents of rain that slammed against his skin, giving him some much needed rehydration, while the air was wet as it was, and the conditions here were no where as severe as those of the desert, the surface was still a taxing place for the soft and rubbery skin of the Ulitharid, comparable his condition was, to plucking an octopus from beneath the waves and leaving it on the beach, sooner or later, it would need nourishing before it began to dry out.

 

Peering over the edge to the waters bellow, he rasied his brow as one of the singing maidens threw a spiked javelin in the hopes of impaling Xallistine, leering at him she hissed, and as she turned to dive back into the waves, she was pulled from the water by invisible arms and held above the waves. Xallsitine milky orbs emitted a slight glow, visible to the frightened merwoman as she gazed at the unmoving psionic.

 

Not even requiring a movement of his hand, Xallistines unseen incantations were all of the mind, requiring a minimal focus, such uses of his power were untaxing and mediocre, while a psionic of another race may have had to pour their every fibre into the act Xallistine was about to perform, but to the old sage, it was child's play.

 

Narrowing his eyes a little, the mermaid began to writhe and scream as she was suspended in the air, her skin becoming a bloodshot red, and her eyes inflating. In a large explosion of innards and blood, the mermaid was torn apart as the energies within her were excited, to such a point that they could do nothing but expand. Outwards. The content of her body fell down into the water and upon some of her kin, who looked up in horror, turning to flee in terror.

 

-----

 

"Well done Quarylene, not many can take their first few steps in a pair quite so high and remain on their feet- But then, most are not agile vampiress's, are they my dear? Now then, accessories no? I am sure there is something opulent enough to suit you." Ravenna commented with a small smiled as her current coat of makeup was wiped from her face, and a new layer applied; Her eyes were framed by her usually thick eyeliner, and her her lids covered with a dark, shadowy red, her lips painted with the same colour she looked frightful as always, alluring as she may be.

Edited July 7, 2013 by mythicdawnmaster

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine moved over to Kowolj and healed him as he pulled out the bolts. Then, whirling around, she addressed the others, "Come on! We have to stop this attack before we lose the crew!" The Doomguide then drew her sword and rushed outside.

 

Conall had already plugged his ears with rolled up strips from his own cloak. Though it helped block the sound, he still wobbled a bit as he stood to follow Rhaine to the deck, loaded crossbow in hand.

 

The ship pitched violently in the storm, the deck as slippery as grease from all the water. The wind whipped Rhaine's scarlet mane about her face until it plastered itself to her forehead in blood-red ribbons. She stood with her feet far apart to stabilize herself as she took in the situation. The men weren't faring well, most of them staring off in a daze, some even headed for the railings; in a desperate attempt to save some of the stupefied crew, she launched a Dispel charm in their direction before locking her eyes on a siren who had actually launched out of the water and was now sailing over the deck. Jumping up to meet the mermaid, the Doomguide thrust Touch of Death upwards just as the ship rose high into the air.

 

"Kelemvor smite you!" she cried as the sword cut through the mermaid's unarmored flesh like knife through butter, a brilliant light bursting around the siren and instantly killing her. The merfolk's spear clattered to the deck, and this she tossed to one of the crew members to help aid in the fight. The Doomguide then proceeded to cast a Bless spell and a Prayer in hopes of boosting their chances of survival, two waves of golden magic spreading outward to everyone on deck.

 

Conall had leaned over the railing to get a better aim at the swarm of merfolk. He loosed a bolt just as a siren jumped up to try and grab him, the projectile embedding itself in the fish-woman's heart. She sank back into the boiling seas with a shriek, the water tinged pink as she fell.

 

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Quarylene's grin widened, "I thought you'd never ask."

 

She walked along to peruse some smaller busts arrayed with all manner of jewels. Most of them were like the outfits...either to garish or too elaborate. Her eye did stop on a matching set of engraved silver ring claws, each claw attached to a bracelet with tiny chains. A relatively simple silver circlet went with the claws, set with a large onyx jewel in the middle, the sides shaped like slender serpents twining around the gemstone. To complete the accessories was a pair of silver serpent earrings, each holding an onyx drop from their mouths.

 

As she donned the jewels, there was a distinct hum as the set was completed. She flexed her hands to admire the metal claws and glanced up at Ravenna, "Are these enchanted?"

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe held Alphonse up with one arm, trying desperately to keep herself above the surface of the waves as best as she could with the other arm. Normally, she'd sink beneath the waves without a care, as she didn't need air while she was underwater, but Alphonse definitely needed it.

Another man - Kyran, from the looks of it - hopped overboard, and Ianthe thanked all the gods she could think of as Shalena dropped a rope over the side of the ship. She set to work tying Alphonse up and gave the rope a tug to let Shalena know there was someone on the other end of it.

Ianthe was startled as one of the Merfolk screeched in her face, clearly upset that its prey had been taken away. The nymph didn't have time for this. She swung her fist through the air and punched the siren in the side of its head, teeth bared. Taking advantage of its confusion, Ianthe then dove under in pursuit of Kyran.

In a daze, Alphonse struggled against the rope, but it seemed that Ianthe had tied him up rather well. If only he could reach the source of the beautiful song...

A wave slapped him in the face, spraying salty water into his nostrils and open mouth. He came to his senses for a split second, and he cast a weak jolt of lightning in the direction of the thing that was trying to chase Ianthe. It gave a few jerks and spasms before floating belly-up in the water.

Somewhere on the deck above, Reona ran with bare feet, not slipping nearly as much as she would have with shoes on. She leaned over the railing and her stomach churned. Alphonse was down there, and Ianthe was nowhere to be seen. If she'd been a better swimmer, she would have leapt over the ship's sides and helped, but all she could do was watch.

Arva sat at the table, fingers shoved in his ears. "You know, if we didn't have so many women with us, we'd be in trouble." He could barely hear his own words, and stopped talking immediately.

William the wizard stood on deck and saluted at Xallistine with one hand as he flourished the other toward one of the Merfolk. It writhed for a moment before falling still, its mouth hanging open. All he'd done was a simple cut across the brain stem, and that was all it took. It would seem that the siren's song had no effect on him, as he was already mad.

[Deleted6317247User]

Shalena saw adventurers running outside to help fighting the merfolk and the drow had returned with candle wax and started handing it to her friends and the ship's crew. Just as she was about to aim at another mermaid she felt the tug of the rope and started pulling them back to the ship.

 

"A little help here!" She shouted because she knew that she won't manage to pull them out on her own. Nawen heard the half-elf and grabbed the rope to help to pull Alphonse and others out of the water.

 

With the candle wax blocking the siren's song, the pirates were no longer enchanted and were able to focus on sailing the ship through the storm.