To The Island!

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel adresses Captain Quark. "I actually do have a question. Where should we start our search for these strange rays? I mean, is there anyone in town with which we could speak before heading there, or any place we should visit first to get the necessary equipment?"

[Storm11]

Jinx shrugs. Worth a try she smiles with a wink to the captain. Throwing her brown topknot of hair back over her shoulder she squares up to Quark and looks up at him.

So, how dangerous are these rays? What special abilities do you know they possess, and can they survive out of water?

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Yes," pipes up the gnome. "If they can't, we might as well kill it straight away. No sense in risking our lives trying to capture it".

"And how big are these things? If they take twelve men to lift we'll have to find a way to move it".

[hedgeknight]

Fitz

Even though all of the others seem to be all for fishing, Fitz has had his fill of the water and is ready for some solid land under his feet.
"Thanks anyway, Captain, but if you'll drop me off by the pier or sandbar, I'll head on into town. Best of luck to the rest of you!"

[OGRE MAGE]

The Open Sea

Quark thinks for a moment before answering Elnaerel, pointing a couple of miles up the beach. “They should be over there, where the sand stops and the trees are jutting out into the water. I’ve heard tell they have quite a colony, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one in the shallows there.”

Looking down at Jinx and The Knife. “I don’t rightly know all that much about them, other than they are special, and sometimes sought after by old wizards or something. The information I got was that they aren’t overly large, but can’t survive outside of the saltwater for very long.”

Then he gets an idea.

“You look like you are already well equipped. We can save some time by swinging over that way right now, before we dock. We could drop you off in the dingy, and then you can row back along the shoreline once you bag your catch. That will save on travel time in both directions. Should be easy to keep the thing alive in the leaky bottom of the rowboat. What do you think about that?”

Actions?

Keyon elven thief (Paladin)
Brandy half-elven cleric/ranger (Darklin)
Feanol elven magic user (Ahlmzhad)
Elnaerel elven cleric (Baldorar)
Jinx halfling fighter/thief (Storm)
The Knife gnomish thief (Jernau)

Drakkar dwarven fighter (Holy_Rage)
Fitz gnomish illusionist/thief (Hedgeknight)

[Paladin]

Keyon

The former pirate turned (mostly) honest sailor considers his first paying job with an amused chuckle. Catching a fish in a leaky dingy. Decidedly less glamorous than robbing the rich to feed the poor...well, to feed the poor pirate with an appetite for the finer things in life. Keyon sighs. Giving up his vices was not proving to be a lucrative endeavor, thus far.

But as he glances at Feanol, noting again the mage's fragile beauty and the keen intelligence in her eyes, he reminds himself that an honest life hasn't been ALL that bad, so far. "I've seen wizards put people to sleep with a wave of their hand," he says to her. "Could you do that with this ray?"

He nods at Quark's plan. "Aye. I like it."

[Storm11]

Jinx wiggles her feet and points to her legs.

Given my short legs, I am all for a lift. . . Errr how leaky are we talkin...?

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

She has a hard time deciding to try the dinghy after her recent time off the boat. Keyon's question snaps her out of it, and she replies "Yes that is one of the things I've mastered, it would only be one shot, but it should help us get one." Feeling better knowing Keyon will be going she decides she just has to do these things if the life of an adventurer is her choice.

[Karaunios]

Elanerel starts looking around her, looking for something on the board of the ship. "Well, if we're gonna do that now, which is fine, we'll need a net to catch the rays... That's the only thing we need now if we want to be better be eqquiped for them. Harpoons are out of the question and surely they'll sleep off our hands."

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Getting dropped off closer is good plan. I like it." says The Knife. "But I'm sure we're going to need a net. Even if we can catch one of these things without a net, how are we going to keep it? It might just jump out of our boat".

"I mean, it's some kind of fish-thing. It's not like it will have arms and legs we can tie up".

[Darklin2]

Brandy

I think a net would be good too. That way we can keep it in the water and not risk killing it by putting it in the boat. Captain do you have some type of tank to put it in? It will have to survive the long trip back and being out of the saltwater may kill it.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Open Sea

The good captain orders the dingy to be prepped and hauled over the side as the big ship veers towards the western shore instead of sailing straight into Beachtown like they normally do. Fitz the gnome watches as the detour takes him and the other eager passengers away from their destination temporarily.

The captain continues answering questions as the small rowboat is lowered over the side of the ship.

"I was planning on keeping the ray in the bilge where there is enough water leaking in to keep it alive for at least a few days of traveling. You could do the same thing, keeping the animal in the bottom of the smaller craft that does leak a little, but not bad enough to be a major concern. And I think we should have enough netting around here to spare you a small section." The captain calls for a bailing bucket and a small fishing net to be placed in the dingy as well.

"I dont care how you get it back to town once ye catch it, just make it snappy so I can leave in time. AND DONT HURT MY DINGY!!!"

Once the smaller boat hits the water, a thick cargo net is tossed over the side of the ship so anyone interested in going along can climb down into the dingy.

Actions?

Keyon elven thief (Paladin)
Brandy half-elven cleric/ranger (Darklin)
Feanol elven magic user (Ahlmzhad)
Elnaerel elven cleric (Baldorar)
Jinx halfling fighter/thief (Storm)
The Knife gnomish thief (Jernau)

Drakkar dwarven fighter (Holy_Rage)
Fitz gnomish illusionist/thief (Hedgeknight)

[Darklin2]

Brandy

Brandy shoulders her pack and gear. Hops over the rail to descend into the dingy.

Snap to Land Lover's it time to earn the "Booty"

She drops into the dingy and takes up an oar and awaits the others.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"Ready?",The Knife asks his knife. "...No, of course I'm not going to drop you...I told you, that time was an accident!" He sighs heavily and reaches into his pocket. "Oh, okay then".

The Knife pulls out a length of string. He ties it around the hilt of the knife, peace-bond style. "There. Satisfied? Now if you fall in it will be your own stupid fault...No! Look, I was joking. I'm sorry!" The gnome sighs heavily again and looks over at Fitz. "Honestly, can't live with it, can't tie a rock to it and throw it over the side."

The Knife collects his pack and his walking stick and crosses over to the cargo net. Despite the stick being even bigger than he is, the gnome makes it into the dingy quite nimbly.

"No point in me rowing", he tells Brandy. "Short arms. We'll go round in circles". He settles in at the stern.

[hedgeknight]

Fitz watches all of the action from atop a barrel at the railing. He takes a small bag of nuts and seeds and munches on them as he gazes longingly at the distant shoreline...

[Storm11]

Jinx retrieves her things and scampers down into the dinghy.

She watches the others as they organise themselves, then the shoreline and beachtown. She keeps her thoughts to herself around the big folk, happy to be about this hunt as soon as possible, thinking of the coins that may come from the ray retrieval.

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

"Captain, I have a large chest below will it be waiting for me on my return?"

If the answer is affirmative she will take her navigational tools and other thing in her pouch and return them to her chest.

Then she will wait to board the dingy after Keyon.

[Paladin]

Keyon

"Off we go," Keyon says with a tired grin. The day's ordeal has drained his energy but none of his good nature, and he vaults over the rail to catch the net and pauses before his descent. He raises an eyebrow at Feanol. "If the lady requires a hand, I have two." If she seems inclined to take his hand, he'll assist her in climbing down the net. Otherwise, the merry elf will swing down arm over arm and leap into the boat, casting his gaze upward to see who else is coming.

One way or the other, he joins the small crew and finds an oar. An old sailor's song weaves quietly among them in the salty breeze as he gazes toward their destination.

"When I was a lad in a fishing town
My old man said to me:
You can spend your life, your jolly life
Sailing on the sea.
You can search the world for pretty girls
Til your eyes grow weak and dim,
But don't go fishing for a mermaid, son
If you don't know how to swim.

'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
I loved that girl with all my heart
I only liked the upper part
But I did not like the tail."

He chuckles at the last line and falls silent, inhaling the salt air and exhaling with a happy sigh.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel will get her backpack and get down to the dingy. "We'll come back to the ship as soon as we catch the thing!"

[OGRE MAGE]

The members going along on the ray hunt can resume their action over here: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=9476

Anyone not going along should stand by for the continuation of the ships landing in this thread.

Thanks!