The trip up the estuary

[Attilius]

Nov 5, 2020 6:11:02 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

Your captain has a look of concern on his face as the sun's first rays peek a little behind and to the right of you through the silty haze.

"Speak your concern Cap..." HurK says while looking around in the distance for trouble

[DM Bob]

"This is dust storm fixin's."

He gets that "farmer-judging-the-weather" look in his eyes as he tightens his dust mask further.

"It'll take us ten minutes or so to hit the east shore... or we can gun it and attempt to bunker past the next isle. I don't think we have the time though, that's still a couple hours out."

You're currently 8-10 miles past South Ledopolus, past the small fields of wheat that are closer to the north end of the town (not that you can currently see it!). Presumably, that means the shore is bordering salt flat.

Your options are to turn around and try from the isle past the bridges - 20-30 minutes travel,

bunker down on the salt-side of the shore,

or keep going in hopes that Abez is wrong.

Any way you look at it, it's probably the better part of the day to Altaruk given the current conditions.

[Attilius]

The half giant looks towards the clouds while tapping his chin "If I could fly us up further stream, where would be the best location to hunker down safely?"

[DM Bob]

"To the east of the mountainous isle. I think simply shoring up and dropping sail should be fine though." The wind picks up a tad as if to accentuate his point.

[Attilius]

Nov 5, 2020 7:43:44 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

"To the east of the mountainous isle. I think simply shoring up and dropping sail should be fine though." The wind picks up a tad as if to accentuate his point.

"Well listen to your experience then. Let's drop sail and shore up..."

[Deleted]

Mak finds the silty air to be very disagreeable. He wets a cloth and uses it to cover his mouth and nose and walks below deck to wait out the storm.

[Niachi]

OOC: does Coden want first shift on the helm? Laakh will take it if you don't. But he checks with Abez and when Caym was at the helm, how did the topdeck crew notify on sudden course changes. Whenever he returns to Lilim, he wants to make clear there is a plan to alert him when shit does down.

To Abez:

"Captain Abez, if storm hits, is it safer onboard? What should we do to prepare?"

The thought of drowning in choking wind whipped silt makes him reinforce his dust mask over his web hood.

[Attilius]

Hurk start donning his silt gear:

[DM Bob]

"It'll be safer below decks for sure. Might be a bit cramped, but better than choking, eh?"

You do as he says. There does in fact seen to be a wall of dust coming in from the south and west.

Visibility drops to just a few feet ahead of your face as the ship sidles into the shallow silt of the shore. The sails are dropped. The pterrax covers itself with it's wings like a bat and huddles near the mast.

There is nothing to do but wait...

Unless you want to use this time to do things such as mentally communicate with others, examine your newfound weaponry, mess with the obsidian urns or ?

It's hard to tell how long a storm like this will last.

[Attilius]

[Bob can you roll a d3 please]

The half giant gets comfortable in his Lotus position...  "I've heard tales of dust and silt storms lasting for days. I will deeply meditate for 12 hours. Should the storm break before 6 hours, OR we get attacked, please wake me. Otherwise allow me to continue for the full 12 hours." 

[Meditative Focus 19 (Psychometabolism), rolled 5 = success (should he not be interrupted for 12 hours)]

[Niachi]

Laakh nods to Hurk,

"While you do, I'll bring our new recruits up to where we are, including the found items. Good meditating."

With all the new crew huddled at the helm, Laakh recounts their adventures thus far:

-Good news first: New toys: describes each new weapon found in Nibenay, nudging Yiska to show her family sword. Some are in Hurk's belt so no disturbing till he's ready. He's charging up his brain for more Hurk things.

-Psurlons: describes the foul worms, the location, and Shardivan's part.

"and at one point under Nibenay, we stole items sealed off and warded by the Shadow King. A tablet mentioning unknown cities and people. Sealed urns containing ..unknown. It was done on impulse and no matter how much I disagree with the act, it was done and these things are wrapped in Phase spider web in his pack. (thumbing at Hurk) We will not chuck them overboard, that is my strong opinion and talk to me if you have ideas. According to Yiska, this webbing blocks some scrying. These items may be invaluable in currency to the right agent, or helpful in driving off the worms, or just draw Nibenay's bounty on our heads. Or all of these... Until this weather clears, we have time to strategize. Once in Altaruk, I will inquire of further methods to block detection as this web stuff is clogging with silt and won't last.
Captain, how long do these storms go on?"

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

Coden's happy for a chance to take a brief break, though it's obvious that he wants to get back into action soon. He pulls a scarf around his face to prevent the silt from collecting in his nose and throat, paces the deck a bit, then decides to go below decks to commune with Lilim and offer to play a board game in the mindscape.

(Not sure what board games look like in Athas, I'm thinking something with moving stones around on a board, the kind of thing soldiers and caravaneers could easily play with pebbles and a board drawn with a finger in the sand.)

[DM Bob]

"Short as shit or sometimes a few days." Abez remarks. "Keep below decks. We're gonna probably have some time to reflect."

[DM Bob]

Board games on Athas? Think mancala or three armies. Dice. Mehen. Senet. There are also games with ceramic bits that try to assemble whole coins... but those snowball quickly.

[DM Bob]

The 12 hours go by.

The storm still rages.

At least there's a lack of the normal sun?