CraterShip

The Gau tilts his head in response to the Tzelicrae's, mimicing his gesture but turning it into a thoughtful expression. An offer for a map, his mind races through what possibilities there could be, but he is unsure of what the Argos may offer that others could not. Their recent luck against the beast left them with some goods, but he doesn't want to lead with an offer just yet. "I understand an offer has been made already?" he gestures to the now irate bidder, "It would be rude of me to make an ill-informed low offer and insult all here - perhaps I could hear the current bid? Or if there is something specific you seek?" OOC Looking to find out what the current offer is to see if it is something he could beat. I'm betting a particular service (i.e. go help do something for the Tzelicrae in exchange for the map) could be a better option. Also, apologies for the late reply - just starting a new job, and in-processing has been taking up a large chunk of my time.

Tolliver was enthralled by the pipe organ, an instrument of such size would never sit in his old home. Too much weight would sink the blasted thing before it could play its first note. He orders a stiff drink of what turned out to be fermented sugars of some kind mixed with a dark bubbling liquid. It went down smooth and smelled of vanilla and spices. As he watched the thrashing, roaring beast in the hanging cage above, he listened to the crowd for remarks of what he may find useful. After a short while, two such conversations catch his attention. The closer of the two - the one with what appears to be pirates and chefs prying information from one another is first. He cocks his head to listen to their bargaining, and after a short while realizes that neither seem to know much about the Bloom, and are both actively trying to pry information from one another. Likely a fruitless task, and - if he joined - would likely just be a third voice doing the same. Shortly after dismissing the group, a shout of TYRANT from a dark table in the back draws his eye. Studying the back table, Tolliver can make out what appears to be a map case, which firmly grasps his full attention. He turns to the barkeep and orders a bottle of the vanilla - spice drink, which he carries as way of introduction to the pair at the table. The agitated Ketra looked to be in need of a calming drink after all. OOC Interested in the map case and the dark figure at the second table. He will introduce himself as a fellow hunter of the Bloom and offer to drink and share stories of recent passages.

Tolliver remains at the fore of the starboard hull as they reach dock, his eyes scan across the cityscape. Not fully unlike the high sentinels he grew up on, but with a different take. The four clans of Angler's Spire may spread beyond this place, but were unfamiliar to him still. From the ektus' description, Deathblossom was a good choice, and he nodded his approval at Tharr's choice. Both Tharr and Atus seem dead set on finding the highest altitude possible. Tolliver decides to let them find their own path for a time, while he checks out the lower levels. Perhaps when the all return, they may piece together a larger story. For his own part, he was most interested in what people may know about the siren song flowers which had wormed their way into his own body - a point driven home as he notices a small red sprout on his forearm and he scratches it away. Once fully docked, he disembarks with a wave to his companions. "I will return by nightfall - be careful in the meantime," he calls to the others, his eyes narrow at Atus' strange mutterings. Perhaps Park will find something of a cure while they stay, but Tolliver intends instead to find merriment. Nothing like a good drink and loud music to forget about what ails you, and he may find more information about their ultimate goal in the loose-lipped tendencies of those who drink too much. OOC Tolliver will head to Aster's Scar - intent on three things: drinking, making friends, and listening for stories of the Tyrant Bloom

Sorry been slammed with kids on spring break this week and visiting relatives. I'll try to get something going again soon for Tolliver

Any chance the blooming flowers on Tolliver gave him any cool powers? Connection to the springfox that is also infected?

Tolliver's mind continues to ring with the siren song of the blooming red flowers, even as the actual song fades in the distance and Atus' chants replace the worldly sounds. He tries to distract himself, listening to the beat of his friend's song, hearing the churn of the sawprows, but even the blowing of the wind and the rustle of the waves below seem to resonate the same otherworldly voice. With Tharr's musings over his condition, Tolliver sits on a nearby crate of supplies, allowing the mothryn to pluck at the flower growing from his neck. Perhaps Park can figure something to do with it? Though the small fire following Tharr's clearing tells him there won't be a specimen to check. "I can continue watch," he tells the others, though he wonders if they would question his perception if another bloom arises, "I won't take the wheel until this is cleared though," hopefully that will keep him from being driven to enter such a place and endanger others. For now, it would be his burden to bear. OOC

Red flowers spread across the green wavetops, seemingly calling to him, the beauty of the sight coupled with the alluring smell and new siren song pulled his mind deeper into a trance. Unable to pull his gaze from the beauty, he simply sat down on the edge of the Argos, dropping his feet over the edge, under a railing and draping his arms over the top. It isn't until the thunderclap of Atus' shot and the sudden lurch of the ship he is able to pull himself back awake. He feels sluggish, like his mind is full of twisting vines he must cut through while they grow ever thicker in order to do even the simplest of tasks. He puffs air from his nostrils in an attempt to clear out whatever pollen may be affecting him and shakes his head. With a final mental surge, he attempts to break free of the siren flowers and draws his Jag-Lash, and a defoliant grenade from his belt - ready to destroy any encroaching plant. OOC

YAY for rap battles! Apologies for the tardiness of posting - work has been entirely too busy recently. Putting together reply now - figured I'd go along with the "transfixed by siren flowers" take.

Following the day's excitement and the rest of the evening with the crew of the Firefly, Tolliver finds himself back aboard the Argos, which had gotten underway at some point in the night. He vaguely remembered making it back to his room below deck, and Atus volunteering to take first watch, but little more after that. As he becomes fully awake, he makes his way through the ship to the top deck, stopping briefly at the mess to grab whatever provision is handy as a form of breakfast. On the top deck, his thoughts cease for a moment as he takes in the rolling waves of green foliage all around and he is transported back to his tallshank home, where he would sit in the high branches just watching the sea of limbs and leaves. Their rustle pulsing like a giant's heartbeat. Tolliver pulls himself back to the real world and makes his way to the ship's wheel to find Atus. "Good morning, my friend. How are the seas?" he asks as way of greeting, "do you need anything while we are underway?" He offers a bite of his food, unsure if the barely-contained-lightning-coil of a man actually eats anything at all. He then volunteers to take watch, heading to the stern of the ship, and perches atop the lightning rail, which he pats lovingly as a sort of thanks for its service in the fight against the Chameleocuda. OOC Taking watch

The Argos glides smoothly along the now freed saws as Tolliver angles alongside the damaged Firefly. After tethering the ship, he joins the Atus and Tharr in the Captain's chambers. He listens intently to the offers, but feels awkward in directly asking for items of the ship. Instead he asks for information. "This ship, she is able to traverse beneath the greensea, yes? What sort of technologies enabled you to do so? Perhaps your engineers could show us similar works for our Argos?" He began, and then after their discussion, he asked of a separate possibility. "With the state of the ship, I imagine it will be some time before she is worthy of hard labor, even if we can get her repaired sufficiently. We are on our way to Angler's Spire, if you have cargo to be delivered in that direction, we would take that as payment." He dislikes the idea of removing parts of the Firefly, preferring to have an ally on the seas if possible. OOC Following conversation with Captain Sage, Tolliver will seek out the engineers of the Firefly to ask of the submersible technology. If any of them are willing, he would allow them aboard the Argos (supervised of course) to determine what would be needed to potentially start the Argos in that direction. If there is cargo to be delivered to Angler's Spire, he will also oversee the transfer - nothing wrong with making a little money while unloading some of the extra weight of the Firefly. Who knows if it would have to dump it just to make port.

Tolliver's grappling hook holds true as he swings gracefully beside the jammed sawprow, and he is able to grab the harpoon and use his momentum to pull the weapon from the paused chain teeth. As his inertia carries him gracefully back to the deck of the Argos, a double lightning crack resounds across the green sea - from Park's cannon shot and simultaneously Atus' channeled shot. The cavitation of the atmosphere thunders over his head and the smell of ozone is carried on the wind for a brief moment. With the obliterating shot, the Chamelocuda is brought down, and the collective crews are able to breath a sigh of relief. Tolliver returns to the helm, restarts the starboard sawprow, and pulls slowly alongside the skiff. "Well fought all!" he calls to his crew and the thought strikes him that they truly are one crew. His slightly spongy skin seems to bristle with the excitement of what they have accomplished, and Atus' comments add to the feeling of pride. "I will take the Argos and check on the other ship then return to aid the harvest," he tells the others. Undoubtedly the other crew needed assistance, and the potential to scavenge useful equipment or rattle repairs was enticing. OOC TBD

Grinding to a screeching halt, the starboard sawprow tried to chew through the ricocheted trident, but failed as the shaft buried itself somewhere in the inner workings. Tolliver yanked the throttle back to full stop on that side, and left the port engine turning slowly. Can't leave the Argos at a complete standstill, better to circle slowly than have no movement at all, his mind raced through possible fixes - reverse the sawprow and hope it dislodged on its own? No - if it couldn't move forward, reversing may just make it worse. He was going to have to get down there and free the harpoon manually. Double checking the engine on that side was disconnected (not wanting to have it suddenly burst to life with him in the teeth), he leaped down from the captain's raised platform, calling to Park. "Keep that thing away from us if you can! I've got to free the saw or we'll be as dead as her," he points to the wrecked Firefly ship. In a moment, he was at the railing pushing off and over the edge of the starboard bow. His grappling hook secured to the deck, he used the rope to swing down to the lodged harpoon. Then, using the momentum of the fall, he tried to grab at the weapon, hoping his weight would pull it free. OOC Rolled Grace + Vault as they seemed to be appropriate - if different thoughts, please feel free to amend Grappling hook: Treat conflicts as triumphs when climbing or swinging

Just gotta say I about spit mountain dew on my keyboard when I read your "Park is gonna make burgers out of you" line! Fantastic!

As soon as the Cuda erupts on the starboard side of the Argos, Tolliver slams the throttle into full reverse and cranks the wheel to the left, working to aim the ship's sawprow at the creature, and giving Park an easier shot. Thus far the lightning rail had done seemingly significant damage, and in the back of his mind he knew this would be a fight for their lives. . Either it saw the Firefly as enough of a prize for it to stick around, or it was simply mad - in either case, enraged as the leviathan was, it was not going to back down. "I'm bringing her around, as soon as you have a clear shot, take it!" he calls to Park from his command seat. OOC Steering

Vadania Holimion Wood Elf | Monk AC: 15 | HP: 5/19 | Speed: 45 ft | Features and Traits Martial Arts | Ki Points 1 / 2 Following the others' ideas, Vadania is also wont to heal a bit before attempting to press on. Though she realized sitting out in the open was not the best option as more orcs could attack, and digging back into the tunnel could mean any sort of creature, like the oozes from before. "Perhaps we should return to the safety of your camp?" she asks of Dazlyn and Norbus. "A bit of rest by the fire would likely do us all some good." OOC If all agree to return to camp, she will meditate near the fire as a form of rest.