The Winds of Oblivion

[AlphaLuke]

The veteran crewmen sit back at their drinks, but still continue to pay rapt attention to the Captain. The new hands seem . . . confused.

The Captain reads from his folded parchment,

"The trade winds off Sarusan
blow hot
and wet
and sweet
behold the spires of Alistair
pallid white
the bones of a titan
long devoured
a city where the moon shines green
and the streets glisten red
hot
wet
and sweet . . ."

Silence hangs in the air for a pregnant moment before the Captain folds his paper, places it back into his jacket poket, and walks toward the tankard of watered ale in the galley. He pours himself a drink and raises it to the mess.

"To the lost."

The veteran crew joins him in a silent toast.

Then, after draining his tankard, the Captain retreats back up to the main deck, presumably to his cabin.

[Pent]

Zeph thinks on the poem for a few moments.

Colors of red, white, and green.

A green moon? What's that about?

Spires of Alistair are the bones of a Titan.

Wait, I know Sarusan. It's s a lost continent. No tradewinds allow passage to the place. No expeditions had ever returned there. So why did the poem start with the trade winds of Sarusan?

Was the titan named Alistair?

Eventually the chatter of the dining room returns.

"Archie..." Zeph starts, phrasing his question carefully " Has the Apparition been to Tian Xia recently?"

[DeathbyFlossing]

Stoms ***** his head. The captain certainly has odd taste in poetry. Turning back to Gent, he says, ”Well, that was interesting. But back on topic. I believe you were about to tell me a tale, Mr. Gent?”

[AlphaLuke]

Archie turns from his tankard and looks toward Zeph. His eyes droop slightly. Kalinda had made it quite clear earlier in the evening that she would tolerate drinking, but not drunkenness aboard the Apparition in Time. It seems that Archie is already toeing the line. "Well, yeah. We *hic* we had a mission in Xa Hoi just last month, I think. At least, I'm fairly sure it was Xa Hoi. I remember sake *hic*. Then we took a trip south. I remember south. . ."

. . .

When Storms turns back toward Master Gent, the man is already on the other side of the mess, policing dishes and making sure the crewmen have all the food and drink they need at the end of a long day's work. The cook moves toward Alessia and begins a hushed conversation. The bloodrager moves to get up and resume his line of questioning, but pauses as he notices something. Alessia, the catfolk Boatswain, bears an interesting pattern in the striations of her fur. Near the base of her neck, the black marking seem to form the same symbol he found on Gent's wrist. A triangle with an eye. Following a hunch, he observes the other officers nearby. Throki bears the symbol engraved onto his clockwork hand, hidden among a permanent cheat-sheet of engraved formulae and equations. Abu has the eye as a medallion, jingling among a dozen others around his neck. He can't observe the symbol on Archie, and Kalinda and Mournholdt are on the deck above, but he's bet his last copper they bear it too.

After her quick and hushed conversation with Master Gent, Alessia nods and speaks to the mess. "Alright, you lot! Finish your drinks. Then, we start the night watch rotation. McGreggor, Knut, you two are at first watch. Loran, Regaro, you're on deck. The rest of you, get some shut eye. We have a full day of sailing tomorrow."

[AlphaLuke]

The crewmen called for the watch quickly down their tankards and hop to it.

The rest of the crew makes busy heading toward the bunks or cleaning up the mess. The officers seem to gather and all head toward the Captain's cabin.

[Pent]

Zeph gives a quick glance to Mcgreggor, Knut, Loran, and Regaro. Names he'd not heard before.

Spoiler: Coincidence?!?!

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KNUT?!

Zeph figures he'd better stop by the Captain's quarters, in case that was expected. Maybe he'd overhear something before being turned away if he wasn't?

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms is... concerned. He does not know what the eye-in-pyramid symbol means, but it clearly indicates the true masters of the ship.
...
Frankly, as long as fiend worship isn’t involved, Storms doesn’t really care. Still. It would probably be best to simply be upfront about his concerns rather than let them think he is plotting something. If nothing else, he can always jump ship at the next port.

Storms turns and heads to the captains’ cabin.

[AlphaLuke]

The four men called to duty are all old salts. None of them look particularly interesting or special. The Apparition in Time has dozens of crewmen. Most are only aboard for one or two trips. A few are veterans. The men and women who make up the majority of the crew are unskilled laborers or rank-and-file sailors. Zeph and Storms are different; seasoned sailors with special skills.

Spoiler

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It's a coincidence. Knut is a fairly common Ulfen name and I just let it slip. What I'm basically saying is the officers and named personalities so far are the people with character classes. The rest of the crew is comprised of lvl 1-3 NPC classes. If you want to learn every name on the ship, more power to you; but it won't a particularly rewarding endeavor.

Storms may make a Knw Planes, Religion, or Nobility check if he has them trained. Otherwise, he's left to wonder about the symbol, unless he enlists the help of someone more scholarly.

Zeph and Storms both find themselves walking together toward the Captain's cabin slightly after the officers. Kalinda continues to man the helm, but takes no notice of the men. When they approach the door to the Captain's cabin, which stands slightly ajar, they catch the sound of conversation. It sounds like Alessia, Throki, and Cassius having a heated debate. Alessia's voice rings clear,

" - like him. He's the best. And, he's the only person alive that's been there. You just have to suck it up, Cassius. He's coming aboard."

"It doesn't mean I have to like it." Lictor Mournholdt's stern basso cuts in. "I trust the Captain's judgement. I just wish there was another way."

A rumbling of assent from Throki, "Aye. Took me three weeks to properly align the conduits after he "fixed" them the last time. Said it was all in good fun. We were running at half power for a month!"

"He's the key. He's a friend of the Order. We need him. End of discussion." Alessia's tone brooks no argument.

Then, the Captain's deep tone silences his officers. "She says we need him. She's never wrong. Same for those two we picked up in Absalom today. She says they're important. Mr. Gent, how was the Shoanti?"

Gregor Gent's voice is clipped and formal. "Was a great help, Cap'n. Man knows how to follow orders, Sir. Observant too. Noticed my mark faster than any recruit I've ever seen. We'll see his true worth in the first engagement, I'm sure of it."

There's a moment of silence before the Captain's voice re-appears. "Mr. Ironblood. Master Archelos. How about the Garundi?"

Throki's voice sounds like the dwarf is smiling. "Smart as a tack, that one, Sir. Picked up on the aegis and the power lattice right quick. And ballsy too. Leapt into the air like he didn't fear the reaper, he did."

Archie's voice sounds significantly less slurred than it did at dinner, almost like the simple presence of the Captain has a sobering effect. "Laid a good course, Captain. Knows his trade. He asked me for flying lessons, too. Something no human's ever done, mage or otherwise."

The Captain seems to chew on these reports for a long few seconds before saying, "These two men are to be recruited. She deems it necessary. Do what you must to evaluate them further over the next few days. I'd like to fill them in on more operational information before we make landfall in Almas. Lictor Mournholdt, I'd have you judge their combat readiness if the opportunity doesn't arise organically in the field. Dismissed."

There's the sound of shuffling feet from the other side of the door.

[Pent]

At the mention of mark Zeph looks over to Storms and silently mouths "Mark?" Storms, as per usual doesn't show any response.

He smiled at being called ballsy.

At the end of the discussion, and the sound of approaching feet, he approaches Kalinda at the helm.

"So, I've never had a Captain read poetry in the mess before. Seems common on this ship. What did you make of the one this evening?"

[AlphaLuke]

Kalinda responds without taking her eyes off the horizon. The stars guide her way.

"Tonight was shorter and darker than most of the Captain's work. Still, I think it was well-received. And it's not every night he reads a poem. Sometimes he sings." Kalinda smiles. "He's an old soul, the Captain. He needs a creative outlet. Most nights he's quiet, but occasionally he regails us with something like what you heard tonight. Dinner in the mess is when most of the crew gets to rest after a long, hard day. Someone usually takes a stab at entertainment. Master Gent's a fair juggler. Mr. Ironblood knows the poetic eddas by heart. 'Course their all in Dwarvish. I'm sure you'll be tapped before long." She pauses to take her eyes off the cloudline. "You did well today, Mr. Leornian. Best you get a good night's rest. I'm sure you'll have a full day tomorrow."

[Pent]

"I hope so sir, I'm looking forward to it." He snaps her a perfect salute. "Thank you, for today. Being here is a dream come true."

After, he heads down into his hammock, and falls asleep mentally reviewing all that's he's learned. He puts names to faces until he falls asleep.

His last thought is to ask Storms about the mark.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms wonders at the mention of an ‘order’. He’s sure he’s seen that mark before.

...

Damnit all, he can’t remember. He’ll have to ask Zephyr about it in the morning. He seems like he’d know some odd lore.

With a sigh, Storms heads to bed.

Spoiler

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darn it, I only have knowledge (Arcana) :(

[AlphaLuke]

The sounds of gulls and the smell of cold salt air awakens Storms, Scar-Eye, and Zeph. The Apparition in Time sails along above a seemingly endless expanse of blue water. Coming above deck, the mates see the Captain himself at the helm. Master Gent hands the men a steaming pork bun and a chop of raw pork to Scar-Eye.

Alessia assigns them their duties for the day: Storms is sent to the rigging to help trim and tack under her command. Zeph is to help Throki with some de-icing beneath the ship.

Spoiler

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Storms, please make a Prof. Sailor and a Survival checks. Zeph, please make Climb and Knw. Engineering checks.

[Pent]

Kn Engineering - (1d20+8)[12]
Climb - (1d20+0)[4]

[DeathbyFlossing]

Spoiler

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Profession Sailor (1d20)[1], survival (1d20+9)[21]

[AlphaLuke]

Zeph begins to put on the harness next to the chief engineer while Storms climbs the rigging. Zeph is excited to get under the ship again, to feel the wind on his face, to feel nothing beneath him but sky and sea. Throki hands the man a heavy mallet and the two of them begin walking with the jingling of carabiners and harness clamps toward the port side of the ship.

. . .


Storms makes his way up the rigging slowly. Alessia shouts something to him, but the wind drowns out all but the most basic commands. " - tack - - line - - - arm - - - stow - " He looks toward the horizon and sees something that catches his eye. A line of clouds that seem to be piling atop themselves. Thunderheads.

. . .

Zeph lowers himself over the side of the Apparition in Time alongside Throki. The rudders have, indeed, been covered in a thick layer ice. Perhaps cloud cover condensed upon the metallic portions of the mechanism! he thinks to himself excitedly. The increased elevation and decreased barometric pressure would account for the icing. But, of course, they could avert this problem by running a heating coil - his foot slips. He feels open air. Zeph isn't so much afraid as surprised. He hears Throki shout as the safety lines snap taut and halt his fall with a painful jerk. The heavy mallet he was carrying slips out of his hands and tumbles toward the endless blue below until its speck is invisible. Zeph can't even make out the white of the splash.

"Hang on, lad! I'll be right there and we can ascend your harness!"

. . .

Zeph stares intently at the storm clouds. Is that something sailing in their shadow? A ship? Alessia scurries up the rigging and shouts something panicked and angry at Storms. "You daft, tattooed lummox! Hoist that line or the boom will - " Too late. The line snaps. A length of rope the thickness of Storms' wrist whips across the deck, a heavy block and tackle swinging from its end like a giant's flail. Men and women duck for cover.

. . .

Zeph looks up to see Throki's metallic hand reaching down for him. He sees the block and tackle swing over the port bow. He watches in horror as the heavy chunk of metal and wood clubs the engineer savagely and sends his limb body spinning in its harness. He also sees the ropes draw against each other so hard and so fast that smoke begins to form. And then, with the smallest sound, Throki's safety lines shear. He begins to fall, just as heavy and just as uncontrolled as Zeph's mallet.

[Pent]

Zeph is not a normal human. He's is overly chatty, curious, and extremely intelligent. But all of those qualities are within the scale of human normal. What makes Zeph different is two big things. First is that his body is much, much older than the young adult he looks.

Zeph watches in horror as Throki plummets to his almost certain demise.

"Throki!" Zeph yells as lightning flashes out of him. Electricity singes, smolders, and then ignites the harness tangling him up.

Zeph falls free of the mess of singed rope and leather. "Now we're talking," Zeph says to himself. He calculates his own falling speed (9.8 meters per second per second) versus how long Throki's fall speed. (The same). And how much longer Throki has been accelerating than Zeph (too long). Zeph will need to speed up his fall in order to catch the Engineer.

The other, is that Zeph is a Shory.

Zeph flies. His accelerates past the speed Throki would have hit. "It'll be okay!" Zeph yells as he gives Throki bear hug.

The ground is coming up too fast. Zeph tries to pull out of the dive into a lateral flight.

Spoiler

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fly check to catch Throki - (1d20+22)[35]

Fly check to pull out of the dive - (1d20+22)[35]

[AlphaLuke]

Crewmen react with astonished gasps as Zeph literally disintegrates the harness around him and falls after the engineer. Storms sees as the dwarf drops and Zeph dives after him.

Zeph's acceleration leaves a rolling taurus of cloud behind him. He easily catches up to the unconscious Throki and wraps his arms around the flailing man. Then, in a graceful and smooth arc, he pulls into a lateral trajectory. There's a general hoot and hollering from the deck of the Apparition in Time as men and women cheer the sight.

[Pent]

Throki is pretty heavy, but Zeph can hold on to him for a little bit longer. He begins a more leisurely ascent up to the Apparition.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms stares agape both at the near disaster and at his own foolishness, being so preoccupied with shadows that he wasn’t doing his job. It rams home hard that he isn’t a sailor, and he’s completely outside his normal skill set.

Well. He’ll fix that.

This isn’t happening again. As soon as this mess clears Storms is going to learn every rope and plank of this ship. His foolishness has cost too many lives already. No more.

Spoiler

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Storms resolves to spend the rest of the trip’s downtime retraining 3 of his ranks in Spellcraft into Profession Sailor.

[AlphaLuke]

Zeph lands on the deck like a petal on the wind, clutching the limp engineer. He is quickly swarmed by crewmen. The shouts from Dr. al-Aruni cut through the commotion.

"Let me through! Please! Let me pass, please! T'harukun bi'suraten! Move!"

Storms begins to climb down from the rigging. Alessia makes a flying leap and lands nimbly on her feet, of course.

Abu finally makes it to the bleeding and unconscious Throki. He, alone, seems unconcerned with Zeph's superhuman save and focuses all his attention on his patient. He speaks to himself while running his hands over the man. He quickly feeds him a small bottle of thick, red liquid and the active bleeding stops.

"Contusion to the left temple. Broken zygomatic. Concussion. Possible hemorrhage. Daw 'althatiri, we must get him to the infirmary at once. You, you, carry him carefully, please." Two crewmen immediately pick up Throki and begin to move him below deck. They're followed by Abu and Alessia.

Zeph is surprised to hear the meek doctor speaking so forcefully. It's good to see that he'll be in good hands if he ever finds himself injured aboard the Apparition in Time. Suddenly he remembers that he never showed up at the doctor's infirmary for his pre-flight examination. It's something he'll have to remember later.

Storms makes it to the deck and is immediately confronted by first officer Kalinda. "What in the nine happened, man?!"

Meanwhile, Zeph feels a hand wrap around his upper arm. When he turns, he sees the Captain's glowing eyes staring through him. "Damn fine catch, Mr. Leornian. Mr. Ironblood will be fine in the good doctor's hands. If you would kindly follow me to my ready room. We need to talk."

[Pent]

Zeph's eyes are wide as he follows behind the Captain.

His secret is certainly out now. Should he be prepared to lie? No way. Those eyes. The warriors of this crew. The close-knit structure they have? Lying about who he is will be death later.

Skirt the truth? Maybe...not about being Shory. Though, that's obvious.

His body's age? Doubtful. No shory have been around in several Ages.

His heirloom? Maybe his heirloom.

Although he can't think of a benefit to hiding its nature, he can't think of a benefit to revealing it, either.

[AlphaLuke]

The door closes on the Captain's ready room and Zeph gets a good look around. This seems to be an antechamber before the Captain's actual cabin. It's where Zeph and Storms overheard the officer's talking last night.

The room itself seems too large in comparison to what its outside dimensions would suggest. Too large by several times! Dimensional compression! But I've never seen it used on such a large space! And in such a nuanced fashion. This is subtle and beautiful magic.

The wood floors are a deep red cherry and the walls are covered with ornate and ancient maps. The entire area is filled with wondrous art, unique trinkets, and arcane instrumentation. Zeph considered himself well-traveled before entering this room. Now, he's confronted by sand sculptures from the Padishah Empire, Wyrwood carvings from Arcadia, a porcelain tea set from Tian Xia, clockwork instrumentation from the Mana Wastes, and a thousand other items he cannot identify.

"Is . . ." he pauses in disbelief, "Is that a Mammoth Skull hanging on the wall?"

The Captain smiles slightly. "It is. Got that in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. Rare Dire Mammoth. Almost took me through the gut with those tusks."

The Captain says all this with the nonchalance of someone who could have been recounting a relaxing fishing trip to a quiet pond.

He moves to the porcelain tea set and pours two cups of piping liquid. He offers one to Zeph and nods to a small ewer of cream and a bowl of sugar. He, surprisingly, takes three heaping spoonfuls of sugar in his tea.

"Now, Mr. Leornian," he says after taking a sip. "I make it my business to know all there is to know about my crew. Within reason, of course. Having a Shory Windrider aboard was a surprise to me. I'm not often surprised. I must ask, to what do I owe the honor? We aren't close enough to the Expanse for you to be a holdout from one of the ruins and the Aeromancers of Yjae don't venture this far West. So, pray tell, how are you alive and on my ship?"

[Pent]

Zeph sucks on his lips for a second as he considers the question.

"Sir that's a great question. And the short and still truthful answer is: no one knows. First Officer Kalinda said she heard of my father, I'm assuming she briefed you. Mosbius Leornian, the preeminent scholar of the Shory? Well, some decades ago, before he was known, he had his own share of adventuring spirit. He found a Shory ruin, one that hadn't been discovered by any other archaeologist. he found something in that ruin that had never been found in any Shory site: a stasis pod. Still active too. Inside was...well. Hi.

I was just a babe. My father adopted me, raised me like a human, and I try to keep a lid on my nature from most people because of its uniqueness. He studied the pod as best he could. Couldn't figure out why that pod still worked after millenia. There were no other clues that told him about its occupant, or what I was doing in there. He took diligent notes and etchings. i've reviewed all of it and I concur.

How and why I'm still here is a mystery to all living souls. On your ship specifically - I heard rumors at the dock that the ship's design was Shory. And I always wanted to fly. I just had to be a crew member. There's no real mystery to unearth there."

[AlphaLuke]

The Captain listens thoughtfully to Zeph's recounting. He doesn't interrupt and doesn't reveal any of his thoughts through any subtle movements. Zeph briefly thinks that the man must be a phenomenal poker player.

When Zeph finishes, the Captain wats for a solid twenty seconds before blinking those unsettling eyes. "I believe you."

Zeph breathes a sigh of relief and realises he was holding his breath in the silence.

"You're young. Even though your people are old. You're looking for answers to some very old, very big questions. I know of your father too. I've had Mr. Ironblood consult with him several times to answer some questions about the Shory craftsmanship aboard the Apparition. He's very knowledgeable. I see you take after him, blood relation or no. I can't promise that you'll find your answers here, but I can tell you that you'll find a kinship with the crew aboard this ship. We tend to collect the odd and unique, drifting on the winds. You see - " he pauses, and for the first time in Zeph's short time knowing the man he looks uncertain. "You see, this ship. This crew is - " a loud boom interrupts the conversation and sends the ship rocking.

Spoiler

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Storms, feel free to response slightly back in the timeline. Back before the boom.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms jumps down from the rigging, heedless on the danger, and runs up to Mr. Ironblood to make sure the results of his mistake weren’t fatal. He is deeply relieved to see he is ok.

Still. It shouldn’t have happened.

After the doctor leaves with Mr. Ironblood, Storms makes his way to Mr. Kalinda. Approaching respectfully, he says ”I made a blunder that nearly cost a life today because I don’t actually know much about sailing. I figured I’d learn on the job. Today has driven home that a flying ship has rather tighter safety margins than a normal ship. Would it be possible to assign me a tutor so I can get familiar with my tasks as quickly as possible? Because I don’t want this to happen again.

Spoiler

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What I’m trying to convey here is that Storms has a bit of a guilt complex. Having people suffer because of his mistakes is a bit of a trauma button for him, so he’s trying to minimize the odds such a mistake occurs.

[AlphaLuke]

Kalinda listens to Storms' excuses, her hackles almost visibly rising. Although she's a woman, she's clearly not one to suffer fools or incompetence aboard her ship.

When Storms finishes, the Taldan officer speaks in short, clipped sentences.

"I don't have time to babysit my sailors, Mr. Storms. My Boatswain will ensure that this mistake doesn't happen again by keeping you out of the rigging. I'm sure you mean well, but you made a mistake that could have cost us our engineer. What matters is that you learn from it. Your talents aren't in the masts. Mr. Ironblood will live. You will learn as you go on the ship, but no one will hold your hand as you do so."

She turns to look at the rest of the crew milling about, she starts to shout orders, then she spots the thunderclouds Storms saw earlier. He eyes go wide with sudden recognition. "All hands! General quarters!" She rings a brass bell affixed to the mast and people begin to run about, unplugging cannons and handing out weapons. "Mr. Mounholdt, you have a shock trooper!" She shouts towards her Master of Arms and nods at Storms and Scar-eye. "Mr. Archelos! Evasive action! Take us away from that thunderhead!"

"Aye, sir!" Archie shouts, spinning the helm. "We're heading into the wind, sir. S'robbing us of our speed. Thunderhead's about to overtake!"

Storms is confused. "Wait, what's going on!? . . . uh, Sir," he adds, belatedly.

Kalinda turns to Storms while drawing her sword. "Those storm clouds. They're moving against the wind. They're illusions, Mr. Storms. A mass of illusions that we're about to fly right into. We're under attack and we need our best fighters ready for boarders. That means that when Mr. Mournholdt gives you an order, you need - " She doesn't get to finish her sentence. A flaming boulder the size of a full grown sheep hurtles out of the dark thundercloud and smashes into the upper deck with a raucous crash. Men scream and are thrown back by the force of the blast. Blue runes etched into the planks flare to life. They seem to protect the wooden ship, and she only suffers some minor scorching.

Lictor Mournholdt holds out his hands, palms up in a gathering motion. As he does, shadows coalesce around him like deep black smoke. When the shadows solidify, the Hellknight stands in his full armor, wielding a sword made from that same shadow-stuff.

A second catapult stone, smoking and flaming, arches out of the faux cloud and streaks toward Storms.

[DeathbyFlossing]

”Look out!” Storms cries as he plants himself in front of Kalinda and and draws on the ancient power that seeps through his veins. A rush like nothing else he has ever known fills him as he speaks a word found in no living language and swells to the size of an ogre, the amulet around his neck glowing as he does.

Spoiler

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ok, first try on the Spheres of Power stuff. Storms spends 1 spell point to activate Size Change, growing to Large size. As a result, he takes 1 point of non lethal damage from his Draining Casting Drawback and must check for addiction as for his Addictive casting drawback vs Dc 10 ( (1d20)[15] ) or gain a minor addiction to casting spells. He then tries to tank the boulder to shield Kalinda.

[AlphaLuke]

Storms grows to massive proportions, and crosses his forearms in front of his face as the massive fireball slams into him. He grunts through the pain and absorbs the blow.

Spoiler

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Storms takes a direct hit, because he was trying to.

Storms takes (4d6)[14] bludgeoning damage and (4d6)[13] fire damage. He acts as full cover for Kalinda, who makes her Reflex save.

Zeph rushes out of the cabin right behind the Captain in time to see Storms take the blast.

Spoiler

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Maps incoming. Not in initiative yet so feel free to post at will for now.

[Pent]

Zeph looks around to try to understand the situation.

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(1d20+15)[35]