Into the Horizon and Beyond - The Voyage of the Dawnchaser

"I am surgeon, but back in town, that is not most needed service. Mostly stitch carpenters and lumberjacks having accidents, or deliver babies and cut warts. No fun." Fabius said. "For change of pace, I jump on ship, grab on with both hands, and no let go. Good too, because you all be dead without me."

"Yeah, probably..." mumbled Guy. "Me, too, seeing as I saved lizard girl's ass, as our friend the Elph was so kind to notice."

"Interesting tale? Tell me more?" Fabius said to Guy, as he walked back to the room and handed the elph a piece of wood.

"Tiny scratch, fix quick," he said as he started working.

"Hmm?" Nora was popping orange slices into her mouth when Jeina came back on deck. Still munching on the citrusy fruit, she scampered over to the Yeoman. "Are the beds cushiony? Oh, and when's dinner?"

After properly introducing herself to Rin and shaking hands, Corona continued to fiddle with the engine room's instruments, looking to determine if she could observe the interior of the ship through the devices or perhaps find other vital points of the ship that might need her and Rin's maintenance, either now or in the foreseeable future.

edited 28th Oct '12 8:25:35 PM by Starbound2

"Alright, right this way into the forecastle" says the Yeoman as she guides the crew towards the front of the ship "The beds are adequate I would say and I just settled the cook into the kitchen, so be assured that dinner is on its way, Miss Ridge"

After that, the Yeoman would walk them to the wooden construction on the front third of the ship which was called the forecastle. On it, there was three stairs, one on the middle that led up and then two on either side which led deeper into the ship. Jeina guided the crew through the middle one and through a wide wooden door into a long hallway with numerous doors on either side. It wasn't really cramped... indeed around four people could comfortable walk side by side, once again proving that the ship was bigger on the inside than the outside.

"Alright then everyone, here are the crew quarters. They are all kind of identical so don't fret too much about picking them" she says, walking to the third door on the right and opening it to show the inside. Within they would find a slightly cramped but serviceable space. The space was deeper than it was wide, with twin desks on it. Made into the desks there also was a shelf on top of each and a small closet to the side of each with drawers underneath. Opposite to the desk and pressed against the other wall there were a pair of bunk beds of good size. The mattresses looked nice and soft, with comfortable blankets. On both the top and lower bunk, before the wall, there was a long wooden box with a top that could be lifted to reveal additional storage space. Thus, a crew person could store things within, close the top and then put personal items on top of the lid where they could easily see them. Still since the top of the box was about fifty centimeters over the blankets of the bed, they could still sleep with the back against the box as if it were wall without disturbing the items let on top of the lid. Opposite to the door, on the far edge of the room, there was a single round window which let some light into the room. Still, there were magical lights inside each of the rooms, which would answer verbal commands to turn on and off. Additionally, right before the bunk bed was a door that would lead to an individual bathroom for each room. Very small, it mostly had a toilet, sink, mirror, pile of water and a bucket for bathing.

"The rooms are a little bare bones, but they are yours to do as you wish as long as you don't make a mess big enough to become troublesome. You are all free to share room with whoever you wish, I'm not your mother to stick my nose in such matters as long as there is no trouble"

"Now, there is a couple other things I want to show you before you claim your rooms" says the Yeoman, walking deep into the hallways until she pulled on a string dangling from the ceiling. This would reveal a trap door that lead up.

Going up with the Yeoman would reveal... a big empty room. It was a very big empty room, only barely smaller than a dance hall. The only distinguishing features on it were some wooden pillars and a pair of doors on the end of the room. The Yeoman then turned to them with a big smile "Doesn't look like much, huh? Well, this my friends, will be your common room. And it is empty because it shall be your task to fill it all up. Whatever you may want for it, you may acquire during our trip to make this place your own. Somewhere you can enjoy with the rest of your crew. Personally, I think a nice bookshelf and a dart board would do this place wonders. Still, to being with there are some tables and chairs on storage we could haul up here. With those you could quite comfortably set up some nice games of cards. But that's just the beginning. Like I said, this common area is yours. A piano, game table, trophy wall... whatever you wish to put in here, we'll find they way to get it inside"

"Those door at the end, by the way, lead to the common baths. Those are a bit more spacious than what you may find inside your rooms, but at the same time are less private"

"Finally, there is just one last thing I must show you about the forecastle" says Jeina as she walks towards another string dangling from the ceiling... though this time, when she pulls on it, they would see sunlight peering through and the sight of the blue sky.

Going up the stairs, they would find the roof of the forecastle, a perfectly empty deck of wood surrounded by a wooden railing "This space too is yours... a good place for archers in combat certainly... but outside of the crow's nest this is the best place to stand and look at what lies ahead. Also a good place to look at the stars and enjoy the sea breeze"

"Well that's about it for the essentials, crew. The forecastle is yours... Ours I should say. My office and quarters is right on the first door to the right of entering the forecastle from the deck, in the same hallway your rooms are. If you ever need anything, don't doubt to ask. I'm here to help all of you after all"

"Well, I've certainly had rougher berths," Dalhouse said to himself.

"Well," Guy explained, "The girl, our cartographer, got knocked overboard somehow. Didn't go belowdecks when she was supposed to, as did Dax here. I didn't see what happened to him, but they ended up the both of them hanging from the side of the ship, trying desperately to stay up. So, I swooped in and grabbed them."

"Roger!" Grinning at the end of their little tour, Nora hopped back down the steps leading to the halls and began opening up random room doors before finding one she liked. Dumping her sword and armor on the floor, she opened up her Bag of Holding (every good adventurer needs one!) on top of the desk and pulled out some towels and a change of clean clothes before running back up to the common room and dashing to the common baths.

"Indeed it all looks very nice. at least much more comfy than in the navy." Martin muttered as he looked around "And that common room could make due with some dummies to practice on."

Benjamin went throughout Yeoman's tour with a smile and a wagging tail.

When looking at the common room, Ben drew blank on what would be a good idea to put there. The others will help to deal with that right?

When the common baths were talked about, he immediately thought that if he bathed there as a fox, there wouldn't be too much need to worry as he didn't have to worry about modesty in that form.

When he got to the forecastle's roof, he was quick to run and grab the wooden railing. This was a great view, he could feel and smell the ocean. He was supposed to be at the crow's eye at night, so he'll be spending a lot of time where there's a great view!

"This place is great, isn't it?" Benjamin said to nobody in particular.

Inside of the common bath's Nora would find the floor had been tiled with non slippery stone. At the end opposite to the door was a large poor of water which could fit fifteen people, with a dragon carving on the wall from which water flew into the pool. Aside from it there were some independent stalls with water piles and buckets for those who wished to bathe a bit more in private or who simply did not want to bathe in the pool. Aside from these, there were some cabinets for personal storage as well as some minor decorations and utilities of a common bath.

"Them?" Dax said. "You grabbed her. I got dumped overboard. Then I ARRRRHHH-", Fabius was stitching his leg at that moment, "floated through the fmmmmmppphhhhh wreckage of that ship, and was yanked up hnnnngggg onto the deck."

edited 30th Oct '12 10:09:02 PM by nman

Corona finished looking through the ship's diagnostics and schematics and turned off the assessment screen to conserve power (not that it mattered too much with the ship's energy core). Staring at her hand, she ran through the mental checklist of tools her body had equipped and what she would need to acquire, before remembering why she decided to join the Dawnchaser's crew in the first place.

"I think I will wander the ship a bit to learn the layout more, before trying to meet with the rest of the crew. Would you like to join me?"

Dropping off her clothes and towel in the storage thing, Nora grabbed a bar of soap and ran over to the large communal bath, jumping and turning in midair before making a splash into the water. Grinning to herself, her head poked up above the surface. Ah nothing like a nice hot bath after kicking pirate ass!

"Exhilarating." muttered Yathelalina, who had come up with Ben to get a view of the open ocean.

She was still rather shaken from the battle earlier. Never before had she been in combat, much less a battle over the sea. She had done what anyone just over 8 inches tall would do in that situation - she hide in the safest place she could find will still having a clear view of what was going on.

Initially she had taken to the air, but griffons, eagles, dragons, and dragonflies (distant relation) swooping and diving around the sky made her back an sharp u-turn back to the ship. Taking cover between a pair of large crates still didn't prevent a cannonball from nearly taking her head off. All the while she had tried to jot down what she saw, committing everything important to shorthand and saving the smaller details in her memory for later.

When it was all said and done, she emerged unscathed. Trembling, but unscathed. Also unhappy.

Not what I signed up for! Yathe snarled inwardly. She'd spent the last hour sullenly following the Yeoman around, mentally cataloging where everything was. The pixie had the feeling she was going to get lost at some point anyway.

"Lets just hope tomorrow is smooth sailing."

Lumella had for all,intents and purposes, been sleep. Yes the tall willowy harpy had done what she loved best, perhaps more than cooking. She had been catching all manners of stupors, snoozes, slumbers, shuteyes, and siestas. And she had done it completely undisturbed. It was both alarming and unnerving how well she could curl into blissful z’s and be perfectly unaware of the world and its commotion and calamity.

From the battle she had missed, to the roll call that had politely gone unanswered, she had let her mind wonder and with it too went her body. It started as a simple self tour of the magnificent ship, awing over the mechanics that hummed tuneless melodies that floated in the lower decks and enjoying the sails in the way the air caught them just right as they puffed with self importance.

And somewhere at some indistinguishable point in time she had found a corner between crates and spare parts. A spot tucked away from prying eyes and loud noises and in this spot she had tucked herself in a neat nest like many of her distant avian cousins. With one long yawn she had slept, ignoring her duties, and finding bliss in the Land of Nod.

But as it goes with all good things, they must end, and she had awoken with a long stretch, the gleam of her wings catching silver under the dim light. She found the gentle rocking on the ship to be pleasant and nodded to herself with half opened eyes. She hopped up, shaking off loose rope and gave her wings a test flap. Upon finding them satisfactory, she flitted out of her spot.

“Oh my, I hope I have not been sleeping for a very long time. That simply won’t do. Not at all.” She shook her head slowly as she flew around looking for the kitchen. As she had no way to tell time, she would only hope that dinner had not started. She didn't even know if she had another to help her which all the more reason for her to present something delicious to hopefully make up for her lost time.

She wondered how far she would go on the fine vessel before bumping into someone with some information.

Rin was deep in studying the mechanisms and figuring out routines for maintenance and repairs. The relays were very complicated, and it would definitely pay off to be prepared for any eventuality. It took a while until she realized her fellow engineer was trying to ask her something.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Good idea. I was just wondering where these wires were going."

"I'm Johannes, and this is Nevenka."

The River Wyvern growled happily as a greeting.

"I've got to say, you two were amazing out there. You must have fought together for a long time to be able to work so well together."

Ben said to Yathelalina "Well it was a pirate attack out of nowhere, it's unlikely we'll have to deal with one two days in a row."

The boy gripped on one of his revolvers with his left hand as he said the words "But if we do..." Benjamin immediately pulled the gun out, pointing it at the sea "...I'll show them my marksmanship!"

Turning to the pixie, the fox-eared kid asked "So did you think that looked cool? Maybe I should have pulled my sword, since having a blade in one hand and a revolver in the other would make an awesome warrior!"

"Well, it can be. Just remember to hold your sword in your main hand. I remember a kid that didn't follow that advice. He lost it pretty quickly." Martin said when he heard the foxeared lad talk abou using both a gun and sword

Guy ahhed in recognition. "Ah. Right. Sorry about that. Well, glad to know you, ah, got back onboard."

"I got back up, but a whole lot of my blood didn't GRRRRFHFHHGHG" Dax said.

"Is good," Fabius commented after Dax's last pained outburst. "All stitched."

With a more serious look on his face, Ben responded "Don't worry I've been taught that. I'm left handed, so I use revolvers in my right hand."

Violet got around to cooking. She had summoned two humanoids to help around the kitchen. While making meals is important, she kept on hearing the wings of something. The elf saw she had time to spare so she swapped out one of her minions. Since her minions tend to be black in colour, a crow shaped one would probably be the best scout. They may not be found at sea but who says one didn't sneak on board?

The bird went out and followed the location of the wings, heading towards Lumella's direction.

As Lumella, or Lulu, flew around, she left behind a thin trail of small fuzzy feathers. Just as Hansel and Gretel used bread crumbs to find their way back; she too had become unintentionally resourceful. Those small feathers could trace their way back to her sleeping place and she had been blissfully unaware how they scattered about the floorboards.

However,small shedding feathers had been the least of her worries, for she had heard something heading her way. The swishing sound had been pleasant and she greeted it with a bright smile and a gentle rocking of her head. She waited hovering in place as a small black crow came closer cawing at her.

“I didn’t know the ship employed birds, or are you lost too? It is certainly a shame to be lost; I do believe I’d rather be found if I had a choice.” Lumella looked up from the bird toward the ceiling, blinking slowly to herself as if trying to think of something of extreme importance or at the very least in absent concentration.

“Little bird..” Her voice was low and slow, somewhat reminiscent of a small babbling stream. “Can you tell me where the kitchen is?”

A small smile appeared on Yathelalina's face. Ben's spunk amused her, enough to make her bad mood somewhat less so.

"I'll keep my finger crossed for an uneventful tomorrow. Or at least an uneventful tonight."

The pixie was about to say more before an aroma from elsewhere made it's way to her nose. a delectable smell of cooking food.

"Is that dinner? Stars above, I hope so. I haven't eaten since this morning."

edited 2nd Nov '12 12:49:24 AM by Parable

The bird nodded at Lulu and soon took off, flying until it was at the kitchen door, landing right in front of it.

— Mazz & Huntress —

"About as long as I can remember, we met when we were both just children," Mazz replied, then turning to Nevenka.

"And hello to you as well," Mazz addressed Nevenka, speaking in what came out as a series of growl-like words, before turning back to Johannes.

"I wish I hadn't lost my lance though, getting that replaced won't be easy."