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Post by Admin on Dec 4, 2019 8:54:38 GMT
On the deck she sees the man busy drawing a large series of sigils on the deck with a piece of chalk. Bella can tell that he is working a summoning or spell of some sort but the style of magic is foreign to her.
"Ah!" he says seeing her come onto the deck. "Just the person I needed to see! Head down below deck and find me a dozen candles, will you? There should be some in a crate somewhere in the hold. If I have aligned things just right I should be able to transport us out of this place and into somewhere more congenial.
I would have been done sooner but your playing with forces was interfering with my work."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 5:06:02 GMT
"No, I've something else in mind," Bella walked to the front of the bow of the ship, "I have claimed this ship. It is mine."
She looked toward the horizon before the ship, then turned and look back at the horizon behind. She raised her hands to either side and unleashed her spell carefully, hopefully enough to move the ship some distance.
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Post by Admin on Dec 9, 2019 7:32:52 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/k3vH3vh/Unidentified-tall-ship-near-Cape-Horn-Nla-pic-vn3299637-v~jpg #s://i~ibb~co/k3vH3vh/Unidentified-tall-ship-near-Cape-Horn-Nla-pic-vn3299637-v~jpg The skies darken as a bank of clouds roll in from the horizon, the enervating heat becoming an oppressive humidity that the winds can not negate. The sails fill and snap, the spars twist and shudder under the force. Gulls and ravens squawk and scatter as the rigging is tossed about. The man scamper about the deck trying to pull on the lines to keep the sail from ripping.
"Who in blazes is manning the rudder?" he yells as the ships makes a tight bank tilting the deck far from horizontal. Only by holding on to a rope is he safe from sliding off the deck and into the sea.
Bella also begins to slide across the deck and toward the suddenly violent sea.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2019 23:35:14 GMT
Lashing herself to the ship's railing, Bella laughed at her handiwork and answered, "No one yet!" With care, she made her way back along the ship's starboard side, then climbed up toward the pilot's wheel, keeping her head level with the railing, so as not to have her head taken off by swinging sails. She looked into the face of the storm, then in the direction of the still clear horizon.
As the ship rocked from one side to the other, she threw herself at the wheel and grabbed it. Bella planted her feet and steered the ship with the storm at its stern.
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Post by Admin on Dec 15, 2019 3:49:13 GMT
Once Bella has a firm grip on the wheel the ship stops its crazy listing and the deck becomes more-or-less horizontal. The wind continues to whip the sails and spars about.
"The sails! Who's going to set the rig-" the man almost completes his question before there is a loud crack of a spar snapping under the pressure. Wood, rope and the man fly off the side of the ship splashing into the frothing seas.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2019 7:06:22 GMT
Bella giggled as the man went over the side, "Looks like I may have overdone it." She ran through a few calculations in her head, seeing now that this shadow seemed a little more reactive to magic than she'd anticipated. Tightening her grip on the wheel, she shouted a counter-spell that would, if nothing else, quell the storm to a manageable form. If that work, she'd start searching the seas for her accidental compatriot.
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Post by Admin on Dec 23, 2019 0:13:18 GMT
Lowering the winds reduces the strain on the sails and rigging causing the ship to be more stable in the water but, unfortunately, without a trained crew it will be impossible to get the rigging set for efficient sailing. Bella hears a cough from behind her and sees the man slowly pulling himself up over the taffrail, his tophat still on but waterlogged and dented. An apt description of the man as well.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2019 6:50:20 GMT
Bella walked back toward the man, holding the rail to steady herself in the subsiding waves, "You are resourceful, who ever you are." She stopped a dozen feet away from him and pressed the edges of her cloak behind her shoulders, regarding him anew, "And you've managed not to die in the tumult. I am genuinely impressed, so much so that I'll forgive you for the insult of presuming that I was in any way trapped here and could not leave on my own volition at any time I desired. I am also surprised to come across someone who is also trained in the arts. Tell me, where did you receive your training?"
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Post by Admin on Dec 29, 2019 8:28:06 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/WzVDzjf/1472518622754~jpg "Well, ah, I can't say that I've ever had any formal education in the arts," he replies while taking off his coat and wringing it out. "My parents started me off with a few of the cantrips and tricks they knew and from there I picked things up as I went along. Bit of a natural talent for it and for sneaking about into places where I could learn more. The worlds are filled with that kind of stuff if you know where to look.
"And what about you? Those are some potent energies you can command. A bit of meditating in the cabin beforehand, so some sort of ascetic path I suppose?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2019 2:56:28 GMT
Bella replied with a dismissive wave, "From where I come from, we of the high blood are born with certain abilities. Some of us manage a higher initiation. It must suffice to say that it was laborious and very exclusive. That storm was a minor working among our kind." She motioned to the ship, taking stock of its current state. "So, I take it that you know something about how ships work..." She looked at him with a gleam in her eye, "How much time would it take to ensorcell this ship so that it can be sailed into harbor?"
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Post by Admin on Jan 2, 2020 9:27:49 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/WzVDzjf/1472518622754~jpg "You must tell me more about this fascinating home of yours one day, maybe over dinner?" he says with a slight leer. "Such a shame to be born with power yet still have to study and toil before it can be used."
He looks over the rigging.
"I wouldn't say that I am knowledgeable in the working of ships but wherever I have sailed there has always been a dozen or so chaps - tars, they call 'em in some places - running and climbing about pulling on ropes and tieing them up and doing Unicorn knows what with the sails. We may be better off with my plan of sending us ship and all through a gateway into a more amicable place."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2020 17:25:25 GMT
Bella replied dourly, "Many are born into some kind of power. Some are even born into real power. Few, however, are worthy to be chosen to wield true power. You evoked one of the Great Powers in name, if not in understanding, and those Great Powers that do not come easily, but by blood and personal sacrifice, by devotion and election. You'd best remember that, Shadow caster." "Now," without missing a beat, she motioned at the ship, "As far as transporting this ship elsewhere... that feels a bit unsporting." She looked back at the man, "The principle of the matter is part of the solution... however, your strategy has some conspicuous merits. Are you familiar with the seaport of Bailey?"
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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2020 2:35:50 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/WzVDzjf/1472518622754~jpg "Oh, I've heard all about the study and sacrifice you all seem driven to do but why not just take a little bit of power and have fun with it? Instead of being locked in towers or surrounded by libraries and such go outside and wander about and change a few princes into toads? Much better for your health to be outside and getting exercise by running away from torch weilding mobs.
"Bailey! I know it well especially down by the waterfront. Ever been to Molly's Reach? A fine establishment filled with local colour and good food."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2020 21:04:00 GMT
Bella replied, "Not as yet, though I've not had call to visit the harbor, until now." She concentrated and brought the rippling lens of the Logrus up before her and reached into the hold of the ship, looking for candles that the strange mage said would be there. Finding some, she pulled six or seven into her hand, and held them out to the strange man. "You may call me Bella, by the by."
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Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2020 7:43:31 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/WzVDzjf/1472518622754~jpg The man raises his eyebrows in surprise at the quick finding of the candles then bows as Bella gives her name.
"I am Wollen, Magicus Major. Although after being caught in such a simple trap I should rename myself Magicus Minor."
He takes the long candles one-by-one and sights down the length ensuring that they are straight enough to use.
"Shall I begin the casting now or do you have some other experiments you would like to try first, Bella?" he asks, rolling around the work Bella in his mouth like a savoury treat.
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