4109/Black Descent (CCO)

Black Descent (CCO)
Date of Scene:	14 May 2016
Location:	Alfheim Online <ALO>
Synopsis:	The players witness a scene of terror, where a top-tier pirate vessel is wiped out by a rogue encounter
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, Tomoe, Staren, 162, 215, Karian Icefang, 631, 675, 707, Yuuki Konno
Tinyplot:	CCO

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Yuuki Konno has posed:
    The Windstar has set out into deadly waters in pursuit of rumor. This is nowhere near safe harbors... the ship will have to be well-manned. It's a small vessel as these things go, able to run from most pirates if running at full capacity. Or fight, of course. With cannons manned by those of steady aim, even a small ship can steal an advantage over a heavily-armed pirate corsair.

    The shipmates are well-trained by now, if not quite endgame rogues who have sailed the virtual waves for a year or more. With their unique gifts and skills though, the ones brought into the game rather than earned within it, they should be holding their own even against those endgamers. Perhaps not entire clans, but probably against entire ships. The group is in these waters by rights, not by undue boldness. Regardless, this is both the place to be to advance, and the place to be to discover more about the rogue AI. These are the waters the encounter's been spotted in. These ships, the ones who ply these waters, are the ones who have been the Black Ship's victims. Whether the group has gathered to raid or to seek information, the first step is to enter these deadly seas.

    Yuuki is at her accustomed spot manning sails and rigging. She doesn't look like much of a rigging veteran given her size, but she handles the ropes with the effortless skill those who know her would expect from her. She's also wearing new gear, having attired herself in burgundy and black trimmed with crimson and gold. The outfit isn't quite the same as her Alfheim Online gear considering she's wearing trousers rather than armor, but the color scheme's reminiscent. If her cutlass is yet nothing legendary, it rides comfortably on her hip, and she no longer looks like a newbie in either beginner gear or the mismatched set often worn by those still gearing-up.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Boatswain, trim sails for cruising." comes Auralia's firm tone, spurring the NPC crewmen to furl the sails half way, keeping the ship moving, but not putting undue stress on the frame while they're in between fights and ports. "SOmeone in the crows nest, I want eyes on a swivel. These are Spite Lather waters... they're a nasty group of cutthroats, but they've lost three ships to the Unbeatable Ship so far, so they're the best source for information."

Tomoe has posed:
Do what you want because a pirate is free right? So here we are with Eisen the Red Rose haning out on the windstar they were heading out again. Up she scrambles to the crows net and pulls out a spy glass to see just what's out there, maybe they will finally find what they have been hunting.

"Aye, aye!"

is the short red headed woman's reply from up top.

Staren has posed:
    At the moment, Staren is in the crow's nest -- not because of a highly trained Perception skill or anything, but just to see and enjoy the wind in his hair. His avatar is a blend of one of the rogueishly handsome default male faces with hints of his own features, most clearly his real eye color (blue) and brownish hair that's still a bit wilder and unkempt than he keeps it in real life. His clothes are a blend of fantasy and historic, as befitting the setting -- a realistic yellowish buff coat with a red sash around the waist and an an unrealistically-clean white cloak for warmth on the cold seas. Two shoulder belts cross over his chest, with pouches for holding things and sheathed pistol-daggers. Blue trousers bloused into high leather boots can be seen under the coat. (A dark-colored hat with a feather plume that seems to be somewhere between a cavalier hat and a tricorner hat is, for the moment, resting by his feet so as not to get blown away.)

    When Aurelia calls for someone in the crow's nest, he shouts down 'Already on it, cap'n!' And then Eisen comes up with a spyglass and probably an actual perception skill and he mutters, 'Oh, that's what she meant.'

Iria (215) has posed:
Singing some kind of Pirate-sounding song, albeit tinged with bits about bounty hunting and the being known as Zeiram, Iria is seen looking out over the port side of the ship, keeping an eye out for any potential threats. She runs a hand through her bushy hair, made to loosely resemble her real life hair, as she does so. She's getting the hang of talking like a pirate, but at times she still messes up. Perhaps that's why she's singing a unique pirate's song?

Karian Icefang has posed:
    Karian paces along the deck, hand on the railing. Even back on Fenris, he was an antsy sailor. He knew that they would likely get into a messy fight, and made another look over his gear. Pistols were loaded, musket was loaded, and his swords sharp. "You think they'll take that kind of risk? Attacking another ship?" He calls to the captain.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Palmira (in keeping with Cirra's online identity) is a purple haired woman in a brown long coat and a red and black corset-vest over a white blouse and long boots over trousers. Make her player write a real desc.

    She's been practicing on the rigging more since they left the island, as it's become apparent that backup skills will be needed, and without them she doesn't contribute to the ship's advancement while they're sailing. She hasn't achieved Yuuki's natural grace though.

    "You really learn fast." she comments as Yuuki swings by as Palmira hangs from the underside of the rigging, fixing a broken section.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "They're Pirates, Mister Karian. Of course they'll attack other ships." replies Auralia, turning the wheel to adjust course a bit. "We've been making quite the name for ourselves though. A motley crew, aboard a Brigantine refitted with more cannon than she aught, taking on Islands far beyond the skill of a green crew... lets hope we attract some attention, perhaps we can Parley."

    She doesn't seem very confident of that, but that's the life of a Merchanter captain. The Windstar isn't the biggest, nor the fastest ship on the ocean, but she can hold her own well enough, especially with the extra gun-deck that replaced a quarter of the cargo space of the stock vessel.

    A look up to Yuuki and Palmira, the woman smiles. "Keep up the good work! Those sails haven't looked better since I bought her."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Sunshower doesn't have any reasons not to be here, although she hasn't been getting as much skill-grinding time in on CCO as she would normally like to. Still, her brewing skills are coming along nicely, she's getting better and better with those knives she carries - both throwing and in melee - and she's been training with a staff as well. It turns out that a mixing staff that was used to prepare a brew can carry a residual status effect into the next battle, so Sunshower was prepping a cask of something on the way here.

As the good ship Windstar nears the encounter zone, Sunshower comes abovedeck, looking about. "Any sign of our quarry yet, Cap'n?" she inquires. "Or do you need another pair of eyes perched up in the rigging?"

Reker (631) has posed:
"Bah, parley." Reker is, at present, sitting on a railing dangerously close to going overboard, a musket in his hands as he cleans the weapon. A bottle of rum sits nearby, almost as good as the real stuff.

"At the rate we've been going we could take on anybody we come across, pirate or not. No sense in talking our way out of situations we can just shoot our way out of. Dead men don't rightly care about lost posessions."

Kirito has posed:
Since their mission is largely SEARCHING, Kirito - with his relevant skill MASTERED being transfered over - has decided to hang with Staren and Tomoe in the crow's nest, looking around with a spyglass! "Aaaaye aye!" He gets out in a heavily accented voice, but he's in a pretty good mood. Not much more you can ask for than being with friends and doing good work!

    Of course, sooner or later he swivels when Tomoe swivels, except he swivels too far and gets a view of her eye right in GIANT MAGNIFICATED PROPORTIONS.

    The Black Swordsman yelps like a kid and topples to his bottom, tripping over a rope. Well. That was embarassing. When he looks up and sees what he saw he just shakes his head and gets back up, dusting himself off.

    "What's their flag look like?"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    There are definitely hunting ships in these waters. They aren't all threats. If your ship looks dangerous enough or fast enough, many pirates will simply give it the old one-eye. There's little profit chasing ships that aren't loaded down with cargo, and even less profit for those who fire cannons fruitlessly or end up getting their own hull holed. These aren't the sorts of waters that merchanters usually run after all, considering the danger. This region belongs to raiders, rogues and privateers. Those who spend their time in end-game pursuits, not those looking for a quick score. Potential enemy vessels pass occasionally but not constantly, and any two ships will typically give each other a cautious passage. A heavily-armed vessel is just as likely to be hunting bounties in these waters as to be a pirate, and caution is rewarded.

    Thus, when things start to happen, they happen with a vessel in sight. Well outside firing range, giving the Windstar careful courtesy. At any moment the vessel could choose to come to bear and attempt to reach firing range... but no, that's not what happens. Not this time.

    This time, the air goes suddenly clammy. The skies darken. Not like night falling. It's like the seasons abruptly change. Instead of balmy summer with brilliant sunshine, the light goes flatter, dimmer, like winter arrived without notice. Fog begins to roll in, though not around the Windstar. The fog comes in from the port side, somewhat off from the potential enemy vessel. And heading straight for the vessel, rolling in with all the speed and menace of a typhoon rather than simple low-lying sea clouds. Visibility's still good around the Windstar, and it's good around the nearby player vessel, but only for a few minutes if the speed of that storming fog bank is any indication.

Staren has posed:
    Staren shouts down to Karian, "That's just it! They've been wiped by these 'rogue AI' ships multiple times? They're gonna be hurtin' for supplies, and might take us for an opponent they can beat..." He chuckles at Kirito's pirate accent. "Uhh, what's that fog mean?"

Karian Icefang has posed:
    Karian looks up to Staren and nods. Then the fog rolls in. He grabs for a pistol and a sword and keeps both at the ready, just in case. "I thought ghost stories were fake....We either wandered into an event, or we found a strange AI bug."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Good!" Yuuki states cheerfully, thrusting a fist into the air. "That's what we're here for! An event that's like some strange AI bug!"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Ready stations!" calls Auralia as that vessel comes into view. "She's not approaching..." she then pulls out her spyglass, and looks at the pennant. "That's a World Raider's ship... I think she's the Northern Princess."

    Then the fog start rolling in. "Uh oh... Battlestations. Man the guns! We're coming about to approach." she calls, hauling the wheel over to bring course in to close on intercept with the other ship, into the encroaching fog.

Reker (631) has posed:
"Alright, time for action!" Reker is up to his feet quickly when the call to battlestations goes live. He grabs his rifle and slings it, moving towards the position he's been manning in their previous fights.

Really what he's waiting for is a chance to cross over onto the enemy ship where he knows he'll be a much better combatant. Ship to ship is fun, but he prefers boarding action, "Just get me in range, I'll do the rest!" He calls out as he prepares to engage when they're in range.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
That kind of weather does NOT come out of nowhere, even in a video game - unless somebody skimped massively on 'warning signs' programming, and given that this game is mostly about sailing, foul weather coming out of basically nowhere is terribly foul play in Sunshower's book - or that of her player, at least. "Yeah, this is likely the event we were looking for," she remarks, setting a cask down in front of the mainmast. She's been studying out how a brew can buff the entire ship, and short of going around and handing a cup to every member of the crew (PC and NPC alike) ...

Well, this isn't quite that effective. It's basically where anyone can get it and benefit from it - but enemies who board the ship and reach the cask can ALSO benefit from it.

Once the cask is down, Sunshower climbs up some of the rigging, fishing a (fairly cheap) spyglass out of her vest and taking a gander through it, just in case anything can be seen that's worthy of note. She's ready to return to the deck in a jiffy, of course - and will do just that if her brief surveillance doesn't turn up anything that warrants continued watching.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks over to Staren whose also in the cows nest and she seems to be in an amused look but she's not getting down, she looks ove to Staren.

"Pretty much, I got some left overs from skill grinding if you want to make a spy glass for when you get the skill to use it."

She now has the glas opened up and is panning the horizon with her spy glass.

"I think we'll know it when we see it... and we got Fog rolling in! Kirito can you see anything in this mess?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Palmira watches as the fog rolls in around the other ship, trying to take in the event unfolding before her as she tries to think of the proper response. Aurelia however has her own decision, and Palmira simply goes along with it. She is used to command authority.

    The purple haired woman flips backwards off the rigging from her upside down position and moves over to a cannon, ensuring that it is loaded with dry powder and the longer ranged type cannon ball.

    "Guns one to Five loading longshot!" She doesn't get pirate parlarance, she's from shiva, not Leviathan.

Iria (215) has posed:
Sword in its sheath and revolver ready to go, Iria smirks a little. "Arr, they be regrettin' messin' with us, ya!" She says in her pirate's voice, still a little out of it because of how out of practice she is with her voice. Namely because she'd rather be fighting and doing things in the game instead of speaking like a pirate. "They be scurvy dogs, we'll keel-haul 'em!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    The pirate vessel, which flies the flag of the Spite Lather, comes about hard as the fog rolls in. They turn to flee before the wind. Either they know what the fog portends, or they're scared enough by the phenomenon to not want to risk the encounter.

    It's futile however. As fast as the corsair is, the fog rolls in even faster than the blowing wind. Clearly it's not something natural, not of this world at least. The stern chase will last some brief time, but it makes it perfectly clear that whatever's causing the fogstorm is aggressively pursuing the pirate vessel. They might have had time to head for shore and ground their ship, but it would have meant smashing the vessel into land. There'd be no possible way for them to outrun the fog long enough to come in for a gentle beaching.

    Yuuki moves into action, her actions on the rigging and sails helping guide the Windstar around on a closing course towards the fog and the pirate vessel. This is exciting! She's not sure whether they're going to engage the pirates, whatever's pursuing them, or just getting close enough to watch the fight. Either way she's happy to be here with friends! This is, after all, only a game. It might lead to something truly important, but since she has no real idea how to bring that about it's enough that they do whatever seems best at the time. She doesn't really have a long-term goal.

    The pirate vessel is engulfed by the fog, but it's not long before the fog slows and steadies. At that point the Windstar can easily speed into the halted phenomenon. Immediately, the bright day becomes gloomy and grim. The light isn't much stronger now than a full moon at night would be. There are signs ahead however. Shapes in the fog, not distinct but not difficult to see. Two ships. The sounds of battle are muffled but unmistakeable. The boom of thunderous cannons rolling out nearly continuously, the crack of splintering wood, and the cries of men.

    There are two vessels ahead in the fog, and it's difficult to tell which is which. Presumably the distant one is the pirate vessel, but both ships appear heavily damaged. Sails are no longer intact, and masts and hulls seem badly damaged as the Windstar comes closer and allows the group to see some of the battle. No doubt the ship sails being so damaged is the reason the flight ended, and the Windstar was so easily able to close.

    The vessels aren't completely crippled, though it's hard to make out their motion given the fog cutting off all landmarks. The pirate ship seems to still be fleeing however, and the other vessel pursuing, closing faster than its target can escape.

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs at Tomoe, "I dunno if I actually want to take time to invest the skill, I was just enjoying the view." Then he looks back at the other ship and the fog. "Jeeze, are they gonna try to fight us in this? Nope, nope, they're runnin'... What /is/ this stuff? We're not gonna pick on 'em while this crazy thing is after them, are we?"

    And then there's two ships in the fog, but he can barely see them! "Okay perception monkeys, which one of those /isn't/ the pirate ship and what-- or who the hell is crewing it?"

Karian Icefang has posed:
    Karian remains quiet as he watches what unfolds. While he had no real ability to help at the moment, he could stand ready to get a jump on the pirates and taking the aggro, so to speak.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Stow those sails... Hold fire, we stand to gather more from watching than intervening..." comes Auralia's voice, muffled like the rest in this damnable fog. "Lookouts, what can you see?" she calls up to the Crows Nest. They have the better vantage, and the bonus associated with the position at the top of the missen mast, the tallest point on the ship. "Be ready, everyone... once it's finished with the Pirate, we might be next."

Kirito has posed:
So wildly different, this environment. Kirito's not sure what's a threat and what isn't, but on the high seas... every ship's interesting as it gets. All the different designs and their apparent pros and cons, he can't help but imagine what fighting on the decks might be like. This is a way more enthusing topic than GUN NUMBERS were.

    What does caliber mean again?

    And now there's this mess of weather. It gets Kirito grimacing. HE CANNOT SEE THE INTERESTING THINGS, how frustrating! "No!" he calls back. "We need to be closer to whatever this is! This fog is like soup...."

    And in towards it they go. He grits his teeth. "That might be our mystery ship....!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    As the Windstar closes in, the crows-nest people can most easily see what's going on. Everyone can now see that the vessels are both damaged, both still fighting, but those with the observation bonus can see the truth.

    The shots from the pursuing vessel are blasting into the target. They're trashing sails, blasting cannons, and tearing up the hull. The return fire... really isn't nearly as effective. Shots are on-target, but they do little damage. The attacking vessel is splintery and damaged, its sails shredded, but the shots add little to these conditions. Cannon balls glance off the hull, only occasionally passing through it with dully muted explosions. Chain shot rakes the sails, but the sails just billow and flap. They don't bell fully in the wind however, and the attacking ship seems not to need its sails to continue to close on the pirate ship.

    Finally, the Spite Lather vessel is dead in the water, its limping flight ended, its cannons silenced. The attacker stops firing but continues to close on the pirate vessel. It would be easy enough to sink the ship, but that seems not to be the goal. Instead, the attacker moves in apparently to board.

    As for the attackers themselves, well, the Windstar can close easily enough to get a look at them. They're indistinct, unreal, and the effect isn't entirely due to the fog. In close like this, the fog isn't much of a factor and yet the attackers waver, apparently unreal. Ethereal. Ghostly. The undead, staring across the diminishing sea at their quarry, the living.

    It's no wonder the Spite Lather can't kill its enemy. What is dead can never die.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe Says "Your call on that."

She pauses for a moment as she tries to get a view of the pirate ship, but its' not for long the fog is making it hard and they seem to be fleeing? Ot is it baiting them? he's not sure at this she hears the order to hold fire and will remain in the crows nest for the moment they might have need of her yet and she's trying to ge a good read on the other ship. She does get a good look at the other ships.

"The attackers are the walking dead I think this is why no one can kill them they are already dead!"

Iria (215) has posed:
"The walkin' dead?" Iria asks, still trying to do her true pirate's accent. "Shiver me timbers, they be needin' t'be sent back to their graves!" She draws her cutlass and scowls. "We'll deal with them if need be! We'll send 'em back, yes we will!" She points her cutlass at the ship. "Fer now, though, I say we wait an' see what happens, yar!"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Palmira watches as they approach closer, eyes widening slightly as she sees shambling dead walking across the mystery ship. But this is virtual, she reminds herself. Theses aren't zomebies on Galandia, that would mean Vampires, or the crawling Chaos.

    "IS undead a normal enemy type in this game?"

Karian Icefang has posed:
    "How is that possible?" Karian calls out as he see's undead on the boat. He was of a mind to leap over and get into it, but that had to be the reason they couldn't be killed. "So....anyone have any good ideas?"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Come back with a hold full of holy water and blessed salt," is Sunshower's first reply to Karian. "And maybe hire on a priest or three." She should probably sound properly terrified, but ... undead?

Seriously?

Xiaomu fights worse than ghosts in her *day job*. It's kind of hard to be properly freaked out by the undead in a video game when you face nightmares for a living in the real world.

"I could probably research some brews that'd help as well," the Brewmaster adds after a moment's thought, "but I reckon our best shots are going to be on the far end of some side-questin'. "Meanwhile, anything we can do for the ship that just got victimized by those restless souls? Layin' them to a proper rest may be the best option - but it's an option we should think on; tales tell of some undead that add their victims to their own number ..."

Staren has posed:
    "Seriously?" Staren replies when Tomoe IDs the walking dead. "Hax! Well... shall we board their ship and see if /we/ can take 'em? Ooh, imagine if we captured the ghost ship!" He looks at the distant fighting. "Worst that happens is we die and respawn, right?"

Reker (631) has posed:
    "I don't suppose it's too late to swap my rifle out for a proton pack." Reker says, as he looks across at the ghostly figures on the enemy ship, "Well I'm open to suggestions. I don't know if musket balls and swords will hurt them."

    He turns his head to look back at the rest of the crew for a second, "I don't think anything we've got will damage them if those guys couldn't either."

Kirito has posed:
Kirito would flatly DISAGREE with Xiaomu about digital monsters being less than terrifying when you face them in reality a lot. Upon realizing he's looking at GHOST WARRIORS and they are depited so realistically a chill goes down his spine.

    And he's reminded of the moans and shrieks and howls of shambling zombies, the ravenous infected braindead zombies that he'd had to cut through to save a few survivors. Kirito shivers as horrible bloodied faces and other images flash in his memory.

    Before he knows it he's leaping out of the crow's nest and doing this crazy manuever of sliding along a sail. he bounces free of it and rolls along the deck with his sword drawn in a panic!

    It takes him a good twenty seconds to compose himself properly again.

    "I think we've found the unbeatable ship!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Ghost ship?" Yuuki squeaks. "This is awesome!"

    She's much like Sunshower in her reaction, for much the same reason. Sure, this is obviously an incredibly high level encounter, but they already knew that from the fact that no one's beat it. These creatures being undead is no more menacing than if they were lizardmen, orcs, or simply mortal men. In fact being undead gives them an identity, and gives the heroes a clue how they can be dealt with. Far from being a menace, this is just a game. And a game can, with skill and preparation, be beat.

    That said, no, undead aren't a normal part of this game. At least, not ship-based. There are undead such as shambling zombies or skeletons, but nothing with the intelligence to crew a ship. This is still potentially a rogue AI element, one that doesn't belong in this world. And the ghost ship, while practically unkillable, does seem to have sustained at least some damage in the firefight.

    The ghost ship closes with the pirate vessel, closing together with it. Undead pirates swarm across to the vessel of the living. The living pirates stand ready to fight, but the battle is somewhat predictable. As skilled at the players are, as powerful as their gear is, they're merely 'mortal' in the game. Their well-aimed strikes pass through their targets, releasing a spray of gooey ectoplasm, but fail to land mortal blows. The undead can be hurt, but they don't care about the damage. They wade into the battle, willingly trading blows. Though their attacks are turned aside by skilled parries, dodged or often absorbed by armor, enough attacks land to make the outcome of the battle inevitable. These aren't slow shambling undead either. They're agile, skillful, and utterly fearless. The living pirates will surely have the significant word 'living' removed from their description in little time... though at least there seems to be little worry about the players joining the ranks of the undead. These attacks have been going on for some time now, and players respawn as normal. Whether or not copies of them are added to the undead force though, that is unknown.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe Says "So we're living a ghost story?! Great..."

Tomoe does not seem to happy about this given if it's a glitch there's no way she and the others cna win. She looks to Staren for a momens ays nothing and is scrambling down from the crowsnest at this point. If Tomoe knew what Xiaomu was thinkihng she's give the fox girl an earful but thankfully she does not as she gets her weapons reay it's time for a fight. Tomoe herself is looking about as shaken up as Kirito s by this...

Karian Icefang has posed:
    KArian nods as he spots the ectoplasm fly. He grits his teeth and waits to get close enough. Once in range, his pistol roars out and he would move to swing or otherwise board the ship.

Staren has posed:
    Staren shouts down, "Well, don't just stand there! C'mon, let's get closer and attack 'em now! The longer we wait, the fewer pirates there will be to help us fight the undead!"

Iria (215) has posed:
Right now, Iria's patience has just sunk to a bit of a low. "All right, if these things want to take us on, then I'll oblige 'em!" She says, her pirate accent not showing anymore. "I'm ready to take 'em all out! The more the merrier!" She swings her cutlass. "I'll send 'em back to the afterlife!"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    "This is a recon mission. Not an assault or defense." Palmira says as she watches the fight as best she can. The enemy seems to releases goo when struck. Ectoplasm perhaps?

    "The enemy doesn't seem to care about being struck, but they're also agile." Palmira commecnts as she eyes the action critically. She leans back to look at Aurelia. "If we loaded the cannons with grape Shot, we might be able to eliminate the undead crew."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Sunshower was actually serious about the 'come back' part - for all that she has trouble being scared of undead, and to be fair, this is also at a distance, she's sure the group is NOT ready to tangle with an actual ghost ship. They really do need to go away, prepare more thoroughly, and come back when they know what they're dealing with and how to deal with it ... and she was equally serious about the chance of sidequests that would give them some much-needed advantages.

For now, though, she's watching as closely as she can - maybe too closely for comfort, given the spyglass she's peering through at the battle beign waged. She doesn't look like a happy camper, in any case.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Load port side cannons with grape shot. Boatswain, unfurl the sails and make ready to sail. I think we've seen enough to formulate some strategies, so lets get one last piece of information before we leave. Fire port broadside when ready!" says Auralia, as she returns to her post at the ships wheel.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki begins working on the sails. While she's eager to fight, this is like that first boss battle with Asuna leading the Sleeping Knights. It's not a fight they need to win. Instead, they're here to learn so that their next engagement is a decisive victory. She nods, grinning. "Aye aye, Captain!" For all she knows she might not be the boatswain. She probably isn't, but she's been sticking to the sails. She doesn't use guns or any ranged attack. If she can't fight using her own body, she'll do her best to be agile somehow. Sails, in this case, suit her just fine.

    The Windstar comes about, presenting a broadside to the pirate vessel. Grapeshot loaded and ready. If there's any corporeal presence to these ghosts whatsoever, the grapeshot ought to be effective. It's like firing a very large shotgun. It does some damage to planking and sails, but it's meant to ruin a pirate's day. At this range, it'd be hard to miss. And sure, some still-living pirates might also get hit... but they're pirate-flagged. The Windstar doesn't have to go rogue to fire upon them. They're a bounty, not a friendly bystander.

    The cannonfire ripples out; many shots fired by NPC crewmembers, but any NPC will stand aside for a PC gunner. And it IS effective. Not perhaps as effective as hoped, but the shot tears great holes in the ghostly forms of the AI attackers. It obviously does significant damage, and in a few cases it discorporates the undead body, but there are more who survive unharmed or only moderately wounded.

    This, however, has one rather significant effect. The air, so far just unpleasant, becomes chilled. The chill of the grave itself sweeps the Windstar. Undead on the pirate vessel move, manning the nearest broadside. Their symbols are no longer the yellow of a targetable mob... no, now they wear the red diamond of a hostile foe above their heads.

    On the Spite Lather vessel, the surviving ghosts mop up the remaining pirates. Anyone still observing from the crow's nest will see something a bit odd. The ghosts begin to search the ship. It's not apparent what they're looking for; survivors perhaps, or loot, or something else entirely. They don't simply kill all resistance and then leave however, nor are they abandoning the ship to sink it. They're looking for SOMETHING, that's the only possible conclusion. And they're ignoring a hostile vessel to do so.

    The Windstar is not a combat vessel. Not on the level of the pirate corsair at least, and not to the point of being able to outgun the ghost ship. With ghosts manning cannon and readying to fire, ship-based battle is looking at this point like a bad option. Then again... is flight any better?

Karian Icefang has posed:
    Karian watches this, pondering. In his heard, he knew flight was the best option here. But as the discussion continued, he couldn't help but want to get one last shot in on the undead. So, he made his way across and up to the cannons. "Decades of long-range combat should let me get a good shot in...when the time comes. "He muses to himself.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "All Hands, Brace for incoming fire!" calls Auralia as she hauls hard starboard on the wheel, wheeling the Windstar about and getting her sails into the wind, what there is to be had of it. "Get those sails unfurled! The foremast is still locked tight!" she adds, giving a Speed buff to anyone in the rigging to go get the sails sorted out. "Lookouts, tell me if that thing starts coming after us... we may have to unleash the Ship Cracker."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    As the cannons fire and some of the ghosts are struck, Palmira nods once as her concept is confirmed. Ship cannons are powerfull enough to do massive damage to the ghosts, but the ship itself is probably an order of magnitude tougher.

    However, some of the ghosts have gone down below the pirate ship's deck, making her wonder just what for. Tch. Fight through them dosn't seem like a good idea. Not if anyone expects to not go through respawn.

    Cirra boots open the ship's locker and deposits her extra gear, but keeps some healing items.

    The purple haired woman scales up the ships rigging and grabs hold of a rope. She looks out at the stranded pirate ship and judges the distance as she wraps the rope around one arm. Just as the Windstar pulls it's turn to escape, Palmira releases her hold on the riggingg, swinging across through the open air over the ocean!

    Palmira releases her grip on the rope and hits the pirate ships deck in a roll, springing back up to her feet. She knows engage the ghosts is no use, so she simply sprints across the deck, attempting to catch up with the seaarching ghosts.

Reker (631) has posed:
    There's so much stuff all going down at once, it's hard for Reker to follow the action. When the icons on the ghosts change, however, he raises an eyebrow. Are these really in fact NPCs? Or something more dastardly?

    He moves to one of the cannons the NPC giving way for him to take over, working to rapidly load and fire the weapon, though when the call to brace for impact comes in, he pushes himself against the back of the cannon, figuring the iron will do a better job of protecting him than the wood around it.

    Once the fire has cleared, he'll resume his duties, getting the cannon ready to unleash another blast. He's aiming the cannon ball for one of the ghosts directly, instead of the ship itself. The grape shot did good, but taking a full on cannon ball shot should prove diasterous for whoever it hits

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
If the Ship Cracker cannon is that 14-pounder Auralia mentioned, then Sunshower is going to need priority on it - but given the nature of her plan, 'if the enemy starts to pursue' is a condition wh's not going to argue about. The crew might even need to unload some standard shots with it before she lines up her trump card.

At least, she's hoping it'll be a trump card. She's hoping more than THAT that she won't have to actually put it into play, because it's a crazy, desperate idea that might or might not work.

Either way, Sunshower has a distinct chill down her spine that's only partly because of the eldritch fog that's now hanging over the Windstar; she stashes her spyglass and clambers back down to the main deck, then pops open her inventory. The downside to playing a Brewmaster is that you REALLY have to plan ahead; it takes long enough to concoct a batch of anything that if you don't have it ready before you set foot on an island, you're not going to have time to do more than wish you HAD made it.

But among the drinks that Sunshower's brewed supplies of, there's a portable cask of a fairly potent healing grog. The ingredients were expensive as hell even before she lost a batch to a failed crafting, and the quantity she made was only enough for a backpack-sized keg rather than a proper stationary barrel .... but on the flip side, that little keg should fit in a big enough cannon.

It won't hold together very well when the cannon fires, mind you - but if she waits to touch off the powder load until the ghost ship is trying to secure itself alongside for boarding the Windstar, 'holding together' won't even matter. It would be like a cross between a shotgun and a water balloon, and the grog would splatter all over the undead enemy crew, at least those who were close enough to get splattered.

And if Sunshower's hopes are correct, 'splatter' would be as close to the operative word as one could hope ...

Staren has posed:
    Staren grins as he sees the grapeshot working so well... but... there are just too many ghosts! "Rrgh..." he frowns, "We waited too long! We need to go... if we can. This boss cheats, just like the one in GGO... we'll have to find a way to abuse physics or something to beat them!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is looking to get the heck out of here but she will do what she can to help with the ship the undead ship. As the crew fires shots she's keeping an eye on the vessel. She's keeping an eye on what they are doing and she pauses while it's ted they are not attacking that gets her attention ad she's going to tyr to figure out about what's going on here? They seem to be looking for osmething....

Kirito has posed:
Kirito peers more closely... sees that cannons are able to kill the ghosts more easily than swords... and narrows his vision more fiercely. "AIs don't die like monsters..." He murmurs to himself, no longer sure WHAT they're facing. This whole thing's completely unknown...

    Which is getting him EXCITED.... as a gamer, he wants to explore this, figure out what's going on, learn everything he can and overcome it!

    To what end, though?

    "What I wouldn't give for Spriggan wings about now! I'd love to fly over to that ship and question them. They might even have things to say!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Fortunately for Palmera, she hasn't engaged the ghosts. The Windstar crew, in fact, hasn't engaged them at all. The Windstar is flagged hostile, but for whatever reason her crew aren't. They're, seemingly, not part of the ghosts' mission. Palmira will discover, to possibly immense relief, that the ghosts are yellow-flagged to her. Targetable, yes. Enemies perhaps. But they're not actively hostile.

tIn fact Palmira's in a unique situation here. While the ghost ship has attacked a number of pirates over the last few months, they've always operated exactly the same way. Shell the ship into immobility, kill the living crew, then carry out the rest of their mission. No one has ever survived to see what they do when they finish killing the crew. She is, in fact, in a unique position. No one's ever been where she is now, and nothing nearby seems to object to her presence.

    Aboard the Windstar, Auralia and Sunshower ready the Ship Cracker. The massive cannon can hold a keg in its barrel, yes. And a cannon can fire pretty much anything that can fit smoothly down its bore. Cannons have fired chains, grapeshot, humans, explosives, sometimes even rocks. They may not fire it WELL, but they can project just about anything at least a short distance before it comes apart. A cannon, held in reserve until something readies to board, is likely to be potent no matter what it's loaded with.

    In the meantime though, the Windstar begins to pull away. Booms from the ghost vessel announce incoming fire, and cannon balls begin to rain down in a steel rain. Some hit the water, missing cleanly. Some tear through rigging and sails relatively ineffectively. Chain shot is deadly against rigging and sails, but solid cannonballs aren't. Cannonballs are meant to destroy hull, decks, cannons. They wreck ships, not slow them down. The pirate ship isn't looking to stop the Windstar from fleeing, it's stopping the ship from being able to fight. The rain of cannonballs will hammer the Windstar, striking weapons, decks, hull, pretty much getting a piece of everything as the brigantine desperately flees. Possibly even hitting some of the Windstar's crew themselves, depending on how lucky they are. Cover would be advised, though cover might not last long under withering cannon fire. Retreat is even more advised.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Retreat sounds really, really good to Sunshower, and she's mentioned as much. She'd love to see just how her possible trump card DOES work against a ghost ship ... but, well. If it doesn't get tested this time out, so much the better - she really ought to stock up on ingredients (and easily-portable little casks like that) and try again. Just making the recipe does wonders for her Brewing skill tally, anyway; there are worse ways to level up a skill than making a large supply of something that promises to be genuinely useful. And if she fills up too much of her inventory, these things fetch a good price among other players for obvious reasons.

She's still going to take some kind of cover (behind the cannon, ideally) when cannonballs start flying from the ghost ship. Much as she'd like to watch what's happening, it's nto worth her (virtual or otherwise) life to spectate.

Karian Icefang has posed:
    The cannonball fire gets a curse from Karian. "Damn...Get that cannon Loaded!!" He barks to the NPCs. He was ready to take that ship down, or wound it enough so they could life to fight another day.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Noticing the ghosts are still tagged yellow, Palmira slows down her mad dash sos he doesn't accidently trip their detection. She move more steadily to the stairs down below, taking the steps one at a time as she walks sideways to avoid the ghosts, looking in to each room as she goes, what are they after? Are they just following some kind of script? Is that why they didn't attack her? Or is because she isn't a pirate?

    Too many mysteries, not enough information.

    She pauses and looks to either side, activating her tracking skill to find the highest concentration of ghosts.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    There's no obvious reason Palmira's safe from the ghosts, not for certain. The game code makes it clear the ghosts won't preemptively attack, but gives no clues to why. Sure, it could be because she's not flagged as a PVP-enabled pirate. It could just as easily be a weird quirk in their mission. Perhaps they simply never expected that, after executing the mission stage 'kill everyone', there could possibly be a remaining threat.

    On the Windstar, the rain of cannonballs begins to weaken. Not the rate of fire, but as the ship gets farther away the shots are less accurate and land on the Windstar less often. If the ghost ship had attempted to cripple the sails first the Windstar probably wouldn't get away. That wasn't what happened though, and the heroes should slip out of the fog before long. Since the ghost ship isn't pursuing, the Windstar should be able to get away safely. Damaged, sure, but mostly intact.

    Palmira's bravery will be rewarded, it seems. The ghost crew abruptly surges back abovedecks towards their ship. What they came for ought to be fairly obvious. It's by far the most colorful thing about them, or about anything in this dreary realm of supernatural fog. It's a skull made out of a blood-colored crystal, faceted and almost gleaming despite the lack of light. It's not entirely clear whether the skull is a wearable talisman, but likely it's a 'loot' item. Or perhaps a magical focus, suitable for making into an enchantment. Valuable, no doubt. Everything about it almost screams value... but you know what they say. You can't take it with you. Only, these undead seem to think otherwise.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    As she activates her tracking skill shows the ghosts surging towards her, Palmira dives into an alcove out of their way, watching them stream past with the Crystal Skull in tow.

Palmira steps out as the last of them runs past. She eyes the yellow tag over their heads, she stops as the last living person on the ship and says plainly to their back of the group.

    "What is your purpose here?" she asks, "What is your mission?" she stops at the plank to the enemy ship.

    "What is the Crystal Skull?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is not really in the best spot right now to help with the fith all she can really do is get information. She's pretty sure no crew has ever seen what they do once they finish off the crew of another ship. For now though she keeps her seld ready for boarders. The cannon balls keep coming and Tomoe is forced to hunker down and be ready for a hell of a fall if the mast takes a hit.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    At first, Palmira gets no answers from the ghosts. They seem to notice her, but their programming doesn't give them a reason to act against her. She's not part of their mission one way or the other, and they're incapable of initiating hostile action.

    Responding to her words though, that's another matter. It takes a few moments, as if the answer comes from far away. It echoes throughout the pirate ship, ghostly and hollow. "We. Will. Take. What. Is. Ours. You. Will. Get. What. Is. Yours." says the voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

    The Windstar breaks out of the fog into sunshine. It's still weak and wintery, but it's bright comparet to the gloom within the fog. The rain of cannonballs also slackens, then falls away.

    And then the ghosts leave Palmira alone, returning to their own vessel, casting off. Moments later, the ghost ship fires, sending the Spite Lather ship down to the bottom. They aren't trying to kill Palmira, but neither do they have the slightest shred of mercy for her.

    In the distance, the malevolent bank of fog begins to stream away. The ghost ship, if it's in there, is heading away at what must be undiminished speed. In very little time, the skies will be clear and summer will return to the pirate seas. No sign of pirate vessel or ghost vessel remains. As for Palmira... dare you risk returning to see if she survived?

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Pausing as she's addressed by...something, Palmira stares at the ghost ship as it moves back. "Yours, ours? Wait-!" but it's too late, the cannon fires and the hull of the ship gets a new hole in it, enough that it starts taking on water. "Damnit!"

    Palmira goes to the far end of the boat. She knew this could happen. It isn't really death, but it could be an...inconvience to the group. She takes a rope and wraps it around her wrist as she examines the captain's station. She's sure the boat is barely functional, but if she could turn it towards the Windstar, shave a minute off their time...

    Or heaven help her, a life boat that wasn't trashed. That'd be great too.