Chapter 2 - The Battle of the Meat-Shields
The party searched everywhere around the nautiloid before daring to venture inside. They wound their way down to the cove Astarion had hidden in the day before just to see if there was any chance of climbing up from there.
The DM had everyone roll a Perception check. Everyone failed but Shadowheart and Astarion who both rolled more than 15, which was the difficulty. The cliffs were sheer with no handholds, and so no one could climb them. However, the two noticed that a rock had been moved recently.
"It's as if someone moved it to try to hide something underneath," Astarion pointed out. "If we could move it." He tried, but failed. "Well, it'll take someone with a lot more strength than me.
"Move aside," said Vexir. She stooped down, grabbed the rock, and hefted it easy enough. She had Strength 14, which was required to move it. She tossed it to the side. Beneath, they discovered a map and a tattered collection of reports held together with a moon-and-harp seal. There was frequent mention of sacrilegious activity among the local Selunite sect. Upon further examination of the map, there was a location almost directly above them, all the way at the top of the cliffs. Supposedly, there was some sort of camp or outpost there.
"Maybe we can find help there," Kaedyn suggested.
"Or trouble," said Vexir. "I don't trust it."
"Still, could be that they have a healer, maybe," said Ryth-Shan.
"Agreed," said Astarion. "It's worth a check."
Shadowheart seemed strangely curious. "There was mention about some sort of sacrilegious activity among the local Selunites. Might be trouble. We should look into it."
"If we get the chance, then," said Kaedyn, "are we agreed that we'll look into it?"
Vexir sighed. "Since I'm alone in this, I suppose."
"Good," said Kaedyn.
"Well, we're at a dead end," said Ryth-Shan. "Before my spell ended, Zriek mentioned that there is a way to get through the nautiloid and to the other side. We can navigate to a lot more areas from there. I think we have no choice. If we are careful, though, maybe we can avoid any other unpleasant encounters."
"Stealth it is!" Astarion added enthusiastically. "Granted, we have a few elephants with us, but I think we might still pull it off."
"Who are you calling an elephant?" Vexir said, eyes narrowing at him.
"Not you, Darling! Surely!" Astarion cried in alarm. He then gestured with a jabbing finger at Kaedyn and Shadowheart. As he did, he feigned that he was trying to hide the gesture with his other hand. "Those two, My Dear. Obviously."
Vexir and Ryth-Shan couldn't help but smile. Kaedyn did as well. He thought Astarion's levity was very much needed. Their Relationship Scores with the elf increased by 1.
Vexir then replied, "We should remove our armor, the three of us. It'll only hinder us with sneaking through the ship."
"I'll be fine," said Shadowheart, almost boastfully. "I have ways to negate the disadvantage armor usually gives to stealth."
"Oh really?" said Astarion with a raised brow. "A fellow connoisseur of the shadows. I never would have guessed."
She shrugged but said nothing else about this. Instead, she said, "Doesn't your armor also hinder stealth? You're wearing some sort of fancy Padded Armor."
Astarion replied, "Custom made. It's like wearing leather. Doesn't make a sound. Besides, stealth is one of my specialties. Like you, I also know ways to offset disadvantages to hiding and sneaking."
Ryth-Shan considered his own Scale Mail armor. He also received a disadvantage to stealth with it on. He'd been lucky so far. There had been a good deal of noise to offset the disadvantage when he'd been sneaking up on the imps in the nautiloid. On the ship, all the fighting on the decks outside and the fires and explosions had more than masked any sound his armor made. When trying to creep up on the intellect devourers, there were other sounds and smoke and such to also offset it; even though it didn't matter since he'd still been detected. He should have known. They could sense anything living within...
That was when it hit him, and he decided to add his own suggestion. "None of this will matter. Intellect devourers can sense living creatures within 300 feet of them. We might avoid Mind Flayers, but not intellect devourers. Even the chances of avoiding the Mind Flayers, if any are alive, are slim to none. I'd rather have our full armor on if we run into any trouble."
"Well, can't argue with that," said Astarion. "Who's taking the lead?"
"Who else?" said Vexir as she set off back along the path.
"Ah! She does make a darling meat-shield. Doesn't she?" commented Astarion to Kaedyn in quieter tones so that only he could hear. When he'd said this, he'd waved his hand toward her backside, drawing Kaedyn's attention to it momentarily. Then he set off to follow her, an almost wicked smile on his face.
Kaedyn shook his head to force his eyes off of her. It was highly inappropriate, and he certainly didn't want to make her angry with him. He wasn't at all sure how she would react. She could be quite scary at times, and he knew that she looked down on him for being half human.
The others were already making their way back, leaving him in the dust. Therefore, he hastened to catch up. In a few moments, he was at the front of the group. As he came up to walk next to Vexir, he said to her, "You know, I'm more of a melee person myself. In fact, you and I could make a great team. I am more of a defender than an attacker. Let me draw the enemy's attention first, taking the lead. Then you come up from behind and hit them hard."
"Maybe then she wouldn't die so quickly," Ryth-Shan remarked, keeping his comment between him, Astarion and Shadowheart. He increased his relationship with them by 1. They both snickered.
Vexir said, "I suppose that makes sense. I'm used to that, actually. In my unit, I had several males who would defend me and draw enemy attention to themselves. I would have suggested it myself, but I didn't think you could handle the task."
Kaedyn shook his head. "If we're going to be working together, you're going to have to trust me. I can handle it. It's one of the things I'm good at."
Vexir sighed. She seemed to be giving in. "I hope you realize how difficult this is for me. Letting you assume that role requires a great deal of trust from me. It is, for you, a great honor and gift. You are Half-Drow. Therefore, you would never be allowed to assume such a role under any other circumstance. Do not grow comfortable, Male. Today, I show you favor. Tomorrow, I may toss you to the dung heap." Her relationship with him dropped by 2 points to 50 again.
Kaedyn did not hide his anger this time. She'd hit a sensitive cord. He stepped in front of her and faced her; eye-to-eye. "Listen, Vexir. I respect you. You are obviously a skilled warrior. I want to work with you and form a solid, cohesive team here. It benefits us all to coordinate our abilities. Like it or not, you need me, just like you need the others and I need you."
"So, you're not in a position to be treating us like we're all your underlings and minions," he continued without a breath. "You WILL treat me with respect. I am NOT your male that you can just boss around because for some reason Drow women think that men are not equal to them. I don't give a flying rat's butt either that you think that just because I'm Half-Drow that I'm somehow inferior to you."
"Whether you decide to show me favor or not, I don't bloody care! I am going to take the role of defender and draw enemy attention to myself because you NEED me to do that. You keep running up to the enemy and drawing their attention to you and getting taken down. We NEED you do to YOUR role and we NEED you to let ME do MINE!" Then he turned his back on her and led the way up to the top of the cliff.
Vexir was so stunned that she couldn't even move. The others walked past her without a word, leaving her standing there staring at where Kaedyn had confronted her long after they had already reached the area where they'd first met Astarion. Never, in her life, had a male spoken to her in such a manner. None would have dared.
Outraged beyond belief, she finally snapped out of her stupor and charged up the cliff after him. The others saw her coming, and noticed just how hostile she was. Instinctively, they readied their weapons. Each looked at the others as if wondering which person they should side with if it came down to it.
Kaedyn also heard her coming. She made a lot of noise as she stormed up to him. He had shield and mace in hand as he fell into a defensive position. "Are we doing this?" he asked, preparing himself for her attack.
She saw his stance and stopped short. She was still fuming, but his determination and confidence caused her to hesitate at the last. All at once, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to just swing her axe at him and cut him to bloody pieces. Was it the blaring sun that caused her to stop? Was it the fact that she knew that he was right and that she needed him and them? She couldn't be sure.
Either way, she did not attack. She also did not say a word. She just stood there as her anger slowly drained away. Kaedyn seemed to notice that she was calming down, and he lowered his mace and shield slowly. He was ready to react in a moment, but he was trusting that she was now finished. The others also seemed to relax more, but they did not offer any aid. None wanted to get between the two.
"Thank you," Kaedyn said at last. "Thank you for not going there." His expression softened. His eyes were locked with hers and communicated his sincerity. "I REALLY want to fight alongside you. I honestly think we'll make a great team. So, can we put this behind us?"
Vexir broke eye contact. She looked away at the cove. She was still quite angry, and she couldn't speak. However, the moment was over. She was sure she could not bring herself to attack him. And so, she just sighed and shook her head.
"No?" said Kaedyn. "We can't put this behind us?"
Finally, she found her voice as she locked eyes with him again. "You are so annoying. Fine. We will put this behind us, but let's get one thing straight. We are NOT equals, and I am ONLY working with you because I have determined that I do, in fact, need this party to survive. After this is over, you will be QUITE fortunate if I don't cut you to ribbons."
Kaedyn closed his eyes to fight back his own fury. "Fully understood," he said through gritted teeth. Their Relationship Score dropped to 45 after all this. "Now. Can we get going?"
"Lead the way, Oh Fearless Leader," she snapped sarcastically. "You want to be everyone's favorite target so badly. Be my guest."
"Thank you," he replied with equal levels of sarcasm. Then he spun around, turning his back on her once more, and he stormed off towards the northern-most hole in the nautiloid. They'd all agreed that it was probably the best section to try to maneuver through, if they had to, for Zriek had told Ryth-Shan that another hole in the ship was directly on the other side. Most likely, one led to the other.
As they went, Astarion pulled Ryth-Shan to the side and fell back a few paces. He said in low tones, "Is this going to be a problem, do you think?"
Ryth-Shan shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I've never seen Kaedyn act like that, but we really don't know each other that well. She's bossy, and he's been relatively spineless. So, she must have really pissed him off."
Astarion then glanced back at the two they were discussing. There was a sudden shift in his expression. Ryth-Shan got the distinct impression that he was cataloging information about the two that he felt was vitally important. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn that the unusual elf was taking notes so that, in the future, he might have some sort of ammunition to use against them; just in case. It made him quite uneasy.
At last, they came to the hole in the ship, and the group paused to take one last look around to make sure that it was indeed the only real way for them to go. Then, they finally stepped into the shadows of the belly of the nautiloid.
