4/13/24

Q: The skyship is about to take off; how are you preparing, knowing how it went last time? A: Double- and triple-checking Sylvio's gyroscopic equilibrium manifold, which also calms me down.
 
BEGIN SESSION
 
The ship takes off, and down in the hold, Sylvio's claws dig into the ship's floorboards, giving me a very stable foundation to keep my feet under me during liftoff. During the weeks long journey, I'd like to work on an early detection system for attacks on the boat. I happen to have access to Alarm, and am going to work on getting it set up in gadget form for the ship. The sword was the knight of the North Star, Realt, like Lv. 20 Oath of Devotion Paladin kinda stronk, one who would find you in the darkness and bring you protection, helping lost wanderers, the right hand of Veizen. Their name is something similar to Astra, but giving the name back to the sword might make it not Marda's sword anymore, instead maybe granting us a dope friend for the final fight against the demon lord; their name is Astraea (ass-TREY-uh), and Marda is going to give the name back to them. DREAM TIME - (WIS save - 17 - I have a what if? style dream, wherein I never sell my shop, settle down with a childhood flame, lots of kids learning how to build their own Steel Defenders which we will Voltron together and conquer the countryside! I awaken in the hold with Sylvio, and the thrill of conquest fades from my mind, replaced instead by the visceral need to conquer a breakfast buffet instead.
 
Back in time to the first night in the air, Druss and Bellia got married by the captain! Everyone on the ship attended, Melfine made brisket and frog soup via Create Food and Water. I do some minor tinkering on a small orb, which I roll down the aisle timed to go off right after the first kiss of the new bride and groom, and it is a static display of fireworks popping off accompanied by the words "Congratulations, We're so happy for you, Get it!"
 
Day 3 in the air, (PER - 8 - probably not so good) Yun is up in the crow's nest, and sees a boulder flying toward the ship. They are able to warn the helmsman fast enough to dodge, but there are 3 humanoid figures ice skating through the sky towards the ship. Accompanied by a large rumble, a storm rolls in. Yun casts Fireball at the lead figure, and in retaliation lightning strikes the crow's nest, hurting Yun, as well as splintering off to kill two sailors. Belowdecks, I hear the sounding of the alarm, and metallic clattering alongside the hull. Then I notice a crackling alongside me in the wall, where metal rods in the ship appear to have become charged. The ship has a lightning dispersal defense skeleton?!? Sylvio and I race to the deck and man the rear ballista installation, with sailors as my loaders. We are under assault by storm and cloud giants, the bastards. From the back ballista, I Conjure Barrage and fire the bolt, critically striking the second giant to reach us, off the starboard bow. The leader (the only storm giant) and another quickly fall, but the third, which had fallen under Yun's Hypnotic Pattern, is released from their control when they summon 5 steam mephits and is in hot pursuit of us. Max pops into being near me on the aftcastle, panting and making oddly high-pitched mooing squeaks. After a few more shots, the third beast falls from the sky, dead. Then, the second one to fall climbs its way back onto the deck, falling limply to the boards. Melfine has somehow puppeted the corpse back up onto the ship for some unknowable reason. What an oddity.
 
Ship HP = 400 - 28 (giant #2 attack)+ 14 (Sylvio repair) - 42 (giant #3 attack)
 
END SESSION
 
INSP Inventory: emptier than my head