In the Face of Danger

Xian_Evermor · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:22 am Post subject: In the Face of Danger

It was a dark and stormy day that Xian had picked. Arcane energy seeped out of his body, licking the air about him like a slow moving flame and warping the light. It caused a chameleon-like effect that blended him in to his surroundings. In direct sunlight, the light bending affect of his Arcana would be more apparent, and might even catch the eye of a casual onlooker. As it were, beneath the gloomy, clouded sky and the downpour of rain Xian was completely invisible.

The last cargo ship to Cape Salarain was about to leave, and without a single copper to his name he couldn’t bribe anyone for passage aboard. Damned if he would be a galley boy either, his pride simply wouldn’t let him. He also didn't know who he could trust. There was a reason he was being so secretive, and talking to the wrong person may very well get him killed… so he planned to do what he did best: find “alternative” means of entry. Xian had been observing the ship since it had arrived in port two days ago and he learned that it would be making one last trip to Cape Salarain. He’d found a very brief window where he could get aboard, uncloaked in broad daylight wearing mirrored armor and playing the royal fanfare… of course he wouldn’t stand out quite that much. Aside from not having mirrored armor, he couldn’t play any instruments even if his very life depended on it.

The time he’d been waiting for had come. At the precise moment of the laborer’s shift change there was a few moments where the ship’s deck was completely unguarded. Usually there was someone down at the ramp, but using the front door wasn’t really his style to begin with anyway. As soon as the watch was set and the last laborer left the ship he darted stealthily across the dock, using his superb elven balance and reflexes to run along the mooring line and spring onto the deck. He took a moment’s pause to make sure nobody had heard him and skulked below decks, worming his way carefully into the darkest recesses of the bilge and finding a mostly dry spot behind some crates to hide for the journey across the seas.

Ships on long voyages like these typically had a wizard with them to ward off severe weather and the like. The wizard sensing his Arcana would probably be his biggest risk of discovery… that and rummaging around for food once his last two wafers of elfin way bread ran out. He dispelled his Arcana and ate about half a wafer of way bread to stave off his hunger before preparing to put himself in a state of heightened hibernation: a sort of meditation that slowed his body’s metabolism and heart rate but still left him with some basic senses so he’d have a moment of warning if anyone were to enter the area near where he was hiding.