At the mentions of more food, Molly makes an exaggerated groan and starts getting up. ]
I guess I could fit a few more in t- whoa!
[ Dextrous he might be, but somehow wet feet, pebbles and a dock were not a great combination, and in his attempt to stand, Mollymauk slips and tips over the side. He grabs on to Fjord on instinct, but he has too much of an angle already and all he manages is to leave scratches as he plops into the water. ]
[ Well, fuck. He barely has time to reach for him before he sees Molly fall over and on instinct Fjord grabs hold of the edge of the jetty as he jumps in after him, snagging his fancy new shirt to reel him back. It's fucking cold as a witch's tit in the sea, no matter how pretty it looks, and he gives him a once-over to check he's okay. ]
Molly, fuck's sake! Are you alright? Shit, it's freezing ... !
[ Molly is concerned at first, but then he's boosted out of the water by his very stronk™ boyfriend and climbs safely up on the dock. Turning around, he holds out a hand for Fjord to help him up as well. ]
Sounds like a good idea. Maybe Caleb has some of those spicy ones left?
[ He hoists himself up (mainly without tugging on Molly, suspicious of how wonky the tiefling's balance is shot) and takes his hand to hurry them up toward the house, teeth chattering.
The fuss they create brings blankets down on them as soon as they turn up, Fjord's scratch marks drawing a wail from Jester as she heals him on the spot. Fjord lets Marion drape a second towel over his head and rub his hair to get the worst of the wet out, directed to take a seat by the grill with Molly in a stern motherly voice he isn't used to having directed his way ... and immediately obeys.
He gets two sausages in his hotdog from a concerned Caleb. ]
[ He has better balance without pebbles under his feet, and is glad that they manage to get out with no more falling in. It is freezing, though, and even tiefling heat doesn't help against accidental nightly dips.
It's quite cozy to be fussed over by their friends, and a bit of worry is drained away as soon as Jester heals the scratches. He doesn't like the idea of hurting any of his friends like that, even by mistake.
The motherly voice has him plopped down with Fjord next to some nice warmth, covering himself in the blanket so barely his nose is shown to everyone else... and his mouth at times when he eats the served sausages. He'll manage two before he's too full to function. ]
[ Fjord huddles up beside Molly in their blankets and munches away feeling like a naughty child, shooting him a sidelong look once they finish eating something hot to counteract the icy seawater. He has a flagon of ale for himself but it's been a relief that no one trusts Molly with anything stronger than cordial at this point. ]
[ Molly says, sticking his head out of the blanket to give Fjord a peck. ]
I think falling in the water sobered me right up.
[ Stretching a bit, he looks up at the moon again. It seems the party was slowing down - Marian had bid goodnight earlier and Jester had gone with her, and Veth was putting Luc to sleep. Caleb was making sure the grill was out, Frumpkin balancing on his shoulders, and nobody had seen Yasha and Beau for a while. ]
[ With Caleb the last to leave once the grill is out, Fjord rises and offers Molly a hand up. He's still damp and wants to get naked upstairs, thinking over how hot Molly gets under the covers, a regular portable purple furnace. ]
[ Let him rest!! Groaning, Fjord stays wrapped up in his blanket as he follows behind at a far slower pace, reluctant to go anywhere near the water again at such an hour but concerned enough to keep Molly in sight. He calls out, ]
I'm in the middle of the docks, I'm just gonna fall on my ass if I slip again!
[ Grinning, he waves to Fjord and picks up his boots. Turning around, raising them in triumph and about to say something silly again, there's a hard thunk against his back. Pain blooms through his body and he tastes blood in his mouth. Molly stares down at the jagged metal sticking out his side, blinking in confusion and then back to Fjord before the harpoon violently pulls him off the dock. ]
[ Shaking his head at the boot-waving, he's halfway through a fond sigh when the bottom drops out of his stomach and he freezes up with Molly. Staring at a harpoon.
A harpoon in Molly.
His lips part as their eyes meet and the whipcord snaps backward, taking the tiefling with it with a force that spells disaster. Fjord's yell roars into the night as he races down the dock, lights turning on in the Chateau as Molly's name rises into the night sky. He doesn't pause in between casting Underwater Breathing on himself and diving off the jetty after him, breaking the surface of the icy water with a deafening crash in his ears. ]
[ The pain of being pulled back off the cliff and through the water makes him scream, and it's lucky that they had kinky bathhouse underwater sex earlier or he'd be drowning. This is what they get for having a good time, it seems. No weapons on him to defend himself with.
Reaching out to try to grab the chain the harpoon is pulled by, it takes a little off the tearing force of the water resistance once he manages to hold on to it. The assailant looks like some weird fish-faced bastard standing at the bottom, as far as his blurred vision can see, so he bares his fangs to Mock at it in Infernal.
It was enough to make this a more even fight, both of them pulling at the chain now. It's dark and cold down here, but Molly knows Fjord's coming to help. ]
[ If he had the semblance of mind to remember his earlier spell, he would have stopped to flag down other members of the Nein, but as it is his frantic yelling will have to serve as a call to arms because Fjord acts on instinct as he breaks the surface and swims down after the figure vanishing into the shallows. It's incredibly fortunate they aren't near the depths, the Chateau located above a pretty reef instead.
A powerful swimmer, he uses the host spell of Gift of the Depths to hit the sea-floor and run at his normal speed, right over to where Molly is being held captive through his flesh. Fjord grabs onto the chain to help with the resistance and aims two Eldritch Blasts at the creature, whatever it is, with a snarl of his own, and one at the chain ... attacks 18 & 6 to hit it squarely in the chest despite the shadows damage 7 & 14 and messily blow the son of a bitch backwards with a shockwave of green energy. The third blast attack 8 skims the chain as he hurls it in a panic 15!!! but the heat of his anger roars through the spell and heats up the water enough that the chain snaps, leaving Fjord to grab onto Molly. ]
[ It's a relief to see Fjord and even more so when the warlock magic lights up the sea around them and tears into the fish creature, pushing it away. It's a strangely twisted thing, humanoid but with the jaws opening from the middle of the mouth into something horrifying and awfully familiar to Fjord at the same time.
Molly wasn't the intended victim - he was bait.
From the reef, two more fish creatures arrive to attack Fjord, one brandishing their own Sword of Fathoms. Since he's free from the pull on the chain, the pain isn't so bad that he cannot think, so Mollymauk grasps at his side to control the bleeding and calls out with his innate devil's tongue to one of them. It is only a few bubbles in the water, but it still seems to have one of the monsters Enthralled, unable to look away from the purple fighter. ]
[ His blood runs cold as he catches sight of the creature's face.
Molly will have to cope with the pain because there's no way Fjord can protect him down here alone, grabbing him by the hand and swimming for the surface as hard as he can, firing off random Eldritch Blasts into the shadows to try and keep their pursuers back. He just needs to make it to the jetty, that's not far, and once Molly is on dry land Fjord can deal with the rest of this shit. Thankfully the blasts give them a little lift each time he fires, making his job slightly easier, and once he figures that out he shoots blazing cantrips off like a madman to increase their lift. ]
[ While Mollymauk doesn't know what kind of assholes these things are, the look on Fjord's face says it all. He curses his lack of weapons again, snapping out another Mockery to one of them that gets far too close as he tries to somehow help swim without jostling the harpoon too much. It's weighing him down and crippling his movements, and so does the rest of the chain.
They're not going to make it to the jetty like this.
Molly shimmers, turning ghostly and losing the half-orc's grip, but the javelin falls out of his ethereal body, easing the weight and to help give himself more movement to reach the surface. As soon as he turns back to himself, however, blood rapidly clouds the water around them. ]
[ He almost screams when Molly vanishes, a beat later recalling the weirdass ability and swimming back down to try and snatch his corporeal hand again. Molly can't swim alone fast enough with a gaping wound piercing through his body and Fjord can't fight while he's swimming for him; it's a fucked up situation. A harpoon slices through the outside of his thigh and he yells, pushing through the pain to get to Molly and help him reach the surface. That's his priority. Get Molly to the rest of the Mighty Nein, then ...
[ There's more than enough blood already escaping him to weave some of it into his blood curse, blinding one of the two following creatures, the third still recovering from its failed wisdom check earlier.
He turns to swim towards Fjord, easier now that he isn't weighed down, and grasps that hand once again. Tightly.
When they finally break the surface the rest of the Nein are scouring the beach for them. The sound of the splash has them on alert, shimmering balls of light appearing overhead from Caleb so they're more easily seen. Yasha waves his swords over her head as she runs towards them which makes him smile in relief. He wouldn't be completely useless. ]
[ He doesn't wait for Molly to get up on the walkway alone, lifting him up as much as he can to all but shove him out of the water. That leaves Fjord open to attacks but he doesn't care, not with the Nein racing toward them —
He screams as the falchion slices through his side, a scaly webbed hand snatching over his mouth to muffle the yell and drag him under as he seizes up in pain, hands scrabbling to hold onto the wooden edge of the jetty. ]
[ Molly screams, reaching to try to grab the half-orc before he's pulled away. His grip isn't very strong with all the blood he's lost, however, and all he can do is hold on and hiss at the creature rather than pull him closer.
Meanwhile, Yasha and Beau are the fastest of the Nein, reaching the dock quickly to help. Yasha throws Molly his swords and reaches to help pull Fjord out, while Beau whacks the fishman with her bo as hard as she can to push him back into the water.
Caleb and Caduceus are next, the wizard weaving a haste spell on Fjord while the firbolg bends down to push a Cure Wounds into the still heavily bleeding tiefling. It gives Molly enough energy to grab his swords and getting ready for the fight.
Last is Jester and Veth, both their rooms in the other side of the Chateau. Jester is in her nightgown, summoning her spiritual lollipop as Veth disappears from sight. ]
[ Hauled up on deck with haste, he coughs and hugs his side where the blade sliced through, dizzily aware of his friends creating a protective circle around him. His body is cold with a biting wind kicked up from the icy waters and he sees yellow eyes rising out of the darkness. So many. Merrow? Monsters? He locks gazes with one and murmurs through a mouthful of blood, ]
I don't have your damn orb ... Leave me alone.
[ He doesn't know how, but it feels like he's heard by all of them. They convey a hatred he's tired of dealing with. ]
[ This time he knows better than to mess with his blood rituals when he's teetering on the edge already, so Molly doesn't light up his scimitars. With Yasha and Beau handling one of them, he waits for the two others to arrive... only to see more eyes in the darkness.
They needed to get out of here.
Fjord's words are replied with otherworldly hisses and shrieks, yet some make sense to the half-orc. Traitor's blood. They call, hungrily and cold.
Caduceus' gentle hands come to rest on the half-orc's shoulder, sending healing energy from the Wildmother to close some of those wounds. Meanwhile, spirit dragonflies and beetles are swarming out over the waters to drive the things away.
Get off the dock!, Caleb calls out. They needed to get away from the water to be on an even level with these creatures, easily demonstrated by another harpoon launched towards the group but caught by Beau. ]
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[ Or you, his heart says softly.
At the mentions of more food, Molly makes an exaggerated groan and starts getting up. ]
I guess I could fit a few more in t- whoa!
[ Dextrous he might be, but somehow wet feet, pebbles and a dock were not a great combination, and in his attempt to stand, Mollymauk slips and tips over the side. He grabs on to Fjord on instinct, but he has too much of an angle already and all he manages is to leave scratches as he plops into the water. ]
Ugh!
[ At least it wasn't too shallow to hurt. ]
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Molly, fuck's sake! Are you alright? Shit, it's freezing ... !
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[ He holds on to both Fjord and the dock, giving a sheepish laugh. It is freezing when the sun isn't out. ]
Maybe I'm a little drunker than I thought. Are you okay? I think I dug my claws into you in the less pleasurable way.
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[ He dips down further (!!!) in the freezing water to put his shoulder underneath Molly's arm and give him a boost back onto the wooden walkway. ]
Let's get something in that belly to soak up the beer.
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Sounds like a good idea. Maybe Caleb has some of those spicy ones left?
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[ He hoists himself up (mainly without tugging on Molly, suspicious of how wonky the tiefling's balance is shot) and takes his hand to hurry them up toward the house, teeth chattering.
The fuss they create brings blankets down on them as soon as they turn up, Fjord's scratch marks drawing a wail from Jester as she heals him on the spot. Fjord lets Marion drape a second towel over his head and rub his hair to get the worst of the wet out, directed to take a seat by the grill with Molly in a stern motherly voice he isn't used to having directed his way ... and immediately obeys.
He gets two sausages in his hotdog from a concerned Caleb. ]
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It's quite cozy to be fussed over by their friends, and a bit of worry is drained away as soon as Jester heals the scratches. He doesn't like the idea of hurting any of his friends like that, even by mistake.
The motherly voice has him plopped down with Fjord next to some nice warmth, covering himself in the blanket so barely his nose is shown to everyone else... and his mouth at times when he eats the served sausages. He'll manage two before he's too full to function. ]
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You good? Still tipsy?
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[ Molly says, sticking his head out of the blanket to give Fjord a peck. ]
I think falling in the water sobered me right up.
[ Stretching a bit, he looks up at the moon again. It seems the party was slowing down - Marian had bid goodnight earlier and Jester had gone with her, and Veth was putting Luc to sleep. Caleb was making sure the grill was out, Frumpkin balancing on his shoulders, and nobody had seen Yasha and Beau for a while. ]
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Let's go to bed then, I'm exhausted.
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Molly takes a step towards the Chateau, but stops and sighs as he feels the cold under his feet. ]
I left my boots at the dock, one moment.
[ With that, he starts half-jogging towards the water again. He didn't want to leave them out for anyone to nick, they were only as old as he was! ]
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[ Let him rest!! Groaning, Fjord stays wrapped up in his blanket as he follows behind at a far slower pace, reluctant to go anywhere near the water again at such an hour but concerned enough to keep Molly in sight. He calls out, ]
Hurry up! ... And be careful!
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[ Grinning, he waves to Fjord and picks up his boots. Turning around, raising them in triumph and about to say something silly again, there's a hard thunk against his back. Pain blooms through his body and he tastes blood in his mouth. Molly stares down at the jagged metal sticking out his side, blinking in confusion and then back to Fjord before the harpoon violently pulls him off the dock. ]
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A harpoon in Molly.
His lips part as their eyes meet and the whipcord snaps backward, taking the tiefling with it with a force that spells disaster. Fjord's yell roars into the night as he races down the dock, lights turning on in the Chateau as Molly's name rises into the night sky. He doesn't pause in between casting Underwater Breathing on himself and diving off the jetty after him, breaking the surface of the icy water with a deafening crash in his ears. ]
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Reaching out to try to grab the chain the harpoon is pulled by, it takes a little off the tearing force of the water resistance once he manages to hold on to it. The assailant looks like some weird fish-faced bastard standing at the bottom, as far as his blurred vision can see, so he bares his fangs to Mock at it in Infernal.
It was enough to make this a more even fight, both of them pulling at the chain now. It's dark and cold down here, but Molly knows Fjord's coming to help. ]
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A powerful swimmer, he uses the host spell of Gift of the Depths to hit the sea-floor and run at his normal speed, right over to where Molly is being held captive through his flesh. Fjord grabs onto the chain to help with the resistance and aims two Eldritch Blasts at the creature, whatever it is, with a snarl of his own, and one at the chain ...
attacks 18 & 6to hit it squarely in the chest despite the shadowsdamage 7 & 14and messily blow the son of a bitch backwards with a shockwave of green energy. The third blastattack 8skims the chain as he hurls it in a panic15!!!but the heat of his anger roars through the spell and heats up the water enough that the chain snaps, leaving Fjord to grab onto Molly. ]no subject
Molly wasn't the intended victim - he was bait.
From the reef, two more fish creatures arrive to attack Fjord, one brandishing their own Sword of Fathoms. Since he's free from the pull on the chain, the pain isn't so bad that he cannot think, so Mollymauk grasps at his side to control the bleeding and calls out with his innate devil's tongue to one of them. It is only a few bubbles in the water, but it still seems to have one of the monsters Enthralled, unable to look away from the purple fighter. ]
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Molly will have to cope with the pain because there's no way Fjord can protect him down here alone, grabbing him by the hand and swimming for the surface as hard as he can, firing off random Eldritch Blasts into the shadows to try and keep their pursuers back. He just needs to make it to the jetty, that's not far, and once Molly is on dry land Fjord can deal with the rest of this shit. Thankfully the blasts give them a little lift each time he fires, making his job slightly easier, and once he figures that out he shoots blazing cantrips off like a madman to increase their lift. ]
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They're not going to make it to the jetty like this.
Molly shimmers, turning ghostly and losing the half-orc's grip, but the javelin falls out of his ethereal body, easing the weight and to help give himself more movement to reach the surface. As soon as he turns back to himself, however, blood rapidly clouds the water around them. ]
I'm okay! Keep going!
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Fuck shit up down here, probably. Or run.
Running sounds great, if it becomes an option. ]
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He turns to swim towards Fjord, easier now that he isn't weighed down, and grasps that hand once again. Tightly.
When they finally break the surface the rest of the Nein are scouring the beach for them. The sound of the splash has them on alert, shimmering balls of light appearing overhead from Caleb so they're more easily seen. Yasha waves his swords over her head as she runs towards them which makes him smile in relief. He wouldn't be completely useless. ]
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He screams as the falchion slices through his side, a scaly webbed hand snatching over his mouth to muffle the yell and drag him under as he seizes up in pain, hands scrabbling to hold onto the wooden edge of the jetty. ]
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[ Molly screams, reaching to try to grab the half-orc before he's pulled away. His grip isn't very strong with all the blood he's lost, however, and all he can do is hold on and hiss at the creature rather than pull him closer.
Meanwhile, Yasha and Beau are the fastest of the Nein, reaching the dock quickly to help. Yasha throws Molly his swords and reaches to help pull Fjord out, while Beau whacks the fishman with her bo as hard as she can to push him back into the water.
Caleb and Caduceus are next, the wizard weaving a haste spell on Fjord while the firbolg bends down to push a Cure Wounds into the still heavily bleeding tiefling. It gives Molly enough energy to grab his swords and getting ready for the fight.
Last is Jester and Veth, both their rooms in the other side of the Chateau. Jester is in her nightgown, summoning her spiritual lollipop as Veth disappears from sight. ]
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I don't have your damn orb ... Leave me alone.
[ He doesn't know how, but it feels like he's heard by all of them. They convey a hatred he's tired of dealing with. ]
Leave my friends alone.
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They needed to get out of here.
Fjord's words are replied with otherworldly hisses and shrieks, yet some make sense to the half-orc. Traitor's blood. They call, hungrily and cold.
Caduceus' gentle hands come to rest on the half-orc's shoulder, sending healing energy from the Wildmother to close some of those wounds. Meanwhile, spirit dragonflies and beetles are swarming out over the waters to drive the things away.
Get off the dock!, Caleb calls out. They needed to get away from the water to be on an even level with these creatures, easily demonstrated by another harpoon launched towards the group but caught by Beau. ]
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