2014.03.07 - Dragon Beats Shotgun Beats Pirate

The small fishing schooner Patango has been commissioned to take Lunair from New York to visit Kilroy on a chartered and cutter in the middle of the Atlantic. The cutter, known as the Amigdala, is an all purpose ship that has been reconfigured at the moment with weapons, armor and anti pirate gear. There are a few burn marks and dents on the side of the hull, as if the ship had already seen combat. Lunair and Darix are moving with the fisherman, who hasn't really been talkative and are about five minutes from pulling along side of the ship.
Darix Tyner so far has had no requests come up from Genesis until now. They may require some of his mythological knowledge and how could he say no? It was a chance to maybe see this Atlantis and better yet-- To get away from the dang cold! He really, really /hates/ the cold.
So he travels with Lunair to where-ever they may be going. Placing trust in the woman he has /never/ met really and honestly he isn't armed with much. Just a bag over his shoulder, a jacket, with a black turtle neck and a pair of jeans. Including hiking boots on his feet. He does have a sidearm holstered, but that is primarily for his own protection.
Not that he'd probably ever need to use it-- or so he hopes.
Patango. Heehee. That's a name, alright! Lunair has on her armor, and sensible sea gear. Namely, a wide brimmed hat and some sunscreen. She's a bit pale. She'd cook. She seems curious about their myth guy. And best of all, it's not cold. Hooray! Poor Darix.
Lunair looks over to the man, tilting her head. Something seems off about Lunair. She has trouble emoting and talking at the same time. Her facial expressions just seem to be a lot like she's been playing social catch up. Either way, she seems like a polite enough traveller. She seems curious about the marks on the side of the ship. But she looks towards the horizon, perhaps watching for disgruntled Atlanteans, whales, sharks, Kilroy's ship or anything that looks cool.
Kilroy is at the top of the stairs as the Patango pulls along side of the ship. He smiles widely and walks down them to great them. The extendable stairway has hooks at the end that cling to the side of the fishing vessel. He throws open his arms wide and hugs Lunair, then kisses her on the cheek. "Glad you could come." He spots Darix and waves. "Hello sir, pleased to meet you."
He looks at Lunair and whispers, "Who am I meeting again?"
Darix smiles back to Kilroy. "Pleased to meet you as well sir." he then extends out his hand. "The name is Darix Tyner. Mythologist." He gives a minor shrug. "I was asked to come along just encase something came up that I guess would need my book smarts."
"Besides, how could I say no to not only get a nice ocean side ride but to get away from the dang cold."
It's Kilroy! Lunair smiles, waves and her eyes widen a bit as she's hugged. She hugs Kilroy back, turning red at the cheekkiss. They do this in Europe right? Return it! Like a boss. "Thanks. I am glad to help," She tilts her head. Friendly greetings are unusual to her, still. Then again, not being shot in the face is probably pretty friendly to her. She seems happy to see Kilroy though, and glad for the hug. She whispers back, "That's the mythologist, Darix." Although, Darix is super fast and beats Lunair to it.
"Yeah, it's still really cold," She offers sympathetically. "Thank you for inviting us. I hope so far this day finds you well?"
Kilroy extends his hand to Darix and gives a very firm, confident hand shake (but not a hand crush), "Pleased to meet you sir. Well, we are dealing with magic, but since Atlantis isn't helping in this endeavor, it's more really the metaphorical equivalent of mopping up a rancid bunch spilled chemicals. I'm expecting some hostile activity though because treasure hunters who have been infected by the magic have gotten the idea that we know something. Ironically, that's kind of true, but really its the spell defending itself from being destroyed. I must admit I'm not sure how much mythology there will be to study but you're welcome to come." He smiles.
He smiles at Lunair, "Well help is welcome. And I'm fairly sure it will be needed. Radar has picked up a few of the idiots heading our way. And yes, I'm well. Busy, but well." He smiles, eyes twinkling.
Magic. Why does it have to be magic.. Is Darix thoughts as Kilroy explains the situation at hand. "Magic that is making treasure hunters go crazy huh? Interesting spell. I know I'm probably the mundane one here, but-- care to explain on the how it is effecting these guys and.. why?"
"I mean, maybe the why is obvious, but you know.. so encase I step in the water or something. I don't find myself going crazy." He says with a mild chuckle. Not that he is going to explain that if this stuff was even just minorly effective on normal people, it be like.. 10 times worse for him.. and its bad enough that well.. reasons.
"Also you never know. I may have some information that could help with this magic problem too, given that mythological artifacts from tomes to even creatures did have legends of several magical runes, spells, and enhancements."
Also he can cast magic himself, but that is neither here-- nor there.
Lunair seems to like and trust Kilroy. She did totally hug him. She listens, tilting her head. Hmm. She quirks her eyebrows. "I guess I should probably try just to subdue these guys, rather than throw them overboard or what have you," She considers. Lunair might be a mercenary with an alarmingly high bodycount, but she tries to be thoughtful. She ... tries. For her part, she listens. Lunair is clever enough, but most of her knowledge of magic consists of:
1) Those damned underpants gnomes.
2) Wizards will mess you up unless you shoot them in the face ASAP.
3) She totally didn't get into Hogwarts.
Kilroy says, "Well, it's possible. The truth is, I'm not an expert at magic. I'm a priest. Though I've been told on some levels we're different than magi and on some the same. The fundamentals of the occult are not a skill I was taught, by design to encourage me to think of things in an animistic and anthropomorphic view point. The spell out there was born incorrectly of a currency that was trying to be created through a ritual poker game. But it is toxic, angry, intelligent and not wanting to be 'put back in the bag' as it were. The marine creatures have been quieted by Aquaman, so we don't need to worry about sharks or sea monsters or the like, but the greed of men, convinced that somehow I know the secret location of a treasure..."
Treasure. Treasure. Whispers in the mind, promises of gold and glittering riches are in the air to those that can sense it. Kilroy is a VERY powerful mage but, as he said, almost on a different channel so he hadn't immediately picked up Darix's...aura, as it were, but just as he is about to ask about the rather ODD vibrations he's picking up, there is a shout from the top deck of the Amigdala, "PIRATES!" A siren immediately sounds in the ship.
Uh oh. Poor Darix. Rain would be worried. But Rain isn't here and Lunair is completely oblivious. Kilroy seems to be her favorite priest, tilting her head and listening. Hmm. She rubs the back of her head. "Well, I don't think I'll let them take you." She seems pretty set on that. "I'll TRY not to kill them but if they seem heckbent on capturing or putting holes in-" Pause. Did that sound overprotective? Right. She just turns red. A shotgun is shouldered and she'll just settle on something less lethal as her main weapon. Hmmm. Choices. Choices are rough when it comes to not outright killing someone. Well, maybe the bean bag launcher for now, then and an ice gun. Small bean bags. Bruises like heck and knocks someone over or out. Also, ice. She's great at parties.
She glances to Darix. "Um. Thank you." Lunair will probably be in front, given she has body armor. Helmet on, visor down. She looks like a faceless, blank soldier with that thing down. Eerie. Lunair is totes in front and prepared to bother pirates.
Kilroy looks at Lunair, "I read somewhere that the army was working on one of those microwave pain rays? The one that feels like you're touching a light bulb? Maybe that will work?" 
The crew is doing nothing whatsoever non violent, and have two heavy infantry machine guns and two shoulder mounted missiles. 
Activity can be spotted in the distance...it's a hyrdofoil, moving in FAST! Her maneuverability leaves the Amigdala in the dust. There are men on the deck and two gun shots are sent across the Amigdala's bow as warning. A siren of some kind is also sounded but the solid black ship is unlikely to be any kind of law enforcement. 
Kilroy considers, "The opposite?" He thinks for several moments and then smiles, "That's brilliant! I'm going up to the bridge which has better comm gear. Lunair try to hold them off, especially if they have any heavies." As in...metahumans. He smiles at Darix, "Thanks sir, that was brilliant." He heads up the ship's deck and toward the bridge.
Darix stays low, attempting to try and kick up the wind enough to maybe slow down the ship coming at them but as the shots go off, he loses his focus in doing that and growls softly in frustration. It was-- almost predator sounding really and for good reason.
He was starting to get attacked by things. At least by his senses. First off there was something very large that seem to protect Kilroy, who he gave a nod too and a soft, "No problem." It was not that magical energy he had to worry about, but the one he didn't notice at first cause he had his blinders up-- and now the force that was going to be the problem. A very large problem if it wasn't dealt with quickly and probably not a good one for those pirates either.
Who the hell knows, he thinks to himself, maybe it was already doing its worst and it was just now did he start to really pay attention to the pin prick of whispers in his ears. Probably if Kilroy didn't say something-- it be far, far worse by now.
Not to also remind himself that he is a natural predator and though he is in his human form.. a predator is a predator. If he can't keep control on this...
Darix peeks around the corner, his eyes having a mild dangerous glow to them as he looks to see how long they got to the pirates try to board. He clicks back the safety of the gun and just stares out. "If your going to reverse the effects!" He calls up to Kilroy. "I suggest you do it /quickly/!"
He then rumbles to himself. "..perhaps more for the sakes of everyone here.. and those pirates.." He then glances away for a moment, looking at the tip of his pistol that he holds in both hands. "..how could I be so blind.. damnit.."
Uh oh. Lunair is relatively immune to greed, because she's wealthy and enjoys most of her work. Her eyes widen at Kilroy. "Okay! Please be safe. And the ray thing is a good idea," She waves over to him. At the gun shots, Lunair - "Oh geez, they've got missiles." And she's trying to be nonviolent. It only takes ONE good rocket and - TRY LUNAIR. She shivers, tamping down just the urge to blow them away with a bazooka or something equally large and horrifying.
Deep breath. The shotgun will serve as a warning shot. Otherwise, she's going to try to knock them from boarding and watch for any supers or heavy pirates. No, not fat pirates. That's just prejudicial. Metahumans or anyone with armor.
Kilroy takes Darix's warning seriously. This wasn't something he could normally undo quickly...but regarding Darix's solution? That he could do. Out here in the back of beyond, he's weakened. But he has built up tangible assets for just this kind of emergency. Giving. Giving to the kinds of organizations directly opposed by the scum of the earth involved in the ritual. What they stood for, Kilroy opposed through cash, with one or two exceptions of altruistic individuals present. He is making phone calls, dialing as fast as he can, moving his own funds with his power and his voice.
Already the spell begins to weaken, shrieking in pain though only heard by Darix as it scratches metaphorical claws on the ship, unseen, unheard by all others present.
The pirates are close enough to see now. There are twelve of them, and one dressed in flamboyant actual pirate wear with flint lock pistols. He fires one at the ship and a gout of mystic flame comes out, "Arrr.....heav to there and cut yer engines! We're boardin ye!"
 One of the regular pirates in the fatigues looks to the other and says, "What did he say?"
"I think he told them to stop." 
The captain of the Amigdala, holding his pistol and about to shout defiance from the deck whispers to a crew mate, "Did he tell us to stop and surrender?"
The first mate shrugs and begins firing the machine gun at the pirates who scatter for cover on the deck as bullet casings fly everywhere. Gun fire erupts on both sides.
 
Oh look! A Pirate that speaks pirate! Darix can though feel the magic weakening and he shouts up at Kilroy, "I think it is working!" Ok-- maybe he didn't need to say that, but right now. He had to spend a great deal of time focusing on keeping himself in check.
The mythologist leans from his cover and suddenly sees the bullets fly. His eyes go wide and one twitches as he ducks right back around for cover as a bullet actually clips a piece of his hair. "Son of a.."
He grits his teeth and just tells himself no. He stares at his gun for a moment, then off to the side, then off to the other side.
He whispers words to himself as the barrel of his gun glows. He then steps out from around the corner and fires twice. Both bullets that fly out suddenly explode into a fire ball. They were normal bullets originally, we swear-- they just got slightly enchanted.
Low level magic man. It can do wonders.
"This is my ship.." He says softly to himself, as he gets ready to enchant the gun again for another shot. His gold amber eyes actually glowing now with their magical light, there was almost a draconic look in them, as he teeth almost take on a fanged like presence. "..this is.." He steps around and opens fire once more. Same trick as before. He was trying-- lord was he trying.
The two fireball rounds knock four pirates into the water wiht a scream though the water puts the fire out when they hit. They're swimming toward the ship, driven by magical illogical greed. The remaining pirates except for the guy in costume all swing grappling hooks which land on the side of the ship and swing over, earl flynn style. Two get pelted by bean bags and also knocked into the water.
Kilroy is donating money as fast as he can and the spell is weakening, but that's not doing it. Something...else...is needed. He's thinking as he dials, and he accidentally adds an extra zero...well...it was a good cause anyway.
The spell is shrieking with rage, growing weaker, but then it whispers in Darix's ear, drawing a bit of strength from him, "Yes! Protect your territory! CRUSH THEM! CRUSH THE INTRUDERS!"
The unnamed pirate spots the magical bullets and says, "Nice gun. I'll be happy to take it from ye. Well ye had yer chance, now avast and be timbershivered!"
He fires his guns in tandem, scorching the side of the ship, setting the first mate and his machine gun on fire. The crew fires at the pirates as well, two of whom are shot.
Six more pirates emerge from the hydrafoil.
Darix snarls his teeth, "Hehehe-- You like the gun huh.." He then takes aim about then. Those eyes so unnatural right now, everything about him has almost done a 180. If Rain was here-- she probably be the force to snap him out of this, but she wasn't here. No one who could snap him out of this was here.
Legends say about dragons was they lived in solitaire with their hoard in the mountains. Yet what mankind did not know was that as they started to slay the dragons for this very hoard, the dragons had to learn to work together to survive. Eventually putting away their foolish need for their hoard and learn how to build together. Yet the nature, the want to hold something as their territory was never gone, as such even in the community Darix was part of. Though they shared the mountain, each house belonged to that family. Each family's wealth belonged to the offspring. For their hoard.. was passed down through the generations.
It was something Darix himself-- shoved aside to be where he was now. He wanted to be better then those of his kind. He wanted to prove mankind and Dragon could live in peace and yet the voices are whispering in his mind. They are calling to that deep primal nature.. and Darix couldn't.. snap himself out of it anymore. He didn't have that ability. For his kind-- his people-- were weak to magic, no defense against it.. and he was now shattering.
"TOO BAD!" He then fires a shot for the pirate, then another. As the second one rings though and he is actually stepping out. One of the stray shots from the pirates, nails Darix in the shoulder. It was enough to cause the young man to release the gun and stagger a bit from the impact. He laughs softly, before that laugh becomes louder. "..you can't have it.. this ship.. or its crew.." The bangs of his hair hide most of his face expect for a single eye that glows under the shadows. A draconic eye. "..because.."
He then starts to walk forward once more. The winds suddenly shift, almost encircling the two forces as he walks. The air becomes heavy with magical energy. "..It.." Then lightning crackles from the sky, bouncing from cloud to cloud. "..Is.." Those words now carrying a dangerous rumble as Darix's body seems to be glowing.
It also seems to be-- becoming taller.. the boat itself may be lifting a bit due to the sudden weight change. "MIIINE!!" The voice roars out from the light as the sudden glow of the form leaps right off, causing the ship to suddenly shift for that split second. The glow takes the form of a massive dragon with black onyx scales and dark crimson red stripes. Twenty feet tall, if not a touch taller and at least forty feet long. That very massive dragon--
-- is pouncing right for the pirate's ship with all the attention to grab a hold of it and probably take it down with him if can get away with it. For his claws were sharp as swords that could nearly cut steel and his teeth with his jaw pressure able to break tanks.
Right. Lunair is running back and forth, trying to knock pirates down. Without killing even if it would be 10 times easier and faster and do it for Kilroy. Run, shoot, run. "Oh my gosh!" The first mate is on fire. "Someone throw a blanket on that guy!" A fire extinguisher? Even if Lunair is a hardened merc, seeing someone die to fire is still horribly unpleasant.
She is wealthy by two tragedies. Being a mercenary and hush money slash inheritance regarding her own survival and the origin of her powers. It's sort of an odd way for herself to keep afloat. But no game of D&D could repair Lunair for OH SWEET CHRISTMAS COOKIE CRUSHING CANDY SAGE CRICKETS! A mother truckin' dragon! "Oh snap." She is still going to knock pirates down and away, but uh. Holy cow. No, wait. Holy dragon.
It didn't look good for the heroes...or the pirates for that matter. The fire shots take out several of them and moral on the crew improves and they take out several more.
Kilroy can sense the change in the spell, and the change in the crew and spots the Dragon moving from the window. 
And there it is. He intuitively knows what he must do to clean up the magic. Altruism at a general level will work at a general level but to fully transform the spell, he must take responsibility for it. Aquaman was right. This *WAS* his mess. The family mess. Tapping his foot to the ground, he is suddenly surrounded in armor of oragami paper and coins. He was worried his powers would be weaker here, but ...for one little things. Dragons are symbols...mobile places of wealth....and suddenly he surges with power, almost glowing with it...white light surrounding him. He grabs the spell easily now...and twists it...."Darix Tyner....you are wrong...this is MY SHIP while I commission it, not yours. You are here as my guest. Let the pirates live. Honor the code of your ancestors." He didn't know what that meant but it seemed to be the right thing to say, "RELEASE THE SHIP AND STAND DOWN!" His voice is magnified a thousand fold and the waves crash and rock and he brings his staff down. 
The spell, overjoyed for a moment as it surged in size and power from the magically enhanced greed suddenly shrieks in terror as Kilroy reaches out with his hand and it BREAKS...suddenly raining a shower of golden coins falling into the ocean. "You want your treasure pirates? Go catch it but it will be your death if you do!" The spell broken, they look about in confusion and...FEAR...lots and lots of fear. They cower before the draconic reptile.
Suddenly-- counter measure spell and perhaps just in time before the massive dragon finds his teeth and claws in a pirates ship. The counter measure spell though does kinda impact Darix and he has to shake his head, which means he nearly impacts water and suddenly pulls up probably giving the pirate a really good look at that underside and a nearly miss from his tail.
For now mister black dragon just-- circles around as Darix tries to get his baring on-- what he almost did and the fact he was-- well-- in dragon form. Blind rage.. blind greed-- Darix hasn't clicked it all together yet. But those gold draconic eyes at least seemed.. more humane then beastly.
Welp. He does think silently to himself, I done f'ed up now son.
Holy dragon. It's still a dragon. And it's raining gold coins. She makes sure not to get hit by one. Also, she's not so sure on that code of the ancestors thing. Remember that whole bit about humans being tasty and crunchy with ketchup? Odds are, there's not some naughty condiment joke going on there. Humanity rarely forgets its predators, after all. Much as they fancy themselves an apex beast... How deluded! But firearms certainly /do/ help. Tools are kickin' rad.
Lunair is still making sure no one is boarding. Her eyes widen as this whole dragon bidness goes down. She waves at Darix. "... don't worry, that form doesn't make your butt look big." She's really not good at this motivational speech thing.
Kilroy taps his staff again and the armor and staff vanish. He's just Kilroy again. No one really saw him anyway because DRAGON! It sort of trumps 'Squirrel!' to the infinite power. He whispers to the captain, "Er...I don't know what those coins are but I suspect they're probably bad luck best left untouched. Perhaps we can gather up the crew and pirates? I believe there are zip ties in the equipment?"
The captain, still looking up at the DRAGON blinks, "Er...of course, but what about...er..." he points up.
Kilroy pats the captain reassuringly on the back and says, "I think we'll be fine. Plus that's what we brought the expert for." He winks at Lunair. He suspects he has more confidence in her abilities than she does. 
The captain nods and begins barking non pirate talk orders to the crew, who snap into action...ok, SLOWLY move into action staring at the dragon a lot and begin pulling up pirates.
Mumblebeard, the guy in the renfair costume, is the only guy running around gathering as many coins as he can find on the hydrofoil.
Darix does eventually land down and which gives access to Kilroy to give him a gentle pat on the back. He rears his hear around to look directly at Kilroy for a moment, before there is a slight huff of smoke from his nostrils. Don't worry folks. Darix is a friendly dragon. Really!
He then looks away and then his figure starts to glow as people start to bring in the pirates. As the figure glows, he starts to make his way to where Kilroy is and now he is back to being human again. As he walks up to the man he then lowers his head slightly. "I am... I am sorry about that..." He says softly. "..and no.. no it was not alright.."
Darix looks at Kilroy. "I thought I could keep myself in control when I realized what was going on.. and but I was not able too and.. could have endangered everyone here.." He shakes his head gently. "But.. I am glad the problem was solved." He watches the renfare pirate collect the coins. "..but it seems not everyone can break free from greed.."
"..." Lunair's eyes are still a bit wide. She takes a deep breath, and dismisses her weapons. She doesn't need to go after anyone else, since the pirates are shaken up and Renfaire guy is giving in to his inner demons. "Sheesh," She frowns. "I guess now we know who the root was," A soft sigh. She looks to Darix. "That was really impressive. You're okay?" She tilts her head and makes her way back to the others, at least.
"Yeah, I can help with the zip ties and stuff." Lunair seems just a bit surprised. And hey, she didn't murder anyone. Surprisingly.
Mumblebeard cackles with glee but after gathering up every single coin that fell on the ship enters the hydrofoil and leaves his men behind, who curse and swear at him, but are otherwise rounded up and hog tied by Lunair and the rest of the crew. 
Kilroy looks at Darix, "It may not be alright...but for what its worth you have my 'forgiveness' if you feel its required. We all have our weaknesses, and according to the captain you put up quite a fight against a world class curse. Don't be too harsh on yourself." He looks up and smiles at Lunair, "You were both impressive actually. My work is done. We have the ship for a few days more. We can visit the Caribbean if you like."
Darix looks over to Lunair, at least his eyes are normal again. That normal golden amber color. "Yeah.. I'll be fine. Just.." He looks around the ship. "..this.. can't get out in public.. If it gets public.. I don't think some are ready for it."
He then hears the offer from Kilroy and grins, "Sure.. the warmth. The warmth would be nice."
Lunair is quiet. Curse? Magic? She looks a bit baffled. She trusts Kilroy and Darix to do their things. "Thank you. You flatter me," She smiles to Kilroy. "And oh? We can go wherever you guys like," She seems happy to go with it.
And she looks to Darix. "I won't tell anyone. I dislike being outed, too. We'll get some warmth for you." She seems puzzled. But dragons like warm, and that's that as far as she can tell. She's still kinda weirded out by Mumblebeard's antics. "I guess that's not going to end well for him...?" A peer to Kilroy. "Also, I am glad I was able to help." Definitely a bit odd sans magic, really.
Kilroy looks at the Captain. "Captain can I trust your discretion to ensure that this doesn't get out?"
The captain smiled, "What dragon sir? I have no idea what you speak of."
Kilroy smiles, eyes twinkling, "Good man sir. Good man."
He walked back to Lunair and Darix, "I think your secrets safe with us. The pirates will ...be dealt with by taking them to a country whose jurisdiction can encourage them to keep their mouth shut. And Caribbean it is."
Category:Log