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+---- Thread: [PQ] under the weather (/showthread.php?tid=11985)
under the weather - Jack - 09-01-2025
With the (sort of) expected but still very unpleasant barrage of snow and ice at King's End on the turn of the season, Jack's plans for The Ark haven't changed, per say, so much that they've had to adjust. Significantly. And so it happens that the morning he decides to put said plans into action, his ship is swathed in fog and frost and several oil lamps are burning along her railings to ensure the crew - and his volunteers - can actually navigate the main deck without taking a tumble over the edge.
Having thawed the ice from the deck and with some of the crew already swabbing it clean and dry, Jack waits beside the carefully rolled, measured and cut length of rust-red canvas - a replacement for the mainsail that had been mysteriously charred - with his hands deep in the pockets of his coat and the collar turned up against the cold. The best remedy for the chill is to get moving, he thinks, so he's keen for the work to start for a multitude of reasons.
Welcome to the PQ to repair The Ark and get her back in ship-shape!
On arrival, you will find:
- A crew of sailors swabbing the main deck
- Another group helping to take down the main mast
- A third group removing damaged (i.e. burnt) rigging
Feel free to pick a crew to assist, and Jack will take the last one!
1. Vesper
2. Sunjata
RE: under the weather - Sunjata - 09-01-2025
As always, Sunjata despises snow. But he’s chosen to live somewhere where it did unfortunately become cold enough to do just that. So while he isn’t exactly bundled for the weather in terms of clothing (only wearing a knitted long sleeve shirt and a cardigan on top), he certainly has his partial shift activated beneath it. Beneath his collar of his shirt, the smooth but warm dark hairs of his black german shepherd shift poke out.
The Ark is still in its state of somewhat disarray, not that Sunjata comments on it. He also does a decent job at hiding the thoughts that have sparked with the reasons why from entering his mind – he’s one of the very rare few that know about Jack. And so it’s with a quiet decency that he doesn’t dwell on it, instead letting the calm pools of his mind remain just that.
“[say]Hey.[/say]” He calls as he steps aboard, greeting Jack with a lopsided, roguish smile, before he’s looking around to see the tasks at hand. One group in particular looks to be taking down the main mast. It’s a heavy and precise job – to Sunjata’s untrained eye – but he figures he can offer his brawn to their attempt. “[say]I’ll pop in here.[/say]” Gesturing to the crew with the main mast, he pushes up his sleeves and quickly gets to work.
Sunjata says a quick hi and then helps the main mast crew!
RE: under the weather - Vesper - 09-01-2025
Vesper arrives with his coat buttoned tight to the throat, scarf looped with elegant precision, and hands jammed into his sleeves as if defying the cold through sheer force of aesthetic will. Beneath the collar, the faintest shimmer of constellation freckles glints like frost, and his expression does little to disguise his distaste for King's End’s version of hospitality. Snow, slush, and fog—what a charmer of a region.
Boots clicking lightly against the thawed planks, he casts a glance up at the mast before sweeping his eyes to the groups in motion. The cold bites his cheeks pink as he approaches, shoulders hunched slightly against it all. [say]"...Charming day for it,"[/say] he mutters dryly to no one in particular, gaze snagging on Jack for a moment before flicking toward the stranger making himself at home by the main mast. Vesper doesn’t know him, but it's easy enough to identify the Flood by sight if not by the particular cadence of his thoughts. So, with a faint nod in Sunjata’s direction, Vesper steps forward across the deck.
Swabbing. Great. There’d been a time when he'd first stepped down from the stars when he’d assumed Jack was making him do it for some sadistic rite of passage; hazing, maybe, or some petty salt-laced test of bloodlines. Turns out ships just got dirty.
And so, with a sigh that fogs silver in the morning air, Vesper lifts one gloved hand and murmurs a quiet call to the shadows. They rise in slick, fluid coils, not so dramatic as to make a show of it, but enough to send buckets and mops floating off toward the swabbing crew like obedient ghosts. He doesn’t move to help them immediately—just watches for a moment, the corners of his mouth quirking in the faintest ghost of a smile. [asy]"Suppose I’ll join the bucket brigade,"[/say] he says finally, voice low, laced with amusement, and entirely resigned to getting damp.
Vesp swabs the deck!
RE: under the weather - Jack - 09-02-2025
[say]"Ain't it just,"[/say] Jack mutters, nodding to Vesper and Sunjata as they join him on deck and watching as they go about their respective tasks.
The Flood will find himself among a mix of similarly brawny sailors who are helping to gather the canvas and keep it from falling all at once, and a few very agile members of the crew who are up on the mast to help draw the sail down - the Ark's first mate included. They'll direct him where to stand and what to touch and, more importantly, what not to touch, and soon enough the sail will be detached from the main mast, leaving it looking quite sorry for itself.
The old sail is folded and quite promptly handed to Sunjata and his demigodly strength to dispose of - lucky him!
Meanwhile, Vesper is welcomed into the bucket brigade with open arms like an old friend, Bassian clapping him on the shoulder hard enough to rattle his bones, before they get to work. Between them - and the shadow wielding mops and buckets are greatly appreciated - the deck is soon swabbed and clean, the crew promptly getting out of the way as if this is an old (new) habit.
The reasoning becomes clear as Jack steps past to assist with the charred rigging; fire ghosts at his heels, searing and flowing in tendrils to the edges of its range, never touching the deck but warming it enough to dry it out. He and the last group remove all the damaged rope and add it to a couple of braziers set up at the edges of the ship where it promptly starts to crackle and burn up.
[say]"A'right,"[/say] the captain announces, [say]"out with the old, in with the new. Draw straws to get the worst job."[/say] Or don't - he doesn't care, so long as it gets done.
Sunjata and his group are successful in getting the old sail down, and he has been charged with disposing of it however he sees fit.
Vesper has also been helpful with swabbing the deck, and Jack has kindly dried it out for them too!
Now there are some new tasks to handle - feel free to switch it up or stick with your groups:
- One group to begin unfolding the new sail and start to rig it to the main mast.
- One group to replace the old rigging with new rope.
- One group to (sigh) treat the deck with resin and to fill any weathered parts with tar and pitch. Gotta keep it weatherproof, you know!
RE: under the weather - Sunjata - 09-02-2025
Nodding a brief hello to Vesper when he arrives, there’s a flicker of curiosity in his mind that ripples along the waves of it before it becomes muted again. Not that he knows Vesper’s affinity or magic, but he’s conscious enough for Jack to make it easy to alleviate any overwhelming thoughts that Vesper might find.
That and it probably helps that he immediately gets to work. Meeting the group at the mast, he greets the brawny sailors as they gather the canvas to keep it from completely falling. Which is probably for the best, given the weight of it as it’s bundled. He stands where directed, touches only what they tell him to, and with help he folds it with them before it’s given to him to dispose of. Snorting, he realizes quite quickly all he has that he can destroy it with is his water magic in the form of ice – only adding to the cold of the morning, but he does shred it to bits that he thinks Petronella might have a bit of fun with later.
So, when that’s all completed, the new task has him glancing up the main mast again. With a little flre of partial magic, the Flood’s Pegasus wings unfurl from his back through the slats in the sweater. Their tri colored feathers flex a bit to retain some body heat as he nods back to the main mast crew. “[say]I can help hold it up for the rigging.[/say]” He offers.
Sunjata partial shifts to have his pegasus wings and offers to help hold up the new sail so it can get rigged to the main mast!
RE: under the weather - Vesper - 09-02-2025
The clap from Bassian lands like a cannonball, and Vesper stumbles a step with a grunt sharp enough to frost the air. One shoulder rolls back slowly, disdain masked as civility, though the flick of shadow that slinks out behind him to just nudge Bassian’s boot on the next pass is pure spite dressed in elegance. Coincidence, surely.
When the captain barks out the next round, Vesper doesn’t bother drawing straws. The others can fight over canvas and ropes—he simply pivots back toward his section of the deck, nodding once to the shadows still coiled in lazy readiness at his side. The tar is already warming near one of the braziers, thick and black as molasses, while a bucket of resin sits not far off, its scent sharp and earthy in the crisp air. Vesper doesn’t rush. He kneels, gloved fingers testing the wood with a slow press, eyes half-lidded as if listening for where the ship aches most beneath its skin.
The work is steady. Resin glides in amber streaks across the planks, catching light like frozen honey. He follows the grain with patient, painterly strokes. Each weather-worn crack is filled in with dark tar, his shadows smoothing and sealing behind him like the trailing tail of a ribbon.
By the time he’s halfway through, his gloves are streaked and his scarf loosened, but his eyes are clear—brighter, even, under the cold. He doesn't mind the grunt work. Not when the job is quiet and the deck doesn’t ask questions.
Vesp will continue with the deck!
RE: under the weather - Jack - 09-04-2025
Raising his eyebrows to see Vesper opt to continue with the messy and thankless work on the deck, Jack is nevertheless impressed and leaves the boy to it; meanwhile, the pegasus wings that spread from Sunjata's shoulders are treated with appropriate ooohs and aaahs. Evidently, the group working with the Flood are suddenly very glad for both his brawn and versatility. (Yeah, yeah, we know, you ought to see what he can do in bed).
The work, as Vesper has already described, is slow but steady on his end, and the deckhands that have been forced recruited to help him are more than content to keep to themselves as well. Other than the occasional little sea shanty, they work in silence and soon enough the majority of the deck has been weatherproofed and repaired where needed.
Wisely, they have also started away from where both Jack and Sunjata are doing their respective tasks, meaning that the captain has been able to heft coils of rope and climb up into the rigging to begin the 'aerial' portion - and the Flood and his group have attached and begun to draw the mainsail up high - before the deckhands get in their way. All in all, it's a smooth way to pass an hour or two; almost like they've done this all before.
Eventually there's nothing to do but let the deck set and dry, though of course Jack has no intention of waiting that long, not with air and now fire at his fingertips.
[say]"I'll take care of this - make yourself busy,"[/say] he calls.
Congratulations, you did the things and didn't fuck it up!
Jack is going to spend some time making sure the deck is dry and set.
In the meantime, there are a few odd jobs to be getting on with. Take your pick, the crew will do the rest!
- Assist in bringing supplies on board from the dock, including barrels of water, fresh meat and vegetables, and liquor.
- Head belowdecks to sweep and generally tidy up the walkways.
- Assist a hired carpenter who has been brought on board to stabilise the bits of the ship that have been regrettably charred.
- Refill the braziers with hot coals to keep the deck (and the crew) toasty warm.
RE: under the weather - Vesper - 09-04-2025
Vesper straightens from the last tar seam with a soft crack of his spine, brush dripping as it hovers obediently beside him in the grip of shadow. He surveys the glistening deck, brows faintly arched—not in pride, exactly, but in acknowledgement. It’ll hold, and it’ll gleam doing it.
When Jack calls out, the demigod glances over his shoulder, reading tone as much as words. [say]"Can do,"[/say] he murmurs, voice dry and cool as sea glass. Opting to help haul things aboard, Vesper doesn't bother with the ramp. Instead, he vanishes from the top deck in a blink. A moment later, he reappears down by the dock with the same silent ease, coat fluttering around his knees as the air refills the space he leaves behind.
The barrels stacked by the mooring ropes aren’t light, but he doesn’t lift them in any conventional sense. With a flick of his hand, the shadows coil up and around them like curious sea-serpents, rising to brace and lift as he glides one hand along their curve. They float free of the planks with only a whisper of motion, drawn behind him like a lazy constellation parade as he misty-steps back onto the Ark again.
He reappears mid-ship with a quiet rush of displaced air, shadows settling the barrels in a neat row without a scrape or a thud. Then he vanishes again. Dock. Shadows curl. Weightless. Deck. Repeat.
Each trip is clean, efficient, wordless, like a sleight of hand performed only for himself.
Vesp moves things from the docks to the ship!
RE: under the weather - Sunjata - 09-05-2025
With nothing much to offer the crew aside from his usual lopsided, charming smile to the oohs and ahhs of the Flood’s wings, Sunjata figures he can at least put them to work. So with a stretch of feathers and the gusts of brief, cool wind, he takes to the sky with the heavy canvas in hand. Working with them to hold it up to be secured, they manage to get the main sail up high, able to see the deckhands below as they finish up their work there.
Hovering, so as to not ruin the deck when Jack makes his next order, Sunjata offers a little playful salute, he shifts his attention to the belowdecks, putting away his wings and snagging a broom to get to work clearing it of debris or anything else left in the walkways, clearing up the dust as he goes in the process, quietly grateful to be down there where the bite of the wind wasn't quite so sharp.
Sunjata heads belowdecks and sweeps and tidies up!
RE: under the weather - Jack - 09-06-2025
Vesper amuses himself playing a private game of kiss chase with his shadows and the barrels and Sunjata opts to fold his lanky frame up to properly sweep up the walkways out of the wind, and the rest? Well, there are men for that. By the time Jack has finished his final pass of the deck with fire curling delicately at his heels and a low, confined breeze keeping it from settling in any one place for too long, the Ark is looking much, much more like herself.
Enough that the captain finds himself letting out a breath that he feels as if he's been holding since Stormbreak, his fingers ghosting lightly over the new canvas of the sail, both familiar and different, still untested and unbleached by salt and sky. Glancing back to the crew now hovering by the braziers and the carpenter excusing himself after taking care of business, he calls out to gather them (and his voluntoldsteers) together.
[say]"This is more like it. Only one thing left to do, an' that's try her out in the fuckin' air."[/say] A chorus of agreement rumbles from the crew, and the majority of them get right to work while Jack heads for the helm.
Last but not least, let's get the Ark airborne to make sure she's sea and skyworthy!
The crew are doing their thing, and there's a choice of tasks you can help with (if you like!)
- Assist with adjusting the rigging as the ship unfurls her sails and readies for takeoff.
- Place metal mesh atop the braziers to avoid any hot, rolling coals mid-flight.
- Join Jack at the helm for a lesson in captaining and navigation.
- Sit back and enjoy the ride!
RE: under the weather - Vesper - 09-07-2025
The last of the barrels thud into place with shadow-slick precision, and Vesper exhales through his nose, brushing a smear of tar from his sleeve with far more disdain than urgency. Around him, the crew bustles with the kind of eager momentum that only comes when the end is in sight. Shadows withdraw to his boots in lazy curls, dismissed with a flick of thought. He rolls his shoulders once—more decorative than sore—and turns toward the helm.
He’s earned a reprieve from manual labour, thank you very much. And truth be told, there's something about this part of the voyage that’s always held more gravity than the rest. The Ark’s shift from sea to sky—the moment the sails catch wind that isn’t wind, and the ocean falls away beneath her feet—it demands more than rope and pitch. It asks for command.
Bootsteps soft on the newly treated deck, Vesper makes his way up to Jack’s side, coat fluttering as the breeze begins to gather like breath in the lungs of the ship. He doesn’t announce himself; he just arrives with a slight dip in his mental shield, positioning himself just off Jack’s shoulder, close enough to observe, far enough not to crowd. He’s stood here before, in Torchline skies, in rougher moods and better weather. But this part of the Arclight is different. The coastline shifts strangely here, cliffs breaking the horizon like the teeth of something sleeping. The clouds hang closer to the water. The wind has teeth.
And if this—this—was going to be home...he wants to know what it demands. His eyes trace the lines of the horizon, the tremble in the sailcloth, the subtle adjustment in Jack’s stance as the Ark readies to shrug off gravity. His hands remain tucked in his coat pockets, though he already knows how the wheel would feel beneath them. The lessons have come over time, casual but cumulative. Jack doesn't teach like someone passing down knowledge. He teaches like someone daring you to keep up.
Vesp comes for lessons!
RE: under the weather - Sunjata - 09-08-2025
He folds himself well, at least. Such that when he sweeps and clears out the belowdecks, he’s finding his way back up to the chill of King’s End as it invades the deck of the Ark. And it looks far more like he remembers it looking, rather than being ravished by flame and other injuries. Looking back over to try and find Jack, his gaze bounces from Vesper to the Captain when the latter’s voice rings out.
“[say]Got it![/say]” He calls across the deck, watching as Vesper makes his way over toward the helm for lessons. Content to leave them as is (Sunjata prefers to fly with his own wings these days, thank you), the Flood figures that the crew is probably better suited to getting the sails and rigging under control than to have his own hand in it.
So he snags some of the metal mesh and gets to work along the deck, placing the mesh so that the coals don’t start to roll while they take off.
Sunjata places mesh on the braziers to help keep the coals from rolling!
RE: under the weather - Jack - 09-10-2025
With protective mesh firmly clamped over the braziers under the Flood's hand and the crew rushing to their positions as if they're performers in a familiar dance, the majority of the orders that Murphy calls are attended to before the words properly leave the dark-eyed man's lips. The Ark's sails snap taut in a gale half natural and half magical, shimmering with stardust as she slowly begins to lift into the air.
Jack watches the new mainsail take her first breath, full and billowing, and once he's satisfied with the workmanship, he starts to call for his first mate. He can sense Vesper at his shoulder, responding to the peek through his mental shields with a crack in his own, enough for a stream of knowledge to trickle through.
And so whilst the conversation all happens with Murphy - navigation routes, the weather differences between Torchline and King's End, ways they might use the more turbulent air to their advantage - the young demigod will be privy to all the particulars.
Before long they're above the fog and the frost; the air is brisk and biting, the world below shrinks away. And The Ark is back in her prime.
And that's that! Thanks for your help, volunteers! <3
~FIN