that were planning on pincering you between them. However, their attack did hit the rope, severing it like a hot knife through butter. You hear a small cry of surprise as you imagine whoever was trying to pull you up is flung back from the sudden lack of weight.

Thankfully, you are able to grab a good hold of the cannon as that happens, securing yourself for a quick moment to the ship's hull. What this does, though, is give the cultists a moment to charge4dF+4 was rolled to get: 2 ([1, -1, -1, -1] + 4)

NOTE: May Have Been Added/Modified From Rewriting! at you again.

The harrier had barely been able to get a look up at the ship railing just above him before noticing several cultists charging for him. Without the rope, Drallic was more still as a target, but also less prone to falling to his doom alongside the now-shredded piece of hemp. He tried his best, keeping his momentum as a Moving Target and jumped off the cannon and reaching for the railing above.

He felt several airy blades swipe around his furred legs as his left hand grabbed on the wooden rail. He groaned, finding himself Burdened By Pain after a long, tiring day of battle. After everything thrown at him today, he'd think today might be the worst day of his life, if it won't be his last.

His grip nearly began crushing the rail as he pulled himself up, swung his right arm around it, and pulled himself up. His minotaur head bent downwards, breathing heavily before looking up to any crew on deck. "I'm 'ere... Just gotta catch me breath." He stayed up on one knee as he looked behind him to see what the cultists would do now.

It is hard to figure out what the cultists would do. As soon as Gellya saw the magic of your ship shoes activate, she sent the ship into a nearly 180 turn, tilting the ship almost upside down in doing so. There are cries of surprise and pain as the shoes strained to keep their wearers on the ship, pulling hard on joints and slamming the rest of the crew's bodies into the ship. You are not excluded from this, but the fact that you were already prone helped prevent much damage.

Your position also allowed you to hear the half-solid thuds against the hull of your ship. It is not hard to picture that the cultists, unable to adjust to the sudden movement of the ship, slammed into the now exposed hull. Because of the ship's position, you can no longer see the cultists, but you can now see the remaining ships from Argenta, who have turned their cannons to cultists not by you. You are a mercenary ship, one that is not upholden to Argenta, but most captains will not fire on another unless required to, as you all know what happens when a ship is sent to the shattered world below.

El'lans rushes up to you and starts pulling you away from the railing of the ship, "Are you a fucking moron!?" He turns to yell at Gellya, "By the stars above, get us out of here!" He then yells to the crew, "I do not want to hear a silent weapon! Hold them off until we can regroup with the Argenta fleet!"

The shouts of the other captain were briefly inaudible to Drallic as he was hauled over and onto the wooden deck of the ship. He had, at most, gotten the gist of what El'lans was saying; Drallic didn't need to answer; yes, he was a fool for that daredevilry stunt which most harriers wouldn't do even as a bet. In some sense, he could say that a harrier moves through air as well as on land; in another sense, he probably wouldn't ever boast about this to anyone as mobile or skilled as him ever again.

Rising up from his heavy back on the floor, the fur-and-blood-covered minotaur stood up and took just a moment to consider the ship's state after Gellya's maneuver. Sending the ship damn near upright must've tossed the gunpowder and cannonballs down below, flipped the table and chairs, probably knocked a few beds sideways, maybe torn a hole or two in the hull if they were unfortunate. The damned thing's likely gonna need more repairs when all's said and done thanks to Drallic's little stunt.

Worry about that later, he thought to himself, pushing it to the back of his mind in light of the current predicament he got everyone into. "Ye 'eard the captain!" Drallic yelled to the crew, attempting to Motivate them through forceful4dF+3 was rolled to get 4 ([1, 0, 0, 0] + 3) commanding. It was the best he could do in his weary state, as he looked over at El'lans.

"They're after this," Drallic tells his fellow captain, lightly opening his heavy fist to reveal the swirling orb. "Ain't got a fish's scale of a clue what it is, 'sides a guess that it's a power source. But they want this more 'n anythin'. An' they'll go for whoever's got it on hand." It seemed like a good idea to warn El'lans about it. He'd figure it out sooner than later anyway, and Drallic wouldn't last long much longer as being the cultists' center of attention. "Can ye eidolon hold onto this til' we're safe?"

Some of the remaining skin and muscles on El'lans' face twitch. You get the feeling that he would have raised an eyebrow at you if he could have, "Sure. You nearly killed yourself and everyone else just for that?" Before he hands it to his eidolon, he looks at it himself, "Looks expensive."

You feel the ship rock hard as something slams against it. A wave of cultists then shoot up the side of the ship and above it. You do not get to see what they had planned on doing before Gellya takes the ship into another sharp maneuver. If you were not certain that the shoes would keep you on board, you'd have a mild panic attack.

"We'll talk later." He says lower, so only you two can hear. He then continues yelling out orders as your ship fights for its life4dF+4 was rolled to get 5 ([0, 0, 0, 1] + 4) against a horde of cultists4dF+4 was rolled to get 5 ([1, 1, -1, 0] + 4).

Drallic merely grunted at El'lans before nearly twisting his heavy body at the ship's sharp turn. No real time to plan nor time to banter. Drallic up and brought all the cultists to his ship and unless something is done, the whole ship and its crew could be destroyed.

And as captain, Drallic had to do everything he could to protect the lives of his crew.

"OPEN FIRE!" He shouted to the crew, attempting to coordinate their firearms and cannon fire on the oncoming cultists trying to board, or rather fly in onto the deck. Sounds of gunpowder explosions and heavy BANGS crashes throughout the skies. The minotaur's shoes on his hooves clanked on the deck nigh-inaudibly compared to the sound of battle.

Nevertheless, Drallic saw enemies arriving on the deck, as if knights breaching a castle wall and storming in. Drallic gave the intruders and angry glare before stomping hard in his hooves, balancing his hooves on the uneven wood as he quickly4dF+4 was rolled to get 4 ([-1, 0, 1, 0] + 4) rammed his horns at one of them, then swung his arms wide in a fast lariat to send these airy beings off the ship.

You feel your horns gore into a couple of cultists as they crest onto the ship. It is hard to really understand what you are seeing as you are currently on a ship that could be upside down, with a group of flying cultists floating and flying around, but you are attached to the deck of the ship by magical shoes. Your brain cannot figure out how to react and feel about anything, your instincts the only thing keeping you from dying to a cultist.

And you can see that your crew is having similar issues. Thankfully, this is most likely not the first time something like this has happened, and you have trained them to trust their gut in these kinds of situations. They fire, slice, and dodge against the cultists with you, as if you and your crew are one being.

In fact, one chucklehead from your crew starts singing a shanty. Normally sung to keep the crew in sync during normal sailing, the shanty is not really meant for combat. But, it seems to be helping as Gellya keeps at the wheel, sailing your ship toward the Argenta fleet.

As she does, the cultists do not let up. They spread their assault4dF+2 was rolled to get: 3 ([0, 1, 1, -1] + 2)

NOTE: May Have Been Added/Modified From Rewriting! amongst the crew, attacking any that they find.

After damn near leaping to his death, the constant shift, adjustment and chaos of the ship was nearly an easy adjustment for Drallic; 'nearly,' in the sense that he acted on instinct now as much as he did a couple minutes before. His training, if not his stamina, was keeping him active and on the right hoof as he stomped across the ship. His speed was an asset in disrupting boarders on the ship, as he moved from crew member to crew member and deflected or stopped the cultists' attacks with his large arms and hands.

In an attempt to stay coherent amidst fatigue and the twisting ship, Drallic started singing along the crew's shanty. He wasn't a good singer, often sounding hoarse, in pain, and generally off-key. He was, however, spirited, which was all that mattered in a good shanty. It might do some good for the crew to hear him in high spirits.

Nevertheless, he didn't stop his movement. On the contrary, he felt himself more free and agile. He used his hooves and strength to hastily4dF+4 was rolled to get 6 ([1, 0, 1, 0] + 4) leap across, swing himself off the mast, and around his crew as he slammed his limbs, shoulder, and horns into the brigade of cultists boarding his ship.

The deck of your ship quickly turns into a massive battlefield. Everywhere you look, you can see a mass of cultists against one or two of your crew. But, your crew, working with you as mercenaries, know their craft. With blade, bow, and gun they tear through the air creatures. There is no hesitation, knowing that a moment in this cluster could mean life or death.

The cultists, however, know how to use their numbers to overwhelm their foes. And numbers matter in any fight.

You feel the ship under you shift and groan again as Gellya takes it into another hard maneuver. This gives the crew a break from the cultists being right in their faces, but the cultists are not done. Some charge right back at the ship while the rest fire their ranged weapons and spells at you.4dF+2 was rolled to get 2 ([0, -1, 1, 0] + 2)

By now, Drallic was more than used to dealing with numbers. As followed his instincts as Gellya turned the ship nearly sideways once more and kept a hand on the edge's rail for balance. His hooves, however, kept clapping and moving across the wooden deck while his eyes tracked as many cultists as he could. The cultists were after him, so he had to distract as much as he could. This was, thankfully, something a harrier was good at. Even with the ship damn near sideways, Drallic used his shoes to maintain a sideways run across the deck, avoiding bullets and bolts as they impale into the wood and as sharp winds bounce off the solid matter.

Using the ship's position to his advantage, and against any sense of safety to his fatigued self, the minotaur made a sideways leap at the mast and grabs onto it with his hands. Using his strength and the round wooden shape, he swung himself on and around it, spinning at an alarmingly quick4dF+4 was rolled to get 4 ([0, 0, 1, -1] + 4) rate and knocking aside any cultists trying to close in on him. He landed on top of the mast afterward, keeping his right hand on it for when Gellya turned the ship upright.

While you have been in some weird fights before, you are pretty sure that this one takes the cake. As the cultists bombard your ship, and you and your crew fight back, you quickly try to think of a time like this one and come up empty. Arrows, bullets, magic and cultists fly all around you as most of them fight you, thinking that you still have the item.

Looking down below, you see El'lans and his eidolon fighting back to back, blade, gun, and spell going this way and that, the only thing keeping gravity from throwing them off the ship being their ship boots. Then, Gellya takes the ship in a roll so the ship is back upright. Looking toward where you are going, you know that in about half a minute, you will be in range of the other ships. Hopefully, the cultists assaulting you4dF+2 was rolled to get 3 ([1, -1, 0, 1] + 2) and your crew flee then.

The lack of ground on his hooves, having nothing else but the mast's wood for his shoes to stick to, left the weary minotaur disoriented. How was he, or anyone else, navigate the barrage of arrows, gunfire and magic spells thrown about? The answer, simply, was that they couldn't. They just go with what they felt was right, and coordinate as best as they could. In Drallic's case, his 'coordination' was simply moving and distracting the cultists while they primarily went after him. It was enough, as far as Drallic felt, while they were all just trying to get backup from the other ships.

In an effort to further help, Drallic leaped down from the mast and onto the deck, where he then hastily4dF+4 was rolled to get 3 ([0, 0, -1, 0] + 4) dashed around and between his crew and the cultists attacking them. The dash accomplished two things: making himself a harder target by blending in and around with others, and disorienting or impeding the cultists who aimed or attacked his crew.

He could feel the rush of bolts and bullets fly at and around him as he did, finding himself unharmed, mostly, but the rush he got from the sounds, from the feeling that they were inches off from clipping or piercing into his horns, head, or snout, was an exhilarating feeling that he couldn't describe to anyone.

It is