Moira sighs. Nothing. She did absolutely nothing constructive yet again. With far less motivation than one should have for someone drowning, she hops down from the cabin and tosses one of the ropes on deck towards Vera. "Little help here. She's heavy."
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Sa'sori looks on Cotton and Moira tossing lines ineffectively into the water... her thoughts,
Sa'sori with a flourish sheaths her elven curve blade across her back, tightening the line she has already grabbed around her right forearm.
She begins casting... her tattoos glowing again in the night suffusing her with a warm glow... as she summons her . Suddenly four motes of light spring into existence ...blue, red, yellow and green... tightly orbiting the shapely half-elf in rapid swirl. Taking a DEEP Breath; she steps off the edge of the sailing boat into the dark waters sinking out of sight immediately her glowing globes creating an almost poly-chromatic nimbus in the water around her.
Sa'sori grimaces.. its cold~ thinking,
Holding her breath she blinked a few times to get her elven eyes used tot he murk and cold water... but fortunately her dancing lights made for excellent illumination for her elven sight...
Sa'sori looked around for Vera, keeping tight her grip on the line wrapped around her forearm... hoping Vera's unexpected fall into the water had not caught off guard that she would have only precious seconds air left to her lungs!
Vera is going to try and cast Summon Monster to summon a dolphin. For casting under water a DC 16 concentration check:
Ropes are thrown down from both boats and Sa'sori dives into the water. Her lights her to see a glimmer of metal being washed away. Vera is caught in the wake of the two boats floating the storm, which are luckily keeping her from going to far away. The wake from the larger barge pushes you another 10 feet back from where you fell towards the privateers vessal.
Cursing her own lack of foresight, Cotton hauls the rope out of the water, ties it snugly to the hilt of a dagger and throws it in the direction she saw Sa'sori go.
Sa'sori swims toward ...what she believes is Vera.. the glimmer of metal being swept away... being especially careful to keep a firm grip on the line wrapped around her forearm...
As she moves her swirling motes of light expand their orbit to a 10'ft radius about her...
Dyrm curses, unable to truly assist, he joins Cotton in being ready to pull on the rope should Vera manage to latch on.
Vera is pretty confident she's not getting out of this on her own, so on her next turn(whenever that may be). She will cast light on herself.
Morons. The both of them, Moira thinks as both Sa'sori and Vera almost completely disappear in the moving water. Need more weight. She looks around at the objects she could use then remembers all the items she bought before leaving. She sifts through her magical bag and pulls out a grappling hook. "Time to go fishing."
Round 6 Recap
Vera continues to be pushed away by the current, as Sa'sori also gets taken under by a wave. She manages to retain hold on her rope, but can't seem to keep her legs kicking hard enough to keep her head above water as the current rips her away. Cotton and Dyrm take hold of a rope while Moira ties a grappling hook onto the far end as Dyrm throws it in.
Cotton chants a simple spell and looks at the area she last spotted Vera...
"I can summon a dolphin, but I can't talk to it," Dyrm admits to Cotton, "Still... it's better than nothing." The druid intones and then...
A dolphin appears amid the waves near them.
"I'll do it!" Cotton yells.
As soon as the summoned aquatic mammal appears, she grabs Dyrm by the arm and drags him close to the railing. Half hanging over it herself, she yells at the dolphin, her voice a dead ringer for the chattering of a dolphin:
She tugs on Dyrm's arm. "Nod or something! Let it know I'm on the level!"
Dyrm nods at the Dolphin, "Please, water dancer! " He points to the lit form of the cleric
Sa'sori tries to reorient herself swimming towards the now glowing Vera. She refirms her grip on the line wrapped around her right forearm~ her only reliable way back to the sailing boat.
...but can't make headway, she knows she likely has only one more chance to try to reach Vera as her line is playing out fast to its last bit of length... letting go would be suicide...
She makes one last attempt to reach Vera...
Vera summons her dolphin that quickly realizes her summoner is in danger. The dolphin grabs her and brings her to the surface. The dolphin drags the half orc to any one of the number of ropes that hang down off the two boats. Vera grabs on and is pulled and climbed up.
Dyrm's dolphin swims down, but finds her rescue too late. Dyrm's dolphin quickly finds another creature under the lights and helps her get back to the surface. Sa'sori now able to breath again climbs the rope attacked to her arm back onto the privateers boat.
Combat over
Captain Walren suggests you board the boat, quickly look for spoils, then put a few holes in the bottom and sink her to keep other privateers from claiming to boat. Worried there may be other raiders near by, the Captain begs you to be quick. You spend a few minutes searching the boat and turn over the following: 5 alchemist fires, 3 potion of cure light wounds, 3 longswords, 3 light crossbows, 53 bolts, 3 suits of leath armor, 3 heavy steel shields, the boat is loaded with mostly worthless remnants from past hauls, but you do turn up a small lockbox in a hidden compartment. The key is easily found on the captain's body.
Dyrm throws some fish to the dolphins if any rations of the same are on board.
"Oooooh that was even worse than I thought." Vera shudders at the thought of how that could have ended. "Thanks for the help everyone and sorry for the trouble. I promise to never jump overboard again." She will proceed to go into the cabin and care for her armor and weapons so they don't rust.
"And I need to learn to swim sometime," Dyrm admits
As darkness falls, in the distance you can see the light of a city dead ahead. The storm makes vision spotty, but the captain seems unshaken by it.
Sa'sori back on deck casts to dry herself AND Vera off to keep the chill out of their bones and freshen their clothing in the bargin.
"What?!? Skuttle the sailing boat? Whatever for... the city is in sight! I plan to keep her.. if we must we can tow her to port for sale if nothing else. I think We've proven ourselves suitably capable to fight off any that would try to assault us... besides.. if there is a bounty for pirates around here... I want proof of our vanquishing them!"
"Heck with a little bit of training a sailing boat is a free home to travel in on any waterway, I'd rather keep the sailing boat if no one Else has vision enough to see the worth of traveling freedom!!"
"I don't know how to sail or swim," Cotton says, eyeing the sailing boat. "But hey, I'm fine with it. Think we can get away with selling or keeping it, captain, or do you think those 'pirates' were actually government agents and we might get hung by the neck for being pirates ourselves?"
Sa'sori rolls her eyes, "You can learn to swim .. I intend to after this little hurtle! I'll not fall prey to something like THIS again...! Not Everything in the world is magic y'know?"
Dyrm looks at the items they won in battle, "Well, if we can sell some of the surplus items we've gotten, we might be able to afford any docking fees or what not the city charges. If it does."
"It's not free Sa'sori," Moira says as she puts her things away. She opts to keep the grappling hook out and tied to the rope. It takes too long to pull anything out of that bag. "Did you think about docking fees or repairs? If we will ever be using it again? I would rather haul it in and sell it. Otherwise its a money sink."
Sa'sori smiles and crossed her arms at her breast, "As a matter of fact Yes, I have thought of that... if you don't want to put your money into the 'money sink'.. I can take care of it myself. Its free enough for my tastes if one is creative and willing to work a little."
She does not offer any more unless asked specifically... but from the gleam in her eyes.. its clear Sa'sori at least thinks she knows what she is doing.
"As much as you thought about jumping in the water?" Moira doesn't argue further though. If she wants to deal with those expenses she could but it seemed silly to the Ranger.
"Yeah, I'm staying out of this one entirely. So, captain, how much longer till we reach shore?"
"And do you know much about the city?" Dyrm isn't going to argue about a boat one way or the other either.
"As much as you thought about jumping in the water?" Moira doesn't argue further though. If she wants to deal with those expenses she could but it seemed silly to the Ranger.
Sa'sori's expression changes to one of affront!
"Of all the cheap shots! I had a plan.. I knew what I was doing .. I would have saved .. at least I had the guts~.... ! Nevermind!!"
Its clear she had more to say... and that fiery temper of hers has been stoked... but before she said anything really hurtful.. she turns away and storms off to the sailing boat to secure it with a tow line.
".... I'll secure boat then!"
"Guts? You call that guts? That was stupidity," Moira yells after her. Some part of her felt bad for saying it but a very strong and very odd angry welled up inside of her that washed the guilt away. Unfortunately she couldn't exactly walk the other way since that lead to water. All she could do was angrily tie off the other side of the boat and angrily make sure everyone got off carefully this time. Didn't need anymore fools falling in the water.
The captain clears his throat to address you, and to stop your bickering. If you want the boat, then sail it in. You'll not get much for it as rickety as it is, but you fought them off, so its your prize to do what you wish with it." The dwarf seems amiable enough as he says this, but his face scowls and hardens showing no room for negotiation on his next line, "But, you'll not be tying it on with the Black Mist. I have a reputation to uphold and I'll not be seen towing likely stolen merchandise into Tamran. Again, do what you want, but the lines get cut now."
Sa'sori fumes...as she strides over to the dwarven captain...scowling dangerously, "...so THATS how its going to be is it?!? You would think a little gratitude for saving your hides from being robbed, and likely throats cut and bodies thrown into the lake would afford us some accommodation?!?! You know Damned well none of us, as yet, has the skill to sail her in this rainy weather.. and it would be suicide to try! But I guess gratitude is in 'short' supply also with dwarves!"
Then something.. terrible happens... Sa'sori calms down her gaze turning deadly cold... as she turns and walks over to the mooring lines...
Drawing her curve blade she cuts both fore and aft lines to the sailing boat and watches the sailing boat be taken by the current... as she resheaths her blade.
Stalking back to the front of the craft she says, "..pray there are no more pirates cause you'll fight them on your own!"
Dyrm frowns at the comment on dwarves.
"Settle down, Sassy," Cotton says while she's rooting around in the lockbox, shaking her head. "Heck, we can probably buy a better boat than this flat-hulled heap of kindling. I..."
Cotton's eyes fall on the charter and her tone falls flat: "Stop shouting at the captain, girl. If we'd been seen towing this thing in, we'd have been in BIG trouble!"
The captain reacts harshly to Sa'sori's comments, "Ya'ld thing that dip in tha watur would cool yer hot head! I do knoe damned well ya can't sail that boat, and I'm not conceited enough to think I can safely sail two boats through this storm. Ya want gratitude, how about the fact that I gave ya the time to search that boat. Any second now a bad batch of wind, a rough wave, a hidden undertow could push that boat into the Black Mist and put a hole in her. Now I know your no sailor, but ever an ignorant girl like yew should know what a hole in a boat does, and I for one don't much like the idea of swimming to Tamran. Yer friend Cygar said yew'ld protect the boat for free passage to Tamran, so ya want my gratitude, yer standing on it. Don't like it, there's the way out." He says as he gruffly points overboard.
In a much calmer demeanor, he looks to the rest of you. "Ya do have mah thanks, and ye're welcome to keep whatever ya found over thar. If ye ever need somethin Captain Walren and the Black Mist never forget a friend."
"Thank you for your transport, Captain. I can't speak for others, only myself, but I do appreciate it and the courtesies your crew has shown."
"Captain, I'm not terribly well versed in such matters so what can you tell me about Molthuni?" Vera says looking over Cotton's shoulder at the charter.
Moira is busy tying off the line and mentally saying things that should not be said out loud when a blade flashes down and cuts it. For a moment she is too shocked to do anything but stare as the boat floats away. She turns, about to lay into Sa'sori once again until she notices the sorceress is arguing with the captain. Anger turns to fear immediately. If she pissed him off too much he might kick us off. But thankfully he didn't and keeping quiet might be the best thing to do to stay on board. Thank god Vera found something to distract him. Was that the lockbox?
Molthuni's a country just across the lake from Nithramas. The two have been feuding for years since Nithramas seceded from Molthuni. Hell, your pathfinder friends aren't even allowed in Molthuni, and all because Nithramas established a guild first."
"If the damned molhuni would just settle for their own, it wouldn't be so bad between us," Dwarvish or not, it's clear Dyrm considers Nithramas his home too.
"Meh, people feuding over land and things," Cotton says, shrugging. "It's sad, but folks are forever bickering over limited resources instead of sharing nice-nice."
"So that was a privateer?" Moira takes a look at the document too then puts it in her bag. It might be helpful later or worth something at the harbormaster's office. Currently it was of no concern of theirs though. "Whatever. Let's just go. Do you know where we are supposed to meet our contact here captain?" she asks before disembarking.
"Food for thought if nothing else..." Vera says, quietly falling in behind Moira.
"Contact?" The captain questions, "Didn't know you had one. Your friend Cygar, just said you were hoping to be adventures wanted to get your start in Tamran. Traded protection for passage. Who are you looking for? I might know him."