1d4
before Riff can speak a reply her words turn to a frown, as the gnome goes flying. The bard wenches as he crashes. Well so much for that, she thinks.
looks back to Mr. Scourge.
Why ladd, I didn't think that you noticed. Upon looking at you I felt it too.
Bluff
she looks shyly at the deck, putting her hand on her chest in a very feminine gesture. As she looks up the storm that rages inside can be seen beneath the calm facade in her eyes. It is not a look of hate or malevolence, but it is certainly passonate.
Most gentlemen pay for the night, what do you have in mind as payment? Or am I be yours be force and replace your old lass, merely to be murdered by same in my sleep?
Kithranna after his days work. Will go to the mess eat a little then stumble to where his bunk is. Where he hopes to see his gear.
This is all a dream it has to be some test of the mind from my mother. I should never have told her my interest in adventure. Please Gozreth let me wake up from this nightmare.
The chicken on Fishgut´s shoulder looks you right in the eye as if it wanted to say:Are you totally nuts talking to a half-imaginery chicken, too?
Ambrose though reacts in a much friendlier fashion: Shen welcomm to mey galleyyy, boy! Shust do, what I shay ye shall! And ash mey first order as mey firstt order as yer shuperia I order th´both of uss to drinkk a bit of rumsies and gett to know each others!
No, no, litte songbirdie! I´ll do you no harm. I tell ye what: Be mine as often as I want and I will rid you of your daily work - one for one.
With these words Master Scourge embraces Riffelan, licks right across her face and squeezes her firm, gravity-defying butt-cheeks. A stinking mix of spit and garlic-infused breath later, Riffelan has her freedom back an sees Master Scourge walk under deck. Her turns around and has this certain, ambigious look on his face...
Dear gods that was nasty. Thankfully I am the Lucky Sea B**th, she thinks sarcastically.
As Mr. Scrouge walks away from Riff so too does she from him. Three steps is all she takes and with a curt turn, a twist of the hips, and a knowing look that ends in a flirty smile and a wink. And then promptly makes her way to the Scrouge.
She speaks a silent prayer.
Hshurha, rip the flesh from his hated solid bones if he is overly cruel.
She begins singing a tune while playing her mandolin.
Perform String
Perform Sing
Our anchor's aweigh and our sails are all set
Bold Riley, oh, boom-a-lay
The folks we are leaving, we'll never forget
Bold Riley, oh, gone away
Goodbye, me darling. Goodbye, me dear, oh
Bold Riley, oh, boom-a-lay
Goodbye, me darling. Goodbye, me dear, oh
Bold Riley, oh, gone away
Wake up Mary Ellen and don't look so glum
By Whitestocking time you'll be drinking hot rum
The rain it is raining now all the day long
And the northerly wind, it does blow so strong
We're outward and bound for...
The song fades as she leaves with Scourge.
Profession: sailor
Antal drinks down the foul alcohol.
Fortitude
Diplomacy
Ondir seeing that his earlier estimate of how close "bloody hour" and their evening meal was he searches out to see if he can continue the earlier discussion with Sandara. Taking a moment to see if she's free from work, after all interrupting her work might cause one or both of them to face the whip. Once she is free until the day's "bloody hour" and then meal he will step up to her and say, "Our earlier conversation was cut short, would you like to resume it? I'm still curious about how displaying our patron's holy symbol has been for you. From what I could see it at least doesn't seem to broker much resentment or hostility. Not openly if there is any. Do any of the crew treat you better?"
As Master Scourge leaves, he orders one of the crew-members to "take care of the working maggots" and prevent anyone from entering the lower deck.
Master Scourge is a nasty, sadistical brute. Nearly all pirates on the Wormwood knew that the day they met him.
Concerning intercourse, he is even more so. It almost seems, that he enjoys scaring and humiliating Riffelan more than the act itself.
After some rough groping, licking and kissing, Scourge rips her clothes apart and pushes the delicate woman to the floor. As he thrusts painfully into her, he beats her into submission and whispers aroused: Tell me that you like it, you dirty wh0re! TELL ME!
In the final throes of passionate spasms, he winds his whip around Riffelans neck and strangulates her badly, as finally this crescendo of humiliation and disgust ends and all is silence.
With a heavy breath Scourge says: No work for you today and tomorrow.
Feeling dirty and hurt only to get away from work? Is this worth it?
Antal has a very much better time with Ambrose. It seems, the cook seems to be quite good at heart. Of course, he seems to have serious problems...
And it seems, that even the abyss itself wouldn´t be able to let such amounts of rum disappear...
As Rosie appears, she seems unimpressed by Antal´s words. Are ye one of those friggin´ ones of our kind, that are all mouth and no deeds? It the he11 seems so to me! So if you want us to be friends, show me deeds and no words. The quartermaster has my father´s fiddle. I ended up only with this cursed borrow piece of sh1tty wood! If you wanna be my friend, then show me how much you want that!
Sandara gladly talks on with Ondir. Most crew members don´t care much for a holy symbol. But Grok the quartermaster is pretty superstitious. One can use that to take advantage out of it.
As the day progresses and the sun slowly nears the horizon, the ship bell rings. Some crew members yell in excitement, some in fear: Bloody Hour! Bloody Hour!!!
Just as your work is over, those of you unaccustomed to the high sea realize suddenly, that the rocking of the waves isn´t comfortable at all..
Fortitude:
Kithranna will join in for the cheer of bloody hour Bloody Hour! Bloody Hour!!!
Eagerly awaiting who is the victim(s). I would not be surprised to find myself going up there, here's hoping.
"I'm sure they start to care when they are injured, after all they'll look to who has a holy symbol to heal their wounds. Grok holds my gear? It is good to hear that she is superstitious, I'll see what gain I can make out of such an advantage. I was looking to go out to sea, but didn't envision it quite like this." Ondir steps over closer to the side of the ship and looks out to endless expanse of water.
Ondir is comfortable at sea, though usually beneath the waves. The slow rocking of the ship is nothing compared to how the old sea dog trained him. He's still looking out to sea when he hears the other crew members yell. Well, time to see this bloody hour. As he nears the other recruits he glances to see which ones might not yet be accustomed to the rocking of the ship. Finally he turns his attention to the events of this "bloody hour".
yikes
Valen heaves one more piece of equipment aside as he hears the cheer rallying around the ship.
Bloody hour? What in Gozreh is that? Probably nothing good.
Running a hand through his damp hair, he moves off to join the rest of the crew to join in the spectacle. Spotting the half-elf again, he leans over to give him a quick nudge.
"What the hell is bloody hour?"
Hello Valen, sorry if I have been a bit distant ruff day and half. Bloody hour is when we all get to join together and watch the punishments on the crew that are not performing. Isn't it exciting.
After the surprising encounter with Rosie, Antal is stuck in a rum-induced haze thinking of how to keep Ambrose from complete inebriation and how to liberate Rosie's fiddle from the quartermaster. Hearing the call for the Bloody Hour, Antal reluctantly makes his way on deck to witness some poor sap's unfortunate corporal punishment. Seeing a new recruit with some unidentifiable heritage and a wooden holy symbol to Besmara, Antal moves near him in an attempt to siphon off any extra luck.
Two well muscled crewmembers bring a bound third one on deck. The poor lad is brought before Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge and interrogated. During the short trial, it comes out, that the poor bastard, Jakes Magpie his name, has stolen from the quartermaster´s store.
As the dubious reward for his theft, the punishment is keelhauling - a painful and often deadly penalty, by which the victim is slowly drawn along under the ship. The rough shipshull will cause him much pain before, if, he finally dies.
The gathered crowd reacts with a mixture of fear and sadistical anticipation.
Valen listens to the proceedings with a stone face, although he is horrified beneath that exterior.
How barbaric! Note to self: don't steal.
He continues to watch the poor fellow be condemned, wishing there was something he could do to help. He leans close to whisper to Kithranna.
"Didn't they mention that they didn't want to lose crew as they were understaffed? You would think the punishment would be less severe for something so minor..."
Sadistic entertainment and visceral deterrent all in one. Well that removes one possible plan for retrieving the fiddle. I suppose I should meet the quartermaster.
Kithranna looks over at Valen with a sadistic grin and whispers back.
I think we just learned three important things here.
One, there are no minor offenses.
Two, They will carry out any threat if necessary.
And Three, don't get caught.
Finally, Jakes is brought from the bilges. You look into the face of a scared and miserable man.
As the grim punishment proceeds, Jakes is tied to a long rope. Afterwards Mr. Plugg himself pushes Jakes into the sea. Some of the crew pull at the rope, all led by Mr. Plugg.
A felt eternity, that actually just lasts a little more than a minute, later, Jakes lifeless body is pulled from the tides.
Mr. Plugg turns to the crowd.
Cut him to shreds and feed him to the sharks. HA! Guess that teaches this wh0reson not to steal anymore!
Sense Motive
Valen paled slightly as he watched the grisly execution carried out. Shaking his head slightly, he looked out to the ocean horizon, sighing.
Such a waste of life. I need to get out of here soon. Or get rid of these monstrous employers.
Sense motive
To Ondir, "That son of a whore needs to be put down, wouldn't you agree?"
Sometime after the keelhauling. Riff makes an appearance with two buckets of ale. Eager to get to know the crew.
Sense Motive
You know I think I am starting to like this MR. Plugg will have to figure out an appropriate gift to show my similar interests.
Kithranna makes sure the same savage pleasure look is on his face and if Mr. Plugg sees him, Kithranna will give an approving nod.
Well as stimulating as this evenings entertainment is, I believe it is time for some rest and reflection.
Sense Motive
Ondir makes sure to keep an impassive face toward the event that just unfolded but the concerns of being keelhauled for any infraction disturbs him. Note to self, work on that spell to break bonds. Could come in very useful should I suffer a similar fate. He watches Mr Plugg and the others rope pullers to see if they heard Antal, when he's sure they haven't turned their attention to them he replies quietly, "I suppose, he's a dangerous man after all, but if he's not focusing on me than I don't see a reason for such drastic an option." Ondir nods his head toward the group of pirates who helped Mr Plugg. "Especially considering the support he has. It bodes keeping an eye out and seeing what we can do about leveling the field."
Changing the subject Ondir asks the new chef's make, "So, should we be expecting a good meal today? I could go fishing for my own meal, but I don't think the captain would like my method of fishing. My name's Ondir Stormrider, I think you went down to the galley before I gave out my name. We certainly don't get the option to choose our post on this ship, do we?" Grins at the halfling, wondering if he remembered his earlier comment about taking the first job offered.
Soon after the grisly evening entertainment, the evening meal is "served" - meaning, that each of you gets himself a bowl of fish stew from Antal and Ambrose.
The stew is rather solid stuff, but the other crewmembers seem to dislike it anyway. Same sh1tty stuff again! someone says.
After the meal, rum rations are doled out.
Pirates not drinking their rum usually receive harsh punishments.
The rum is very strong and goes right into Antal´s head.You are fatigued and receive
...alchemical bonus to Charisma.
Both effects wear off after...
...hours.
You lose... points of Con. (Damage, no drain)
Please make a DC 5 Fortitude to avoid getting addicted.
K-History:
That is some stout stuff. I could get use to that.
P-Sailor
Fort save
Ondir is more than happy to kick back the strong drink after the meal, but he isn't quite as happy about the potency of the swill. I might have to figure out a way to avoid drinking it at full strength again. Should I even dare spilling it? Maybe watering it down when it's still in the barrel? No, others might notice that. As he's thinking the rum starts to go straight to his head. This might be the rum talking but I think it might be a good idea to get on this Grok's good side, after all if she likes me maybe I can just ask for my gear back! Would be better than being shark food.
Not sure if anyone is currently talking to him, nor really aware or caring about it he says, even if he's not talking to anyone, "If you'll excuse me I think I'm going to go." Immediately, he leaves the other groups of crew members still drinking on deck and heads out to try his rum improved charisma by try out his alcohol induced 'good idea'. He tracks down Grok and makes an effort to befriend her. Clearly the goddess will be on his side.
Diplomacy roll for my influence check:
"It is nice to meet you...Antal Wavecrest at your service. However, I was not suggesting we go after him right away or even directly. But a man like that enjoys causing indiscriminate suffering and is not one I trust to be on my crew.
As to the meal, I would not get your hopes up in regards to the palability of the fish stew I helped prepare. In fact, if you can get your rum rations first, I recommend doing so."
@ gnome; From where do you hail, crewman?
Emphasizing, the word "crewmen" to gain some sense of his stature?
1d4
With a few well chosen compliments and a lot of beer, the pirates are wax in your hands. After a few hours of talk, you know everybody wo belongs to the crew.
Grok is drinking and playing a game of dice with a few members of the crew on deck. The always drunken cook Fishguts is also with them. As Ondir joins the colorful group, they look warily at Ondir. With a short smile and a few clever words, Ondir gets himself a nice place in the gambling-round.
Later during the evening, Grok adresses Ondir: You seem quite a jolly s0n-0f-a-b1tch! So where are ye from?
Ondir feels, that this talk has done his relations with Grok much good. It is amazing how a little rum can bring people together...
Kithranna sleeps reasonably well and feels refreshed the next morning.
Fort save
Valen swigs back the grog without batting an eye, the familiar warm feeling of alcohol sliding down his throat. He stares off into the ocean with he finishes up his fish stew, remembering to save some grog to wash the stew down next time. Giving a few nods to his fellow crewmen, he heads down to his bunk to mull over his current situation and get some well needed rest.
Antal takes a deep breath before downing the rum.
Fortitude save
Feeling quite friendly at the moment, he wanders over to the game to meet Groom, the quartermaster. "Friends! Can I join you? I am feeling quite lucky tonight!"
Diplomacy check
Taking a sniff of the rum,
Yikes, that smells strong. she thinks as her stomach rolls.
Riff looks around for the gnome who was taken from an earlier conversation.
Perhaps it better to make a friend?
Valen too gets some well deserved rest. Although the accommodations are not the most comfortable, that´s for sure. But a day of hard work helps sleeping a lot.
Grok seems to have quite an outgoing day. You newbies are a very funny bunch! I like the two of you! If you get one of the rare breaks on this ship, than just come over to my shop an´ we can talk a bit, yes?
Meanwhile, Ambrose sleeps in a puddle of rum and a cloud of his own stinking breath, his beloved chicken walking around on deck.
Riffelan spots Conchobair, the gnome, playing a game of towers with two very drunken crewman. He looks pretty competent at it - a lot more competent than with daytime´s work, that´s for sure.
Riff saunters over to the gnome and lays a graceful hand on his shoulder. Assuming that there is even a minor break in the conversation surrounding the game…
Not meaning to interrupt, to abysmally, my sweet compatriot. I seem to have no stomach for this tonight. Not wanting such a gift to go to waste I was hoping that it could persuade some forgiveness for your earlier troubles, at my expense.
Offering the cup of rum to the gnome.
Ondir grins at Grok and replies, "There be many who say I have piracy in my blood. This may not be my choice way of starting, it will do."[/b" He joins the game with a quick silent prayer to Besmara, Aye Black Lady, help this fool in this game and with befriending Grok. After getting settled in for a round or so he replies to Grok's earlier question, [b]"I'm from a small village off the coast that Abencliff in common, we never did get much visitors from the dry land. Don't know why, the water was just fine and the sharks only bit some of the time." He plays his rounds trying to break even that night. I'm not even sure I have a coin to my name, yet. After another round or so he asks Grok, "How long have ye been a pirate? Surely ye got a good tale or two to be told. New hands such as us could learn a bit from a seasoned pirate like ye." He glances over at Antal and thinks, We had the same idea, maybe if we work together enough this won't turn out to be a disaster. Antal seems to be a bit better at sweet talking than me. He just hopes Antal catches on, or that he's thinking the same thing.
Stealth
Diplomacy
Speaking in and around his game though not taking part of it.
Ah, there my good man. So tell me of your name? I also never got a chance to find out what it is you do here?
Riffelan still has the rum in her hands. Lucky for her, that so far nobody has noticed...
Conchobairs face brigthens with delight, as Riffelan shows interest in his game of cards.
We play a game of towers here, darling. Would you like to join? I´d be glad to explain you the rules.
With a subtle nod to Ondir, Antal speaks to the quartmaster, "Yes, some inside knowledge of the workings of the Wormwood would be most appreciated. Surely someone of your position could teach us new guys how to stay on the good side of the good captain."
@ Conchobairs Why, yes, thank you for offering
Maybe I even started being pirate when some jacka22-d1cks of cowardly m0therf*@!3rs ambushed me an´ slit my throat when I was 11 years old.
She shows you an ugly scar across her throat.
She turns to Antal:
Yeah, I guess, I could do that. Maybe we have some more drinks together tomorrow or another day, ya? You are nice fellas, so I think, we will have more talkin´.
Antal says goodnight to his fellow dice players and heads to his bunk.
I do hope Ambrose will be more lucid tomorrow. If I can get away for a little bit I think I have a good chance of finding out about Rosie's fiddle. And it would not hurt to get one of my daggers back.
Antal falls asleep with dreams of talking chickens and burly halfling women.
"It's a good scar at that, ye came through such a trial to be a fine pirate and quartermaster. If ye'll excuse me I've had an unexpected busy day, that I'm sure is to repeat tomorrow." Ondir heads down to the cabin to sleep. He dreams of the Pirate Queen and future tales of his infamous piracy.
The ship bell ends everybodies' sleep prematurely. Someone (probably Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge) yells today´s working shifts across the ship...
Only Riffelan´s name is not mentioned...
As you get ready for cooking, work or for satisfying the boatswain´s needs, Aretta Bansions, Fipps Chumlett, Jaundiced Jape, Slippery Sy Lonegan and Tam "Narwhal" Tate position themselves between you five and the door.
Tam Tate, a dwarf with a large, ugly nose adresses you in heavily dwarven-accented common: In a hurry? With these words, he pushes Antal in the chest. "Girl can go!" says the dwarf.
And you see, that some of the other pirates begin to form a spectatorship around you and the five others...
"Well, we all have duties to perform as I am sure you do. What can we do for you, friends?"
Antal looks around for anything that can be used as a weapon.
Perception check
Ondir levels his gaze on the dwarf and says, "All good pirates know Besmara's Code, all quarrels between crewmen stay on shore. Now, are ye trying to pick a fight and risk the Pirate Queen's judgement?"
Addressing the Dwarf Do we have a problem here? If you would like to trade posts today I am sure that can be arranged.
Kithranna will look specifically if they are carrying weapons and what type Perception