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Ri'el furrows his brow at the stranger's answer.
"Fair enough, though if it's freedom you're looking for...no matter. Enemy of my enemy will do for now."
Wounded as he is, Ri'el was not going to turn down an additional ally, especially one that seemed handy with an axe. He wondered though how this 'explorer' would take to being press-ganged into a pirate crew.
"This could get interesting," he mutters softly to himself.
"Well, Harrigan might give you the option of joining his crew. Unless you think the sharks are likely to let you join their company, your best bet is to just lay down you arms right now."
Just after the sailors seem to be confused by Ri'el's bluff, Davina skirts the edge of the greasy spot and unleashes another blast of colorful light. The sailor who had been untying the boat drops in a heap, and the last sailor standing, surrounded by the group, thinks better of his situation and throws down his arms.
"I'll be take my chance wit you. Dem sharks be hungry, and dem be no man's friends."
**************End round 6**************
Ri'el 5/13
Davina 12/12
Garavaen 18/18
Astein 14/14
Sailor 1 unconscious
Sailor 2 unconscious
Sailor 3 unconscious
Sailor 4 unconscious
Sailor 5 unconscious
Sailor 6 unconscious
Sailor 7 0 damage Greased and Misfortuned and dead
Sailor 8 Shark food
Sailor 9 dead
Sailor 10 0 damage Greased Surrendered
Sailor 11 0 damage Greased Unconscious
After thwarting the sailors attempts at leaving on the boat, it becomes apparent that the tide of the battle is starting to turn against the sailors. Many of them are scattered, and several are on their knees with their hands, fingers laced, atop their heads. Very shortly a loud commotion comes from the captain's quarters, and shortly thereafter, Captain Harrigan bursts from the doors with what appears to be a human heart in his hands.
Seeing what Harrigan is holding, Davina pales and quickly goes to the edge of the ship to hurl over the side in revulsion at the monster's actions.
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Ri'el breathes heavily as he nurses his substantial wound.
"Anyone have any healing they can offer? I'm more than a little worse for wear," he breathes heavily.
"And you, dwarf, you might want to present yourself to the captain sooner rather than later. Odds are, you're either going to become a prisoner again, or be forced to join our crew. I hope you're not too much of a goody-two-shoes though. Captain's the one holding the heart in his hand. In case you have not realised...we are pirates," he says to Morgrym, his lack of enthusiasm about his own proclamation obvious in both his heavy tone and wry grimace.
Garavaen looks about, scanning for new threats before lowering the crossbow and sighing as the anxiety begins to fade... This lot was firing bolts back at us. I'd best resupply immediately before Scourge and his lot decide they're the spoils of war for his little gang... He then offers, "This lot that was leavin' may have been trying to escape with more than just their lives? Might be worth asking this one."
At hearing Ri'el request of aid Arenya struts over summoning the last of her magical energy. Focusing on the wound and gently allowing the healing magic to flow into the wound.
She then searches through the fallen sailors nearby grabbing a shortsword and anything else of value she can pick up.
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Ri'el breathes alot easier as Arenya's spell mends the wound, leaving little more than a faint line where the shark had savaged him.
"Thank you kindly, Arenya. It's good to not be knocking on death's door. I hear that in some far-away lands shark's fin in boiled down to soft gelatinous ribbons and served in a thick seafood broth as a delicacy. After that shark-bite, I am determined that I shall someday taste that delicacy. If I find a place that serves that dish, you're invited!"
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"We've also got a dwarf here who helped out, says he was a prisoner of these landlubbers, and seems to have a mind to join us," Ri'el says to Harrigan as he gestures towards Morgrym.
Turning to Morgrym, he quickly adds in a whisper to the dwarf, "sorry mate, don't know if the pirate's life is one that suits you, but you ain't likely to get off this ship alive without signing on with the crew."
Having finished emptying her stomach Davina casts a quick spell to clean herself off, the nastiness in her hair sloughing off and making her at least somewhat presentable. Still looking sickly, she moves over to where her friends are speaking to Morgrym, she bows to him and says, "It is good to meet you, I am Davina Kurikami. Thank you for your help."
[ooc]Want to give Morgrym a chance to respond here before I push forward.[/ooc[
"I have mind to ner longer be a prinoner aye, If that means my freedom is at the cost o piracy then so be it, though i personally will endevor to spare life that neednt be taken." Morgrym says as he cleans the blood off his axe on the corpse of one of the men he slew
"Mind ye captain I am a paladins with all the boons and banes that comes with that goal proffesion"
Arenya raises and eyebrow. A Paladin pirate? This is going to be interesting. Really interesting. On second thought this could be terrible. No doubt before long he will be telling us what to do, else the gods will be displeased. How we should all be good and pray else our souls be damned to the hells.
She moves away from the paladin to search the dead for plunder.
"If ye be pirates, were you after specific plnder on this here ship or was my release mearly a stroke of luck on my part?"
Morgrym is not at all enamored with the idea of being pressed into service but its a far better position then being locked in a cage. Perhaps he could guide these people in a better direction. Pirates dont have to be evil after all. "och, where be me manors, My name is Morgrym, Paladin of Grundinnar, god of peace. I feel like peace is the farthest thing from me reach at the moment, ha. Who might you all be?"
Garavaen says over his shoulder, "A paladin of peace? I hope you can make a good case to the Captain... I'd really hate to see you cast to the sharks."
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Ri'el finds himself at a lost as to how to feel about an axe-wielding "paladin of peace" joining a pirate crew under a captain that one of the sailors so recently dubbed "the heartless". He shakes his head and decides to leave it to the captain to work it out.
"Well... I... I hope you're good at the art of persuasion," is all that he can think to say at this point.
Morgrym is mildly set back by their opinions but it does not detour him one bit "Peace can be found in many things lads, there is peace in work, peace in battle. peace is all around us, ye just need to lok for it. And its nice to meet you miss Davina, its not every day a dwarf meets a beautiful woman with wings"
With a smile on his face Morgrym looks about and says "So where is this captain o yours, best get that meetin out of the way"
Arenya walk over to the dwarf and in a lowered voice says, "That's the captain over there, but you best watch yourself. He is one of the best pirate captains ever to sail the shackles but he's one of the most dangerous men alive as well. Fortunately it seems he is looking for reliable crew, which is how we got shanghaied aboard the Wormwood. Good luck to ye."
As the group prepares to take the dwarf to meet Harrigan, a group of 4 sailors and another woman that appears to be an officer of some sort, burst away from the little fighting that is left on board, and begin to rush towards the ship's boat where most of the group stands, and where the group of sailors was trying to release the boat before.
"Form up and keep that lot of me. We be takin' dis boat an' goin' now." The sailors do their best to form up around her to provide her cover so she can get to the boat. She brandishes a boarding pike, looking like she wants to keep anyone getting close at bay.
Officer, Ri'el, Garavaen, Sailors, Arenya, Davina, Morgrym, Astein
**************combat round 11***************
The officer holds the pike out and to the group's amazement the shaft extends to 15 feet, striking Ri'el, the hook of the pike tearing a gash in his hip.
Officer, Ri'el, Garavaen, Sailors, Arenya, Davina, Morgrym, Astein
Seeing more fighting erupting as more sailors try to make their escape Morgrm wasnt expecting and isnt the quickest to react. His new.... captors might be a good term, though he sees potential for friendship, move to stop them, probly fearing if these sailors escape that their captain will punish them.
Morgrym hopes to avoid further bloodshed and appeals to the fleeing sailors "Please stop the fighting! e'en if ye get to yer boats they'll just kill ya with arrows from above! surrender and ill speak on yer behalf!"
Morgrym holds hope that while these pirates will certain rob these people of their goods and there is no stopping that but he hopes that he can stop a further loss of life on this ship
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Ri'el snarls as he is once again wounded.
"Thank Lythertida and Besmara that Arenya that healed me before this crap happened..."
Calling the spirits of the heavens to himself, he weaves their light into a dazzling burst of colour, seeking to disable as many of the sailors at once as he can before taking a step back towards the boat.
"Woman, best listen to the dwarf or I'm taking that fancy pike of your's and making you walk the plank with it," Ri'el snarls as his hair swirls up around him, ready to strike.
Garavaen quickly raises his crossbow and draws upon his inner reserve, the world falling away and leaving nothing but the woman with the pike and the crossbow, and then he fires.
for
[Arenya tries to summon her inner magical energy to cast one more spell, but try as she might she is spent. "Magics be damned, I've got nothing left. I'll just have to deal with this the old fashion way." She draws her dagger and stands at the ready as she begins to sling a slow song.
Davina, seeing that Ri'el's attempt failed to get most of the sailors, decides to try her own hand at it. She steps over near the mast and casts a spray of color at the sailors.
Having little else she can contribute, Davina sends a beam of blue energy from her hand at one of the sailors.
Garavaen's bolt strikes home, sinking deeply into the side of the officer, who lets out a hissing breath just as Ri'el's spell blasts a spray of color overwhelming 3 of the sailors, and the officer. The lone sailor who just barely managed to be out of the display looks shocked, but recovers his wits, and makes a shaky attack at Ri'el but scores a solid blow to Ri'el's side, and the numerous blows that Ri'el received during the fight finally takes its toll and the shaman slumps to the ground.
Davina stretches forth a hand, and a blue ray strikes the sailor, and rime appears from where the lancing strike hits, covering the man's shoulder. Looking at the odds, he leaps over the side, thinking his chances with the sharks might be better.
**************end combat*************
Garavaen says, "Let's tie 'em up before they shake off the spell... And see what goodies they were planning on escaping with... And if anyone could mend Ri'el, we don't want Scourge throwing him overboard as dead weight."
"RI'EL!" Davina rushes over and begins checking on the man, she tears a bit off the hem of his shirt to try and use as a bandage to help him.
As the group tends to Ri'el, the crew of the Wormwood mops up the rest of the battle, and in short order the fog dissipates and you see Peppery striding confidently across the boarding planks to the Man's Promise. Harrigan tosses his grisly trophy over the side of the ship, and the crew gathers round him as some of the other officers bring line of prisoners before Harrigan to the cheers of the victorious crew.
Harrigan roars over the cheers: All right ya blaggarts! A fine catch we found today, aye! Break open 'er stores, an' fetch the captain's finest. To the victor the spoils! Harrigan looks over the dwarf, and then to the group, "Ya caught him, he's yer responsibility. He wants on the crew, we c'n use 'im, but 'e tries anythin' funny, and it's all yer heads."
With that, Harrigan jumps over to the Wormwood, and a roar of approval comes from the crew. Very quickly the Man's Promise's holds are raided for stores and a party the likes of which you have never seen begins.
The party lasts through the next day, and till dawn the day after that when the ship's bell rings for all hands on deck. When the crew assembles the long line of captured sailors is paraded before the crew, amidst cheers and jeers. Harrigan looks to the captives, "By fair an' maritime law, we caught ye square. But, ta show that I be a fair an impartial lot, I'm offerin' any of ye that want to throw in yer lot with us a place on me crew. Ye'll not be gettin' a better offer."
Several of the Rahadoumi sailors step forward, and Master Scourge cuts their bonds, and the sailors take their place alongside the Wormwood's crew. Harrigan then turns to address everyone, “All right, you scurvy tars! You’ve done a right good job by me—we’ve got a second ship now, and she’s quite a prize from the looks of her. But I still have only one crew. So here’s the plan—the Wormwood will sail on to our planned destination with our new shipmates here, while Mr. Plugg will pick a skeleton crew to sail the Man’s Promise to Port Peril, where
she’ll be worth a pretty penny as salvage. “As for these fine fellows here” Harrigan gestures at the remainder of the captured ship’s crew“some of them will no doubt be worth a hefty ransom from their families back in Azir. And for the rest, if the life of a pirate’s not for them, they can spend the rest of their lives at sea!”
Making his point, Harrigan grabs one of the Rahadoumi officers and throws her overboard, to the accompaniment of cheers and laughter from the Wormwood's crew. As the woman sinks beneath the sea, several of the other Rahadoumi crew scramble to swear loyalty to Harrigan. Harrigan and the officers start to go belowdecks to meet, but Harrigan stops and turns to your group. "Come with me, I've got something for you lot." As he turns to continue below, the rest of the crew begins their daily routine.
Once below, Harrigan sizes you all up, "You all performed well yesterday. Krine tells me ya took the stern yerself, but not only that, ye warned me o' a rat that was tryin' to backstab me, and skewered his hide. So, I thought I'd be givin' ye yer cut o' the booty meself. The amulet an' sword are a bonus fer savin' me hide. T'extra coin is fer the sailors ye captured, n'the pike is yers, fair captured in battle" He gestures for you all to sit at a table, and he dumps out several items from a chest.
-Three Potions that are silvery in color, smell fishy, with a bubbly texture and a salty flavor
-One potion that is Rusty Red in hue, smells faintly of nutmeg in a chunky liquid, and tastes earthy
- 5 pouches with 100gp
- An amulet that he tells you offers protection vs attacks (+1 natural armor)
- A magical short sword (+1)
- 450gp in loose coin
- Magical Pike (the officer's pike)
Morgrym watches the pirate captain parade himself aboard the newly captured ship and has mixed reactions. on one hand this ship did hold him prisoner for a time, but on the other... and thats where the thought ended, perhaps he had no reason to object to these people being killed, he didnt know whom else they may have harmed other than himself.
When the captain assesed him and told the group aboard the ship that they were responsible for him he looked about at them and took in a deeper look than he did at first. the most normal among them was a half-elf, his heritage clearly seen but the other three all looked to have a plain touched decent. this was certainly going to be interesting it seems "Well it seems we are to be together for a time. Know that i will be fiercely loyal and concidering your captain has marked my performance with your lives ill do my best to only risk me own. if you dont mind i would like to go below a few moment.... personal matter but follow if ye must."
makeing his way below deck Morgrym walks up to the cage that held him captive not all that long ago. from one kind of prison to another it seems but he will make the best of it, picking up a tool nearby he gingerly looks over the cage. then with little warning he viciously takes the pent up frustrations he has been keeping inside out on the inert object, doing little real damage to the cage but giving him a cathartic outlet.
once finished he returns top deck and joins his new "crew" but keeps his distance, clearly still dealing with some emotions as he com to terms with the turn his life has taken
Watching the captain take on any who would join him was an odd thing, on one hand they were given a choice but in the end would be little more than slaves really. Morgrym had to bite his tongue at the captain throwing that officer overboard, innocent lives lost and nothing to be done about it. after that display they got called below for apparently their share of the loot. Morgrym wasnt particularly interested in any of it but it seems this captain isnt all about blood and does reward his crew in ways. Morgrym has little to say to his new captain, still trying to gauge what to think of him so while he accepts the rewards he is mostly in thought.
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Ri'el purses his lips tightly when he sees Harrigan push the officer off the ship. He could feel Thali's disapproval wafting clearly to him through their empathic bond, but he also knew full well that any attempt at heroics would only result in his own needless death.
"Only way I'll get to do any good for anyone, if I ever, is to get through this and eventually off this ship alive," he thinks quietly to himself, and trusting his bond with Thali to convey his feelings to her.
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Ri'el spends much of the party around Sandara, listening to her recount her own exploits from the battle with rapt attention, and grinning all the while as he joyfully basks in the presence of his crimson-haired angel and the music of her voice. He sleeps well that night, his soft dreams of Sandara interrupted only intermittently by the fluttering wings of a strangely agitated Thali.
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Come the next morning Ri'el finds himself genuinely surprised at Harrigan's generosity towards the group. He considers the treasure pooled before them for a long moment before speaking.
"This is quite a haul, captain. Thank you for your generosity. Never let it be said that Captain Harrigan was a skinflint or an unfair man!"
"And I might actually be happy to stay as a member of his crew for longer than I thought I might," he thinks to himself.
"As for us, well, there are some magical items in here, and their value makes it hard to split the treasure evenly. But we've become fast friends, us few, so I propose we do this. We take turns taking items, sell what no one wants, then use the coin to make up the balance taking into account what items were taken. But we also record the value of the share that each person took, and when next we come across a haul, any one who previously got more than his or her fellows in value of treasure picks items last and we divide the coin to balance out the shares over all the previous occasions. So if you take the most expensive item in a haul, you may get nothing the next time we get to divvy up loot, until the others have gotten an equivalent share over time. What do the rest of ya think?"
Davina blanches as she sees the officer thrown overboard as nothing more than an example, tears spring to her eyes and a sob escapes her before she regains control of herself. Feeling little like celebrating, she stays near her friends as much as she can, fearing being alone with the now drunken crew. Turning in as early as she safely can, she wakes the next morning and goes with the rest to meet Harrigan and, seeing the things they are being given, bows deeply to him, "Thank you Captain, your generosity is great." She takes the bottle that couldn't be identified and tries to figure it out herself before replying, "I do not think there is much her of use to me but I do agree with Ri'el, his method seems the most reasonable to me. I would suggest though, that things like potions or some wands that benefit us all should not be counted against our take."
"the only thing in that lot that catches me eye is the amulet as a thicker skin never hurt anyone, but my hide already be tough as it is so if any of ye be wantin in feel free to have it" Morgrym said at the question of the loot divisions. he preferred an axe over the weapons there and the rest of the gear didnt suit his needs
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Before the captain departs, Astein tries to push the captain's good graces just a bit and says, "Captain, if I may. I'd rather we stick on the Wormwood rather than sail with Plugg if we might request. We haven't been out to see long yet, and my luck gets better the longer I'm away from shore."
Once alone with his companions, Astein adds:
"Little of it is of use to me... one of you more martial characters should use the pike for now since ship-to-ship combat may be all too common for the near future."
Turning to the dwarf he adds, "I traveled with a paladin once before. You seem a good enough sort, but that one almost got me killed several times with his constant prattling about honor and duty. We're stuck here as pirates for mean time, and there ain't much room for honor and duty in what we'll be about, except our duty to each other that we need to keep us all alive."
Harrigan looks back at Astein, "Ain't up ta me. Plugg's pickin' his crew. The only people he can't be takin' are me officers."
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Ri'el frowns as he hears Harrigan's reply.
"This is bad. There's a chance that Plugg will choose us for his crew and then take the opportunity to deal with us permanently. Though if he's only got a skeleton crew, he might wait till we get to port before taking action. I wish I'd been able to see him fight during the battle to get a sense of his tactics and abilities."
"I also hope that I don't get separated from Sandara through this..."
He does not however voice any of these concerns to Harrigan.
Garavaen shrugs, "As long as it's a fair split 'twixt the lot of us, I'm fine.... though I'm thinking we may want to 'buy back' the gear of anyone who's not had the return of their equipment even a'fore we start figuring out who gets what new toy."
Shortly after the noon bell, the all hands bell rings, and the crew comes up to muster on the main deck, where Harrigan, and the rest of the officers are already gathered. Harrigan addresses the crew, "Mister Plugg here to make ready the Man's Promise, and he's pickin' his crew. If ye are told ta go, grab yer kit and make yer way to the Man's Promise, ye have 10 minutes. Plugg'll be takin' her to Port Peril, where we'll sell her, and add that gold to the plunder!" The crew cheers its approval at the prospect of more money.
Plugg starts to make his way among the crew, and starts to call out names, "Crimson, Giffer, Badger, Shivikah, Fipps, Slippery Syl, Jack, Barefoot Samms, Rosie Cusswell, Sandara, Conchobar. He pulls a number of the Rahadoumi out to go back to the 'Promise, who all thank him profusely. He and Scourge then make their way back, and stop in front of the group, and Scourge smiles an evil, oily smile. "Don't think we forgots about you lot. Ri'el, Garavaen, Astein, Davina, Arenya, bring yer dwarven friend, and join us."
Harrigan watches and yells "Wait!Take Fishguts with ya. I'm sick o' lookin' at him." Kroop looks up startled, but makes his way to the new ship.
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Ri'el has a brief moment of panic when Plugg starts to pick the Rahadoumi sailors after naming Sandara, and is almost relieved when Plugg finishes off the selection with himself and his friends.
"Thank Besmara, Sandara and I will still be together."
With that most pressing concern dealt with, he does a quick mental tally of the sailors chosen by Plugg.
"We've got some of our allies, but Plugg's got his cronies with him too, and it looks like the Rahadoumi will be playing toadies to him. We're definitely headed towards war..." he thinks to himself grimly.
Feeling relief when it seems that she will be passed over for duty on Plugg's ship, Davina pales and looks terrified when she and her friends are told to report there as well. She masters herself though and hides her fear away for now then gathers her gear and crosses over with her friends.