Donkor heads to the rails to look behind for the ships that trail them. He'd like to see their approach, assuming they close.
Marcus and Garrick had not been messing around during their last cooking session. Between the two of them they'd cooked up a few interesting new things to try, but more importantly Marcus had made sure to stock up on the basics.
There wasn't much in the world of Alchemy more basic than a Tar Bomb. They were cheap, easy to make, stable to store, easy to throw and lasted forever. On ships they were one of the most dangerous and devastating weapons a crew could employ. The issue was they didn't have a lot of range.
Unless you were Marcus.
"String them along. Make like we're running and try to keep the distance at about a hundred feat for as long as you can." he told the Helmsman. "I'm going to make them pay for every inch."
There's another call from the crow's nest, and Marcus gets his answer; two new ships, from the look of them. The crew down on deck listen to his strategy and do their best to lure the ships into range of his attack. As they approach the island, the Gyrwood has to slow and eventually stop near the beaches. As it does so, those at the captain's cabin are relieved when Captain Gallifrey steps out onto the main deck. He takes one long look at the ships trailing them, and waves to Marcus as they begin to lay anchor. "We need to get onto the island. If they want us, they'll have to follow us on foot. We'll need time to get everyone to shore on the boats before they can reach us, though. Do you think you could keep them busy while we do that?"
"Yeah. I'll need to catch up though." he glanced over to the big drummer. "Janus, right? You look like you'd be able to put some serious speed on a rowboat. You get to be my driver."
He looked to the rest of the group. "I can slow them down and maybe even sink a couple of them, but they're still going to be coming for us. Janus and I are going to need covering fire when you make it to the beach. We'll probably be coming in real hot."
"what is to stop them from destroying this vessel and leaving us stranded? They have us out numbered this way why would they follow is on to land?"
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"Fair point, Conri... They might do that,and the only two countermeasures that I can think of would be either to destroy their vessels first or... We could hijack one just in case." the tiefling's grin grows ever wider as he mentions the possibility.
"Difficult as it might sound, they have us outnumbered and outshipped so they probably won't consider us bold enough to do it." Garrick continues while keeping his eyes keen on the enemy ships "In any case they'd have to fight the ones that stay here to destroy the ship... And I'll stay, I won't miss those bullies' welcome party, no sir."
"Whether we plan to keep this ship or try to hijack one of theirs, we still need to get the passengers to safety before we can try anything clever," Annika points out. "Otherwise this whole expedition falls apart." She grips the hilt of her sword tightly. In theory, she actually knows a fair bit about deck fighting. In practice, she never left Riddleport long enough to get a lot of practical experience. It certainly looks like she's going to now though.
"This ship's lost. Nothing we can do about it. The captain's right, the best bet is to get to shore with as many supplies as possible. We're going to be stuck here a while."
Gallidren nods, "I for one would prefer to fight with solid land beneath my feet. This ship is a death trap. Let's get to that island as quickly as possible."
I doubt they'll sink the ship. With us off of it, it'd be silly to scuttle a ship that they could sell. They'd be more likely to steal it and sail it to The Shackles for a quick profit." Captain Gallifrey heads to the edge of the ship to help get provisions and colonists onto the life boats and in toward the island. As he does so, he waves for all of you—except for those who'll stay behind to slow down those on the Aspis ships—to board one at a time with some of the settlers. "Try to keep them calm and together, avoid panic. That'll be the death of us out here. Meanwhile, those of you staying on the boat, try to piss them off enough that they don't just steal the ship and leave us here, eh?"
As the Aspis ships approach, all of you who choose to head onto the island with the colonists ride out to the beach. The island itself seems to be thick with vegetation as you move away from the beaches, although beyond that it's hard to say from here.
Those on the boat watch on as they prepare to buy some time by distracting the Aspis ships. A few sailors have stayed behind with those who elected to remain, ready to help them escape in the last small boat and head to shore.
Seeing Markus running around and beginning to sabotage the ship, Annika quickly jumps up to help him. Growing up in a pirate port at least gave her a general idea of how ships work, and how to sabotage one. Once she's done what she can without telekinesis, she takes a position where she's out of immediate sight and waits for the enemy ships to approach.
Janus takes a position partly down one of the ladders to the lower deck so that he can see the deck easily but cannot, hopefully, be seen.
"I'll stay as well. A song or story about a fight is much more interesting than one about trudging through the jungles".
Groaning and rubbing his face, torn between the want to protect the masses and stopping the problem before it happens. I was not trained for the jungle, nor a damn boat. Opting to remain, better to stop the issue. If the captain thinks he can keep that many people safe then he can prove it.
Strapping his shield to one arm and grasping his longsword in the other before trailing behind Janus, "Mind if I hunker down next to you?"
Gallidren will stay on the ship as well. He finds a defensive position and will cast gravity bow when the other ship comes into range.
Marcus was surprised at the numbers who decided to stay behind. {b]"Ok, wow. Didn't expect that, but I appreciate the support. Everyone up here, keep out of sight. Try not to draw fire or get their attention until they actually notice me. Once I break cover it's time to pour on every kind of firepower we got until they are about to board us. Then we leave. Everyone clear on the plan?[/b]
"Oh, and as a warning, Things are about to get weird. Just roll with it."
While Marcus prepares himself to sabotage the enemy ship, the other scour the deck and finish making the Gyrwood as inoperable as possible. Annika and Garrick remove the ship's wheel before finding the spare and managing to jam the anchor crank on their own ship, making it difficult to get the ship moving again. While the others prepare to hold the line, Kahurangi helps the remaining sailors to ready the smaller boat to get everyone to safety.
When the ship gets within range, Marcus reaches out with strands of aether before finding the wheel of the first ship. With a flick of his hand, the former bandit wrenches the mechanisms of the wheel apart, and he can feel the resistance as the helmsman on the ship struggles to steer it. The next ship fares as well as the first, and soon they all hear the cries as the anchor plummets into the sea and the ship is forced into a sharp turn. The other anchor gives Marcus some resistance, but eventually it too plummets into the ocean as the ropes and equipment still on the deck around Marcus swirl and float in the air behind him. The ship's wheel lifts off the ground and spins as Marcus finally has both ships unable to be steered and stuck in their places, spun out from the sudden drop of the anchor.
After starting to recover from the confusion, the two ships begin to lower boats into the water to approach the Gyrwood and the island. Menos Géroux boards one of the two boats, and the man's sword is drawn before even dropping down into the boat. It doesn't look like they're here to parley.
Marcus dashed for the rowboats and once aboard he continued his work to further sabotage the Consortium ships. A skilled sailing team didn't need a rudder to star a ship. They could do it slowly by just tacking the sails properly.
So he broke them. There were a few key points that anchored the rigging. Without them the whole thing would collapse into a tangled, unusable mess.
He made a mess.
Marcus continues to sabotage the ship, and one of the sailors looks at him bewildered as the rigging on the enemy ship falls onto the deck. Afterward, he continues to break the oar mounts on the rowboats, and eventually the Consortium goons are forced to paddle with their hands to move the boats toward the shore. At that rate, their own rowboat hits the shore much faster, and both the party and the colonists are about to fade into the jungles off the beach by the time the Consortium agent and his men are disembarking. Captain Gallifrey waves the colonists farther into the jungle, his sailors directing them farther into the brush to keep them safe; by the time the Consortium reaches the tree line, the passengers of the Gyrwood should be long gone. "We need to draw them into the jungle. It'll take them ages to get their entire crew out here, and by that time we should be able to hole up somewhere and either fortify or wait them out."
As the last of the passengers head into the jungle, the captain turns to follow you and the last of the sailors as a sharp twang is heard from the beach. Captain Gallifrey stumbles over a rock, and when he stands a crossbow bolt sticks clean through his chest. He grunts and lurches forward, trying to make it farther into the jungle when another bolt flies through the air and slams through the man's back and into his cut. On the beach, Menos begins to reload his crossbow as he stalks toward the tree line.
Gallifrey coughs, a spatter of blood misting the stones at their feet. "We need to keep moving. Get into the jungle. We'll... we'll have to lose them first." He starts to move forward, before another bolt from one of the Consortium sailors plows through his chest again. The captain crumples to the ground unconscious, and a few of the sailors grab the man's limp form and drag it through the underbrush, hoping to lose the enemy sailors before seeing if the man was still alive. They do their best to follow the others, but it's clear the captain is slowing them down. "He's too heavy like this. They might catch us." The sailor's meaning is clear, but he seems reluctant to suggest leaving Gallifrey to die—assuming he hasn't bled out already, that is.
Janus follows Marcus' lead, staying as low as a man of his size can. Once in the trees, he will take the captain from the sailors; the man will slow him much less than he would slow any of the others.
"Then we'll beat them back if they do. We can't leave him like this." Annika is visibly grateful when Janus hoists the captain up onto his back. She silently wishes she'd learned a few tricks from one of the street alchemists in Riddleport before going off to the middle of nowhere.
Gallidren will help lead the others into the jungle. "Run! Run for your lives!"
"If we can make it to the tree line for cover, we can turn that beach into a meat grin-" Marcus started to say as he ran with Janus.
Then the Captain was hit by a crossbow bolt. Then another. "F&$$."
Marcus whirled, seeing Menos reloading. How the hell did he get here before us?
"Go! Get him to the trees!"
Marcus pulled a fist full of smokesticks from one of his many pouches and twisted their fuses together.
Running along side Janus, "Just a sec." Touching the captain on the back and there is a brief flash.
Janus hefts the captain over his shoulder, and he bears the weight of the man far better than the sailors did. Janus's long strides let the group continue forward faster, making it easier to outpace the Consortium. Garrick keeps a bomb in hand, but they don't seem to be catching up. Conri's magic stops the blood seeping from the captain, but the man's face is still incredibly pallid. As they continue on, Conri notices the man still seems to be worsening despite his magic, as if something other than just blood loss was causing his condition to deteriorate. It could be dangerous not to stop, but doing so could give the Consortium agents to catch up with them.
However, Marcus's smokesticks leave a thick haze behind them, obscuring their path. If they can find any decent amount of cover, even if the Consortium agents catch up they may pass right by them.
Marcus was sprinting as best he could to get ahead of the bulk of the group. His eyes flicked about looking for the right kind of terrain.
He continued to drop smoke sticks behind him as he went turning the path back to the beach into a thick grey haze.
Marcus and Annika double back together, stomping off in a different direction through the underbrush. They can hear the Aspis members trudging along a fair bit behind them, and Menos's voice cuts through the general quietness of the island. "I don't know how they sunk my ship, but you're going to find them. I'm going to keelhaul those bastards all the way back to Cheliax. No one disrespects me like that. No one. Now go! Find them, you imbeciles! Go!" His bark passes them by as they hide crouched in the underbrush, and his men scour the area before continuing on to follow the non-existent trail. one of them comes dangerously close, but doesn't spot the two of them before they double back.
When they return, the sailors and the rest of their group is crouched around the captain. The man's skin is unnaturally pale, and while his wounds have stopped bleeding his clothes are still sopping wet with his own blood. His breathing, when it can even be heard, is ragged and shallow. His eyes have rolled back up into his head and have glossed over. Even to someone not trained in the healing arts, it's evident the man is at death's door.
Gallidren tries to bind the captain's wounds. "Can anybody heal him?"
Closing his eyes for a moment. Pressing his hands down to try and staunch the bleeding. A soft glow emanates from his palm.
Annika and Marcus make their return to the rest of the group quietly, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to their now safely hidden trail. "Hang on a sec," she says as she watches the party trying to heal the captain. "This looks really familiar. I think I saw a guy back in Riddleport get like this after he got stabbed. But that knife was..." Her eyes light up. "Poisoned!"
Marcus rifled through a large pouch and retrieved a small metal vial. He pulled the stopper and poured it into the captain's mouth.
"That will help him fight off the poison, but it won't get rid of it. We need to get him somewhere that he can be properly cared for."
"We need to move. I took the Aspis jerks off that way, so we should go the other way. I'll hang behind and cover our trail. Move single file, it'll make my job easier."
Marcus tips the vial to the captain's lips, and with the help of the others they get him to swallow it. The man doesn't look much better, although there's no way of knowing if the antitoxin will be enough to keep him alive in the first place. Still, he doesn't currently look to be getting any worse. The sailors help Janus get the captain ready to carry again, and they start to make a path through the underbrush at Marcus's suggestion. The former bandit easily obscures their tracks to keep them from being followed, but after a few minutes one of them stops. "Where do we go from here? We're away from Aspis, but we don't know where the colonists are. What do we do?"
Janus speaks softly, shrugging to settle his huge club across his back, "We must find a safe place to hole up until we can look for these colonists, and perhaps strike back against those who have wronged us."
"What he said." Marcus agreed. "We need to find a place to camp. Keep moving. We want either a cave, or a source of running water. "
"I can get behind that plan. Maybe there's somewhere on this island that we can hole up. Like a cave. Oh! Or maybe some ancient ruins!"
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The tiefling, who was still watching the group's surroundings gun in hand, turns his head towards the captain and with a trembling voice asks "He's gonna make it? What should we do?"
As the others start discussing moving towards a safe spot, Garrick anandons watch duty to hasten the decission "Wherever we go will'be better than here im the open, I fricking hate jungles man... To noisy one way, too silent the other. Did anyone see mountains or caves before we landed?"
Marcus shook his head. "I should have been looking for landmarks, but I had other things on my mind at the time. Anyone else notice anything useful before we landed?"
Gallidren scans the surrounding skyline for any hills or ridge lines. "Let's move to higher ground. We may be able to find a cave to shelter in."
While it's hard to find a path through the underbrush of the jungle, Gallidren and the group eventually find higher ground; a large hill juts out from the tree line and allows them to take a look at their surroundings. The ships still sit toward the south, with the Aspis Consortium having finally gotten their ship to the beach. Sailors and other Aspis thugs have begun disembarking with their captain already in the jungle hunting them. A few dozen men stand on the beach, moving crates of supplies around while others seem to be organizing into search parties. It seems that Aspis is here to stay, at least for the time being.
It seems the ship landed on a peninsula, with the ocean flanking them to the east and west. The island's jungle continues to sprawl over the landscape to the north, although Gallidren believes he may have spotted a cave hewn into the rock next to a river. The terrain varies between the rocky foothills of mountains and the jungle that seems to creep over the land, and even from here the party can see the massive mountains and foothills that erupt from the earth near the center of the island.
Gallidren points to the cave near the river. "We can find shelter and fresh water down there. Perhaps we can use the cave as a base of operations while we explore the rest of the island."
Marcus trotted forward to take a look at the cave. He nodded. "Go. I'll keep covering your tracks. Something probably lives there already, so keep your eyes open. Annika, can you run ahead and scout it out while I work back here?"
As Marcus sets a few traps to trick the Aspis grunts, Gallidren and the others head down toward the cave. While not terribly far away, the underbrush and changes in elevation mean the walk is longer than expected. Once the group arrives and scrambles up into the cave, they find that it is not, in fact, inhabited by anything. The cave is utterly empty of any signs of passing, be it animal or humanoid.