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Sandara follows Aqguazula towards the two nude and bloodied pirates. When she sees them, she kneels and gets a closer look. "They're pretty close to death. I think you've taught them a good enough lesson. Hah!"
She carefully avoids getting too close to their naked bodies and holds a glowing palm over their chests. Light flows into their wounds and closes them from the outside in.
After they're stable, Sandara stands up and puts her hands on her hips. "That should do it. They won't awaken for a while, but what's to stop them from talking?" She says as she takes out a pipe and a wad of Old Deep Rum-soaked tobacco, lighting it with her flint. She exhales a warm plume of smoke.
Aqguazula will let out a glow, dismissively put his plan to rest.
"Fear would keep them, incheck. When a snake enter enters your farm and threatens your livestock, you remove the fangs or chop off it's head."
Aqguazula pulls out the rusty from his sash and slides the blade up from one of the men's groin to his ear."These men don't know my true nature, the few do that do stay away from me. I guess I won't be removing one of their eyes or chopping off their ears. I don't know what effect you've had on me, I'm not sure how to feel about it. But they're lucky you're softer than I am."
Exclaimed Aqguazula, seeming to be incensed and vex yet odd docile.
climbing up the ladder and opening the trap door, offering his hand down into the darkness to pull her up out of the bilge.
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Sandara shrugs and puts on a smug smile. "Make no mistake, I don't want these idiots to live anymore than you do, but the look on Scourge's face is what I'm in it for," she says as takes another drag from her pipe, now filled with ash as the last of the tobacco burns away. "He deserves it."
"Anyway, let's get out of here before we're noticed," she doesn't take Aq's hand and instead hefts herself out of the bilge with a sweet smile.
"Sounds good to me."Aqguazula nodded in agreeance.
'Hmm, denying my Sea elf looks, clever girl'
Once in the crew berth, Aqguazula will cast a quick orison to fill a decanter with water, cleaning the blood off of him. Donning his armour and taking back his spear and murder knife. Aqguazula felt complete
After a hard day of work, Aqguazula will gladly pour the rum ration down his gullet.
Shaking his head once the rum hits his throat.
'It never tastes better, wait till I have a better batch of my stuff.'
With his Shark jaw in hands, he goes on a search for Jack Scrimshaw.
"Are you Jack? I'd like to give you a little gift."
Aqguazula hands over his shark jaw.
"If you live up to your namesake, I might have more work for you. The name is Aqguazula, toughest swab on this ship. What's your story kid? Maybe you'd like to join my little gang, where the company is good and the liquor is on me."
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"Yer a swab? F*~+in' hell, me too. It's a tough life, ya know? Alls I ever wanted was to carve and create. My craft is so much more meanin'ful than lowly deck scrubbin'," Jack says as she takes the shark jaw from Aqguazula. "Ah, I seen one like this before. Not a bad piece. I reckon I could make jus' the perfect thing with it. Ya want me to give it a go? Any requests on what ta make? A carvin' of yer pretty face, perhaps?" He chuckles and looks eager as he pulls out a set of carving implements and examines the jaw closely.
'Hmm, free crafting. What was it they said? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'
A smirk will makes its way upon Aqguazula's face."Ha, if you think you've got the skill to carve my pretty face into, go for it. Hell, save room on the back of the thing to chronicle my deeds. I'm going to wear your work once it's done, a fancy belt buckle."
reaching into his coin pouch,"here are 5 gold coins, for your work and consideration. I have another, it's yours. Just consider my offer, it a'int easy on this ship, Shivikah, Cog, Rattline and I look after each other. Deal?"
Putting out one hand with 5 gold coin and that other to shake.
Aqguazula will walk up to Bleepos and Sasha, having his living braids hold up his spear freeing his hands.
"Ship on the Horizon? Scourge and Pluggs were extra busy today, figured something was up. Tomorrow we're going to raid that ship, we might live or we might die. Let's stick together tomorrow."
inhaling a deep breath, taking in the fresh sea air.
"Let's go down stairs, I have some wine I made. It's much smoother and the swill they've been giving us. I will wake you guys up in the morning, my nightmares,visions and whispers wake me up before the rest of you anyways."
Bleepos smiles to Sasha and shakes his head in agreement.
Captain Bleepos agrees! We gotta stick together. It seems Besmara wanted some of us to be a party of sorts, so... - the Goblin laughs, but almost puts his rum out as the Sahuagin arrives suddenly.
Oh! Sea Elf! - the Goblin says, hearing with attention - Bleepos thanks! But Bleepos tired. Long day on swabbing, Goblin is very hardworking!
He smiles and taps his wooden leg on the floor, noisily, as if making a crude rhythm.
"Haha, Captain he says. Maybe the little cabin boy."
Staring at ship on the horizon,"I'm going to be Captain, when we get the chance. By Dagon, mark my word."
Aqguazula will cock an eye of his,"haha, the little goblin has had his fill. I've been working all day too, crippling a couple of "rats" in the bilge. We're probably going to hear about it tomorrow." laughing the whole time.
"Remember, we watch out for each other tomorrow, it's going to be a bloodbath."
Sasha was mostly quiet listening to the two banter over who is Captain. or rather who thinks will be Captain.
A bloodbath is what mother would like, more bodies to feed to her. She says with a grin at the thought.
As she talks, she dumps her rum overboard, not wanting to touch that stuff ever again.
Bleepos just smiles, silently, as Aqguazula brags and Sasha smoothly leaves. Throwing rum overboard is offering it to Besmara - clever devil girl. Bleepos says a small prayer to Besmara, then speaks again with the Sahuagin.
Bleepos needs some of your curing skills, fish boy. - he finally says - ... Hoping you can still help Bleepos with some hurts?
Aqguazula will stare down at the little Goblin Bleepos intensely with his orange eyes,"Haha, the "Captain" is asking for a request? Sounds like no master of mine. I will heal you, but my ribs hurt from getting stabbed so you're going to meet me at my level."
Aqguazula's thick braids will elongate and wrap around Bleepos' chest, tightening like a boa constrictor. Raising Bleepos up to his eye level,at 7'1 feet in the air.
"Now isn't that that better?" Smirks Aqguazula
With his unholy symbol of Dagon in clear sight, Aqguazula will whisper a quick prayer, clicking his teeth and placing three of his fingers on Bleepos' large head.
Once his magic has passed he will place Bleepos on the deck.
"There you go, now we should all get to sleep we have a big day tomorrow, unless you all have other plans?"
Dot.
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Bleepos heads down below deck to rest for the night while Ratline comes looking for Sasha for their arranged date. While tossing back rum and staring at the moonlight, the couple enjoys a romantic evening aboard the Wormwood, although they're constantly distracted by Kroop and his lackeys tossing slaughtered pigs overboard.
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The team awakens abruptly to the sound of dozens of pirates running around feverishly up on deck, shouting at each other with a palpable sense of anxiety. The stern, burping voice of Scourge is especially noticeable as his commands reverberate down below. Riaris Kline runs down below deck and immediately awakens Bleepos, Sasha, Blue Lucien, Kragor, and Jaska as they rest in their cots. "ALL OF YA! WAKE UP! To the poop deck, and now, ya filthy scrubs! Ya don't have a choice!" He tosses a bucket of water aimlessly over the cots and quickly makes his way back up on deck.
Bleepos waits for Riaris to leave and stands up, still remembering his own dream with Goblin odalisques. Finally, he turns to the others with a smile.
Nice to meet ya, fresh meat! - he says, friendly - 'Aye have been seeing ya yarrround. Bleepos I am, Captain Bleepos had been! And she powerful Sasha.
As he introduces himself and Sasha to the new teammates - poor souls, like they, who got stuck on this godforsaken vessel - he gets packed and ready to move.
Jaska gets out of her coat's and looks where at where the master gunner was standing a second ago. Bloody hell, this is going to be a long day... She then grabs her gears and make her way topside as she is getting dressed. She tries to stay away from the Scourge, hoping not to attract any unwanted attention. Looking around, she takes note of who is there. The goblin and the weird looking woman are there. Don't see the fish guy or that bird fellow. Then her eyes fall on the half-orc and the undine. I don't remember seeing those two. Wonder where they were hiding.
She finally finished gearing up and then looks around to start working on something useful. Anything really, to keep her out of trouble. She glances once in a while toward Scourge, not only to make sure she stays clear of him, but also to hear what he is yelling so she can adjust what she is doing to what he wants.
Kragor had done his best to avoid the menagerie that comprised the new "recruits" but now here he was. He looks down to the goblin before muttering "Um, yeah. I've seen you two around." He looks around for the sahuagin that was picked up with them in Port Peril but can't seem to find him "and he's bloody hard to miss."
Once up on the main deck he joins the rest of the crew, facing the sterncastle, waiting for orders.
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As the crew makes their way up on deck, they notice the cause of the commotion - the Wormwood is closing in fast on another ship, which Plugg has identified as the Man's Promise, a Rahadoumi merchant vessel. Dozens of pirates stand at the edge of the poop deck, tying hooks to ropes as they prepare to board. Crates of ammunition sit haphazardly on the deck, and gunners are seen running down to the armory and back with their hands full of arrows.
"Faster, all a' yas! We're closin' in fast, and unless ya wanna die with the sharks, ya better be ready to kill!" Scourge lashes his cat o' nine tails in the air, urging one timid looking pirate on.
Krine approaches you at the poop deck, armed with a heavy crossbow and stash of fifty bolts. "Good, yer here! The ship's wheel is on the aft deck, just below the sterncastle. Yer gonna grapple over, kill the guards on the sterncastle, take the wheel, and guard the ship's boats. Kill anyone who tries to get away on one of the boats. Don't move from the wheel until the fighting's done, or you'll have to answer to me! Oh yeah, as we get close, it's gonna to get foggy. Just stick to what I told ya to do!"
The master gunner looks at each of you. "Now I been noticin' a few missin' things in the armory," she squints her eyes as she stares down Bleepos. "I ain't got time to be lookin' for who did what now, but if it was any of you, I'll find out. Now if ya don't have a weapon, you'll be needin' one. Here," she points to a box of assorted weaponry on deck. The box contains two cutlasses, five clubs, four heavy crossbows, two hundred bolts, fifteen javelins, and ten grappling hooks attached to fifty feet of rope. "If ya haven't got a weapon back from Grok, ya can take one of these. ONE. That's all. Now get to it!"
The Man's Promise looks to be about 120 feet from the Wormwood.
A Rahadoomi merchant vessel? Wonder what they carry. Jaska ready her bow. Looking at the other ship to see if she can locate any officer on deck. "Comrade, it would seem that Gozreh favors us with a strong wind so that we can catch up to our prey. Now it's our turn to prove that we are worthy of such favor. This is just the natural cycle of life. Let's show those men over there who is better suited to survive." With that, she takes out her symbol of Gozreh and, with a short payers, she blesses all those around her.
A man steps forward, his skin the deep blue of the sea. Selecting a heavy-looking oar from the quartermaster's stock, he tests it a bit, going through a few practice swings.
When Jaska invokes Gozreh, Lucien glances her way. "Aye, if the Sky Father favors us I'll be thankful, but it'll be the Pirate Queen whose favor'll help us win the day, make no mistake."
The first time any projectile come anywhere near Lucien, he'll activate his Shroud of Water for a +4 armor bonus to AC.
Kragor unslings his bow and nocks an arrow ready to fire. Once within range he scans the aft deck for targets before loosing two arrows in rapid succession.
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"Okay, ya dirty mops, FIRE!" Master Scourge commands everyone on deck as he grabs a crossbow of his own, preparing to shoot.
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Riaris Krine fires a Pirate Queen-guided bolt through the foggy mist, impaling one of the Rahadoumi sailors through the heart. He screams in agony as he falls overboard, landing into the sea with a sploosh. The water takes on a deep red hue as he's shredded to bits by sharks. Krine grins smugly and riles the other gunners on.
Jaska blesses the party with a prayer to Gozreh, while Kragor carefully aims and lobs a few arrows towards the aft deck. The first shot lands somewhere in the Promise's crows nest, but the second stabs a sailor through his gut, blood spraying out of the wound and onto another sailor.
A series of six bolts coming flashing across the sea, with four of them landing in the sails, masts, and wooden railing of the deck. Two of them finds a soft spot in Owlbear's shoulder and chest and he grabs the wounds in pain, almost dropping his crossbow.
"Mr. Plugg, Mr. Plugg, he got me," Owlbear yelps.
"Shaddap and keep shootin', ya damn fool!"
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As the ship comes into range Lucien extends a hand toward the ship and, as a roar of exertion escapes his lips, a great gout of water shoots forth from his hand.
Even as most of it streaks toward the vessel, some peels back and begins to orbit him, like a free-floating shield.
Bleepos laughs loudly while he picks a small light crossbow and shoots a bolt at the enemies.
Yarrrr good at it, Waterboy! Nice to have you by Bleepos side. - the Goblin says to Blue Lucien.
He then proceeds to reload the light crossbow while looking at the path of its projectile, probably closer to hit a shark on the water than someone at the enemy ship.
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Sasha lashes her tail at the weapons cache, grabbing a crossbow with it. She holds it in her hands and fires a bolt across the sea and towards the sterncastle.
The dense fog covering the sterncastle of the Man's Promise is proving to make the onslaught difficult, and both Lucien's water blast and Sasha's bolt slam into the side of the Man's Promise. Bleepos finds a gap in the fog, but the bolt bounces off the top of the wooden deck with a thud.
The Wormwood lurches forward in the sea as it closes in on the Promise, and the Rahadoumi sailors' frantic shouting becomes much more evident. "Shoot the bastards! I see 'em right there on the poop deck!"
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Jaska looks at the Undine for a second. "Besmara? If you rather her favor, I'm not the one to judge. I'm not a priest, so I'm not here to gather a flock of follower. But whatever you do, make sure to never invoke the rough beast's favor and we will get along just fine." While she is smiling, you get the feeling that she is very serious about the last part. She then turns her full attention on the sterncastle of the enemy ship. "Gozreh, guide my hands to strike down my enemies." She draws on her bow and let loose an arrow. It flies toward the enemy ship, but seem to get lost in the fog. She then repositions herself so that the group isn't all in the spot.
The Lady of the Oceans knows who she picks for her parties! - the Goblin completed, still having way more fun than he should while shooting. This time, he threw his smile towards Jaska. She seemed to be aiming at the sterncastle, so he tried to do the same.
Hee hee hee! - he laughed while reloading the light crossbow.
Kragor fires two more arrows into the fog shrouded stercastle only to frown as he hears the sounds of the arrows thunking into the wooden deck.
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The misty shroud covering the sterncastle throws off Jaska and Kragor's aim, and the bolts splash into the sea, but Bleepos finds a sweet spot through the fog and his bolt cuts a wound across a Rahadoumi sailor's shoulder. "F&*$! They got me!" He wipes a swath of blood from his arm as he aims to return fire.
Four bolts appear through the fog aimed at the poop deck, three of which pelt the deck like a rain of stones. "Argh!" Mr. Plugg grabs his chest in pain as a fourth bolt punches through his doublet. "Damn it all to hell, what the f~$~ are you lot doing? KILL THEM! We've almost got 'em here!" Even with blood pouring from the wound, he lashes his cat o' nine tails on deck.
Two ballistae on the Promise's sterncastle fire upon the Wormwood's rigging, punching deep holes through and through in a seemingly futile attempt to slow down the ship.
Lucien nods at Jaska's denouncing the Rough Beast then, having no more to say of gods while there's a battle to fight, looks back to the ship. Raising his hand, he fires another torrent of water from nowhere.
Sasha starts to take careful aim as the ship's close. then as a bolt hits Plugg, Sasha whispers in her native Abyssal tongue, Ανάθεμα την τύχη, ας ελπίσουμε ότι η επόμενη σκοτώνει ya, ya σκατό.
Anáthema tin týchi, as elpísoume óti i epómeni skotónei ya, ya skató.
seeing the ships get even closer, Sasha takes careful aim at the first person she sees at her ordered landing point, preferring an officer but any will do. instead of pulling the trigger of her crossbow, she instead points at the poor sap and black bolt strikes him.
μοιάζει με το στρατό της μητέρας θα αυξηθεί σήμερα
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Lucien's blast parts the fog for a moment, and the entire torrent of water splashes a sailor on the aft deck, bruising his chest and nearly knocking him off his feet. Sasha fires a force missile from her palm that blasts him again. He reels back but determinedly fights on. The battle continues to grow in ferocity as the Wormwood comes within sixty feet of the Man's Promise.
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As Plugg gets hit by the bolt, Jaska tries to suppress a smile. Too bad it didn't get you between your eyes... She takes aim again, this time at the aft section of the ship. Hoping to score a hit. She pulls and then release, but the arrow's fletching was badly installed and it went off course.
Kragor curses as a wisp of fog blocks his view of the other ship just as he releases his bowstring, causing his first shot to miss it's target. as he tries to compensate for the missed shot his second shot sinks solidly into the hull of the enemy ship.
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Both Jaska and Kragor can't cut through the mist and are thrown off by the shouting and madness going on as the battle rages on. Their bolts splash into the sea.
The Rahadoumi sailors on the aft deck fire two more bolts, one which flies directly overhead and into the distance, while the other is nearly on the mark and grazes Riaris Krine across the face. She mutters some profanities before quickly returning fire at the bastards.
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Bleepos once again attacks (same area of the target ship) with his light crossbow and reloads it.
Sasha waits letting the ships get closer. she takes aim at what she can discern as an officer on the aft deck of the enemy ship.
Lucien spends a few moments gesturing in strange ways, and water is noisily drawn to him, which he then unleashes at the same man on the sterncastle.
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Bleepos manages another direct hit towards the sterncastle, and the bolt impales the officer through his left lung. He chokes on blood and grips his bow tightly as he struggles to fire back. Despite his aim, the fog continues to obscure a proper view of the enemy ship, and Lucien's blast of water impacts the hull below his target. Sasha fires a bolt that strays off into the rigging and falls on deck.
The two ships draw close now, the whites of the enemy sailors' eyes now visible at just 30 feet from the poop deck.
Krine turns to the poop deck and shouts. "We almost got 'em, keep shootin'! Prepare yer ropes!"
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Aiming again at the shapes on the other boat, Jaska shoots her arrow dead on. Only to be frustrated when she hears the "Thunk" made by the arrow hitting a barrel instead of an enemy sailor. "By storm and salt! This is getting annoying."
As the two ships near one another Kragor fire off two more arrows before slinging his bow. With a grin of satisfaction he walks over to the box of weapons and grabs a cutlass as one of his arrows sinks into one of the sailors on the sternacstle.
With weapon in hand he moves to the rail to await boarding.
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Jaska grumbles in frustration as her bolt springs open a leak in a barrel of rum, but Kragor's aim is dead on - the bolt flies through the heart of a Rahadoumi sailor on the sterncastle. He chokes on blood as he stumbles over the ship's railing and into the sea, where his screaming is quickly silenced by two angry sharks.
Four Rahadoumi sailors take aim at the group on the poop deck, now fully aware of the danger posed by them. "Aim and fire at 'em! Get the bloody orc!" A barrage of bolts rains onto the team, one of them nearly skinning Bleepos' ear off clean! A second bolt skims across Sasha's shoulder and leaves a bloody scratch in its wake, while the third and fourth punch into the deck between Lucien and Jaska.
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Ouch! Almost hit my perfect earrr, yarrr! - says the Goblin pirate, back to his usual insanely happy behavior - I didn't have enough rum last night!
Bleepos drops the light crossbow and pulls his usual two melee weapons, positioning himself close to board the other ship when they touch husks. He starts looking around for the cords and mast to eventually even jump if needed - such was his life.