"Can ya see?!" Shouts the man with the cow laughter. "Arm Westlan'. Or dey might call it in yor parts - paw wrestlan," He says and laughs again. "You want nehxt?"
Ah,yes, a test of strength. I will try my "paw" at it.
Rougar sits down to begin.
Rougar sits down to arm wrestle with the previous winner from the game.
"A gold piece of Rouqaresh. Any takers?" Sandara says. Then unfolds a series of small bets around the contest.
Across from Rougar is a male drawf with a huge, gnarled nose. "Yer goin' down, lad." He says.
He beats Rougar pretty handily. Sandara frowns as the winnings are doled out to her detriment.
"Double, or nothin'! She shouts, seeming to have become a bit inebriated.
"Hah! I could whip this twerp all day, if ye like." Says the dwarf.
Gill watches as Scourge tosses restlessly for a while, then falls asleep. The soot-faced woman stays up long into the night, polishing shot and fiddling with papers, writing on them with a quill. The rest of the officers slowly file back into the room to take their place in their hammocks over the course of the night.
Rougar sets up for another go.
Still a little bit woozy from the lash, but I'm ready this time.
Gill exits the area and heads to his own sleeping quarters. He stashes his rum in his footlocker sneakily and takes off his armor. Gill falls asleep with a determined expression.
The dwarf puts on a determined look and matches Rougar.
Rougar overpowers the dwarf and slams his hand into the table.
"Ah-hah!" Sandara shouts and collects her money. She stands and puts her hand on Rougar's shoulder. "To Rouqaresh!" She cheers, holding her bottle up and then drains her rum.
The group in the main hold go on arm wrestling into the night, but begin thinning out and eventually have all gone to rest in their respective berths.
Good fun, all, but it's time to retire.
Rougar then goes down to his bunk and sleeps.
In the morning the bell rings for biscuit on deck. Rougar, Gill and Ensra find that Scourge is particularly cold to them, glaring and rarely saying a single word. Mr. Plugg treats them with his typical indifference, dashed with a hint of contempt.
Sandara looks a bit worse for ware, likely having drunk a bit too much rum the night before. Many of the other crew look the same, and their motivation is lacking. They trudge around the deck, just barely fast enough to complete their given tasks. Ensra seems fine and he gives Rougar and Gill a barely perceptible smile.
The weather seems to have cooled a bit from the day before, but a grey sheet of clouds creeps in at dawn and covers the sky. There is still quite a bit of humidity, but without the sun burning down, it almost feels refreshing.
Rougar is assigned to be the lookout in the crows next.
Gill is assigned to hunt turtles for making supper. He is supplied with harpoons and nets to do so.
Rougar climbs up to the crow's nest to perform his duties, but keeps an eye out for opportunities to get to know his fellow riggers.
The other crew working the rigging with Rougar include the gnome with the eye patch, although he does not wear his purple wide-brimmed hat while in the rigging. There is also the woman who appears never to wear shoes, the rat-faced halfing, whose long arms make him fly through the rigging like a monkey, and the large dark skinned man with the accent. Additionally there is a woman with a brooding and violent look on her face, who gives anyone near her a suspicious eye and the dwarf with the crooked nose Rougar arm wrestled the night before.
Gill grunts and gathers his tools to hunt, he starts right away without a word
When Gill is finished he mills about deck and tries to locate the female magical officer he saw the night before.
Gill's condition doesn't worsen, but he is still sickened.
Rougar's attempts to converse with the big man are cut short, as he doesn't seem interested in being distracted from his work, which he performs diligently all day. Rougar does squeeze a name from the man, which is Maheem. If insistent, Maheem tells Rougar to mind his own business.
Rougar steers the ship clear of a whale, as well as assists Gill in located groups of sea turtles. The day grows increasingly humid, but maintains the same overcast dullness.
Both Rougar and Gill fulfill their duties well enough, at least, to avoid punishment. Kroop prepares a turtle soup and the sails are finally allowed to rest, as well as the hard working crew.
After the bloody hour and food and rations are distributed, Scourge is seen dragging Owlbear up onto the deck. A half dozen crew members have gathered and are jeering and speaking boisterously. As Gill, Rougar and Ensra move closer to see what is happening, they notice that Scourge is actually undoing the chains binding Owlbear.
"Listen up," Scourge shouts over the noise. "Tonight we'll be havin' some special entertainment. A bit of sport. A bit of a... test of mettle, if ye' will." A few in the gathered crowd are jabbing at the air, as if fighting invisible enemies, all in some sort of minor display to show their aptitude. "I'll bet one hundred gold colds that not a one of ye' can beat e'm. No weapons, no magic and the first to lose consciousness loses the match."
Rougar looks around uncomfortably.
Gill, isn't that your simple friend?
Gill's gaze shoots to Owlbear with at first an expression of sadness followed by a slow sliding grin and raise of an eyebrow.
"Yes it is Kitty... Yes it is... I have something."
Gill walks forward straight up to Owlbear and his captors and performs a silly bow.
"Ey there govna' fear yer 'bout to lose 100 gold pretties. My kobold clan was known for giant slaying. I think I can punch 'im silly so long as allow me to shake his hand and smell his scent first. Clan tadition in punch ups ya see."
Gill crosses his arms and waits for a reply.
Scourge eyes up Gill as he talks, glancing around at the other crew member's action, gauging them nearly as much as he does Gill.
Scourge's eyes narrow on Gill, for a long moment. Then he grins and says "It won't make any difference. Let's see the coin." Scourge then pulls out a sack of coins and tosses it to the man to his left, Maheem. Maheem drops to his knees and pours the coins on the deck and then counts them. "Wahn Handrad," He says, then puts them back in the sack, stands and hands it to Scourge.
Rougar sees Ensra whispering to Sandara and pointing at Gill. Sandara nods and Ensra gestures with his hand in the pocket of his robe, then moves his hand to his mouth. He begins whispering again with his hand covering his mouth, continuing to point at Gill.
Gill hears a whisper that none else seem to hear.
Sandara will back the bet.
Gill looks behind himself then back to the sack of gold. "My maties will back up the bag of shinies."
Gill looks at Owlbear with a smile and holds out his hand to shake.
Rougar stands silently in the crowd with arms crossed. He is unsure of what is about to happen and watches vigilantly for signs of trouble.
Owlbear smiles and holds his hand out and shakes Gill's. He lets out a pleased humming noise.
Sandara approaches Scourge with a jingling bag bouncing in her hand, bobbing it gentle. "Ye don't trust us? Where we gunna go if we don't pay up ey, Scourgie?"
Gill ignores the others and pulls Owlbear close to him, he nuzzles around his head faking a sniffing around his hair, he whispers, "You are my friend, let's play, you let me win we play with the piggies, I hit you you play dead."
Gill looks deeply into Owlbear's eyes and raises his fists.
"I be ready as ever me hearty."
Owlbear lunges forward, laughing heartily as he does. He makes a wide swinging punch at Gill, oblivious to the tremendous power and the effect it may have on the kobold. "Piggies!"
Gill dodges the blow, Owlbears fist whistling narrowly by his shoulder.
Gill jumps around Owlbear and tumbles behind his back unleashing the mightiest punch he can muster and letting out a battle scream.
Gill notices that Owlbear seems to be blind in one eye. Utilizing his acrobatics, Gill moves around Owlbear and wallops him in the back.
Owlbear spins and wails in pain, he falls to the ground and struggles to get back up, putting on quite the convincing performance.
"Gettup, ya damn lummox!" Shouts Scourge. Drawing a club from from a stack of supplies, Scourge throws it at Owlbear. Owlbear confusedly grabs the club and stands back up, swinging it about with tremendous force.
Gill looks shocked for a moment and begins serious combat maneuvers. He hops around Owlbear gets close and unleashes another blow to Owlbear's blindside. When attacks and is close he says, "Play nice! fall!"
Owlbear puts on an air of pain and frustration and staggers backwards and falls onto his rear. He holds his hands in front of his face and shouts out "No! No more fight!"
Scourge scowls and shouts "Knock'im out, or the bet is off!" And he kicks Owlbear forward with his boot.
Gill makes no waste of time and swings around with a blow aimed at his bad eye and shouts, "SLEEP"
Owlbear moves forward, tears streaming from his face, but does not see Gill slip around to his side. When Gill's fist hits the side of Owlbear's face, Owlbear shudders for a split second, then falls to the ground in an attempt to look unconscious.
Many of the crew cheer, except Scourge who continues brooding, along with some of the crew closer to him. The cheering dies down after a few moments and Scourge pipes up. "Alllright. Alright. Here's yer damn winnin's. Looks like yer a bit more nasty than ye' look."
Much of the crew seems to eye Gill differently now, with a bit more reverence and perhaps a bit of fear.
Rougar approaches Gill with a sense of bewilderment on his face.
I don't know how you did that, but I suppose I should call you Gill the Giant Slayer from now on.
Gill wipes the sweat from his brow and laughs. "It's all in the technique". He grins at Rougar and turns to the crowd and exclaims "So now yous all sees, yer little cook can wield more than a roasted chicken!"
Gill let's out a puny roar and throws his arms in the air.
He then walks over to Owlbear and helps him up whispering in his ear "you did well friend I owe you big time."
Owlbear seems a little shaken up by the whole ordeal, his eyes puffy and worried, but he nods at Gill. Whether or not this is a knowing gesture, Gill cannot tell.
Scourge takes Owlbear down below decks again and the rest of the crew disperses to go about their nightly reverie.
Gill sees the sorcerer officer standing over on the railing. Her thin dress is blowing in the wind as she looks out to sea. Before Gill can move to speak with her, Sandara steps up to him and holds her hand out. "Well I think the winnin's be yers, Gill, but the front coin was mine, yeah?"
Gill grins and takes his coin but holds onto Sandara's sleeve for a moment. "As much as it pains me to do this take 50 of this and spread it amoungst yourself and the crew. Just make sure they know it's from Gill the Giant Slayer."
Gill hands her 50 and keeps 50 for himself then nods and heads over to the lady sorcerer.
Rougar eats his meal for the night and disposes of his rum. He is unsure if his suspicions about the rum hold true anymore, but feels no desire to drink it and sees disposing it as a slight to Scourge.
Rougar goes down to the hold to see what activities the crew are engaging in.
"That'll make a couple friends. Sure thing." Sandara says and heads off to distribute to the coin.
As Gill approaches the woman leaning on the railing she speaks, "Impressive fight there. How'd you get Owlbear to lie down like that?"
Belowdecks, Rougar finds some of the crew arm wrestling again, but this time the stakes have been raised. Around the makeshift table are scraps of sharp metal and pieces of glass. The contestants struggle to keep their hands from being sliced open.
Rougar uncomfortably watches a few rounds before speaking to whomever is next to him in the crowd.
Why do they do this to each other? Do they wish to harm the other?
"This ain't the life for kindly considerations, lad. A pirate goes willingly into danger, not just for the reward but for the infamy. The more reckless a situation 'e comes outta', the more folks know 'e ain't to be trifled with. This sorta thing," She says pointing to the pair wrestling arms over the sharp debris. "Is jus' a small bit o' the notion." The woman speaking is Grok. She looks quite drunk, despite her conversational ability.
Rougar thinks on this for a moment, furrowing his brow and twitching his whiskers all the while.
Then it is another test? To see if one would walk through the fire. Very intriguing. The more I spend time with your lot, I see there is much we have in common.
When there is an opening, Rougar volunteers to be the next challenger.
Gill grins and shrugs "It's an old secret I learned in Waterdeep, not much to it really. I approached you because I saw you for the first time last night. You are an officer yes? Like Scourge is?"
Rougar sits down opposite Maheem, who grins devilishly and holds out his hand, elbow on the table between pieces of jagged glass.
"Yes, but not like Scourge. He's a disciplinarian and a task master. I serve other uses. Ones that are not of the every-day. But they are crucial none the less." She turns and leans back with her elbows on the railing. Many metallic bracelets dangle on her wrists. Although she has turned towards Gill, her head is turned sideways, watching the water and the sky crawl past the ship.