Reaghar stood about with the other crew, taking care to stand apart from the folks he knew and in with the folks he didn't. At the mention of dragons, his mind went a-wandering.
Hmm, I wonder what it'll be like to fight one on a ship. I had better ask one of these old salts what's what before we become what.
Instead of paying much attention to the opening speech, Sammark was much more interested in the rigging of these ships. If he was going to be trusting his life to them, he needed to know where they went and where they ended. A safety line would be needed as well, it would be a little cumbersome but the added safety and avoiding the embarrassment of relying on one of the clanners would be worth it.
The rigging looks much like what Sammark remembers from his time with the pirates. The ropes look in better condition, since they get replaced more often. The knots also seem to be in better array than he remembers, but otherwise it's pretty much what he remembers. A safety line can be used, but if time is critical, there won't be time for a safety line (such as when the ship is in battle).
What may concern Sammark more is the stingship. It's a 4th gen, so there is significantly less rigging. However, what rigging there is is very tight, and very hard to move on with a safety line. Plus the ship is generally moving at a much faster speed and taking much more in the way of G force, which means it being harder to stay on board.
Overall though, even with those caveats, there'll be less need to be a rigging monkey thanks to the design. Mostly, people will only be in the riggings for repairs, not for standard operation. The sails act as control surfaces under most circumstances, not propulsion (although they can act as a backup propulsion system if the main engines go out).
Flick bobs his head in understanding "Yes, Captain, sorry Captain." His words tumble over themselves, as is often the case when he is nervous or excited.
After a pause in the Captain's words, Connor looked up. "They want whale meat in trade." he confirmed, "but what do we want, Captain Selena?" Coughing, Connor corrected himself. "That is, what does Reville want, sir? Beyond the usual gold and gems, I mean. And are our new trading partners going to allow us to see it before you sit down at negotiations with them?" he asked. "Sir." Connor added at the end.
Selena grins. "What Selena wants is a cut of the trade. We'll get that, in spades, since we're the only ones who will go against council edict on the trade. And since we've gotten the council's ok, we won't have to worry about being smacked down. At least not until they can get the votes to make it legal, then we'll get smacked down. But we'll make a ton of profit in the meantime." She does look thoughtful though, after the standard Reville response. "Specific cargo though, we don't know yet, that's sort of the point. We're wanting to open up new trade routes to see what they have. We may flop and not find anything new worth trading for. We may luck out and find a new medicine that stops Moltrot. Who knows. It's a gamble, but it's worth it, we won't make money sitting on our wings."
"Aye, Captain." Connor said quickly, putting his head back down before any of the officers could glare at him. The Ashen Edge was a cargo ship, but the Ashen Blade was not, he calculated. After their hold was emptied of whale blubber, the Edge could hold practically anything. Ore. Exotic animals. Exotic fruits. Spices for the nobility. New cloth, new fashions. Of course, the smaller the item, the higher its' intrinsic value, to make it worthy of being carried the dozens of leagues up into Atalantia territory.
And what to trade to them? Connor hadn't seen any clockwork on board. If they were carrying gemstone, it was well-guarded. Tomes had to be sufficiently large enough to garner a librarian noble's interest, not the beginner books he was used to. The Surface was full of wizards and barbarians, who expected everything to be done by magic when it could. Magic items of sizable power were fought over, sometimes overturning entire kingdoms.
Even if the Edge and the Blade both returned fat with loot, there were the dragons to worry about. Arrogant, prideful creatures, attacking everything on sight. On land the Wingless had stone castles, fortresses built into the ground to retreat into. Skyships were made of wood, Connor realized as he stared at his feet, and wood burned very easily. Or could be made into splinters at the flick of a massive tail. And for some reason flying humanoids in skyships offended the dragons more than anything.
Once the rest of the crew is done asking questions, and most of the remaining ones are about specific questions regarding positions and such, which are waved off by the Captain, who tells people Kiana will give them their assignments. With a hearty "Get back to work you lot!", the Captain of The Edge waves the captain of The Blade to follow her, and the two disappear into the Captain's quarters.
As the new crew form up into lines and begin dealing with Kiana and a dour looking elvavian who, from conversation, is the clockwork assigned to The Blade as First Mate, things begin to get back to normal.
It takes another 3 hours, but all the crew are sorted out and assigned, and the dour Elvavain gathers up those assigned to The Blade. "Alright, someone grab the half-elf, and the rest of you will fly back with me." The flight it short, and within another hour or so, everyone is aboard the ship they have been assigned to.
The next day, the ships take off, The Edge catching the winds smartly and cutting through the early morning cloud clutter swiftly, leaving disrupted clouds in it's wake. Something the newbies pick up on quickly is that flying through clouds is a cold and damp business, leaving one's feathers soaked, one's hair soaked, and goosebumps everywhere unless you have some cold or wet weather gear. The ship has water catchers to turn the clouds into fresh clean water, but, the tanks are topped off for now, so the water just sluices off the ship for now. In the bilges, pumps are run by hand to pump out the water that accumulates down there.
The next few weeks fall into a pattern of work, rest, eat, work, rest, eat. Shifts are set up so that people are on for four hours, off eight, on four, off eight. 3 shifts. That takes a bit of getting used to.
Connor was grateful for purchasing the cold weather gear after they flew through the first night of clouds. He also took one of the larger waterproof bags he had and improvised it into a mini-backpack, in order to keep what was in his belt pouches dry. Nobody mentioned how wet skyship flying can make you, when they talked at the dinner table. Connor thought to himself.
--------
Based on what we discussed earlier, if Reaghar has the time over 3 weeks, Connor will work with him to craft:
- 1 Psionic Tattoo of Call Item (1 pp, 20 min, 10 gp limit)
- 3 Psionic Tattoos of Force Screen (1 pp, 2 min.). One for Alister, one for Reaghar, and one for Alys.
- 1 Psionic Tattoo of Astral Construct (1 pp, 3 menus, 4 hrs; Utility construct with wings) to give to Sammark. This will be a "backup" for Sammark, it will make an Astral Construct to catch him when he goes overboard, and will fly him back to the ship (or wherever directed).
- Power Stone of Vigor to make one Psionic Tattoo of Vigor (2 pp, 10 temp hp, 2 min.) to give to Alister
I'll wait for mdt and Reaghar to say "yes" before putting them on my spreadsheet, and then for the individuals to say "yes" before marking them off. :)
---------
Halvavian Tillek was all right, Connor thought, a couple of days later. But the Master Gunner on the Ashen Edge was something else. He...it...was entirely red! So far Connor had avoided MG Sig’ren by ducking down the corridor whenever he saw the lizard-like thing coming, but sooner or later he would be given duty at the gunners' station with the rest of the newbies. Connor liked the Bosun the best, which was good, since Connor had to work with him almost every shift as they inspected the ship for things to repair. Once you got past the gruff exterior Jimmy was like an old uncle.
Connor remembered the phrase "no honor among seamen" from his Clan . He hadn't thought much of it at the time, until now. The only difference between an Able and an Ordinary was time. Connor could have lorded it over the Midshipmen, but he didn't care, unlike a certain Able named Brass.
The only problem with their cargo was the occasional high-flying predator bird the smell attracted to the Ashen Edge. Still, Alys and Elrohir had said they wanted target practice. Which reminded him, Connor was still trying to arrange a day shift that they all had off together to do the "duck hunt". Maybe today...
Reaghar will make psionic tattoos for the PCs primarily, only making tattoos for others at a considerable markup (due to scarcity of supplies). Not wanting to be too much of a jerk about it, Reaghar will tell the regular crew that he will give them the tattoos at a more reasonable price when he can get access to more special inks.
As for regular tattoos, he can do those until the cows come home provided that there is something to use for ink (berries, dark rubbery leaves, etc.).
Aside from scribing tattoos (or while scribing tattoos, as appropriate), Reaghar will get to know some of the rank-and-file crew. He will mostly try to learn what they can do, what the more experienced ones do in the event of ship-to-ship combat, shiv-vs-dragon combat, what to do when the ship goes down, see if any of them know about the surface, etc.
With respect to the Captain and other high-mucky-mucks, Reaghar will do his best to stay off the radar, at least not make a negative impression.
For those tasks, Reaghar will enter the room, stand in the corner and threaten dismemberment for any who mess up their tasks.
if necessary to intimidate. Reaghar is friendly with the middies when they are on off time, but on duty he is serious as stone.
Alys will ask around the crew, if anyone has the ability to teach her some faster shooting.
Asking around, you find that The Blade's first mate, Lanliss, teaches classes regularly and includes training in rapidly firing a weapon in an emergency.
Arranging to take training is usually not a problem. Kiana has no problem altering watch shifts for people to train. Any other reason though, is turned down.
Sam works quickly and efficiently on the ship, pulling his weight and reigning in his worse impulses to snark at the crew. Of course, given half an opportunity he does establish that he is not to be a target.
With Sammark staying out of the way, he's neither remarked on, nor remarkable. He actually finds it much more disciplined than the pirate crew he worked with. There's little or no hard hazing, and no violent beating of shipmates. At worst, people may get in a fist fight here and there, but it's very quiet and usually in the ship's hold to settle a real or imagined dispute.
Practical jokes run rampant, however, especially on the middys and newbies. Some of them aren't all that nice (like the scorpion in the boot). But nothing life threatening.
The ships have been underway for 2.5 weeks now, and spotted the northern continent on the horizon this morning. The crew has been kind of tense all day, but things are relaxing as third shift comes on in the afternoon, and 1st shift prepares to head off to bed.
<= 33 - On Dute
<= 66 - Awake
>= 67 - Asleep
Alys is ready for bed, and Connor is tied up in his work polishing a brass fitting that he's worked hard on repairing the last two days.
On The Blade, Elrohir is about to head below decks to get some rest, when he notices a flicker of motion on the horizon. Grabbing a spyglass from the rack near the rail, he flicks the spyglass out, and looks through, seeing a sight that chills his very bones. "DRAGONS! DRAGONS! BLUE AND BROWN! DRAGONS!"
A second later, Captain Sivalla's voice echos over the ship. "EVERYONE TO COMBAT POSITIONS! ENGINEERING! MAXIMUM POWER! GUNNERY! UNLIMBER THE DRAGONBANE CANNONS! ALL OVERWATCH FLIGHTS AWING! THIS IS NO DRILL! LETS KILL US SOME DRAGONS!" Her voice is cold as the deepest ice in the farthest part of the northern pole.
On The Edge, Reaghar, like Elrohir, is about to go down to get some shuteye, when he too notices a flicker of motion on the horizon. With a spyglass, he too sees the chilling sight. "DRAGONS! DRAGONS DEAD AHEAD!"
Before Reaghar's even finished, Kiana's voice cuts across the deck. "COMBAT POSITIONS! ALL CREW! COMBAT POSITIONS! MASTER GUNNER POWDER STORE IS UNLOCKED! GET THOSE CANNONS SET UP ON THE FORE DECK!"
Repair Crew is to try to repair what it can in combat, repel boards, and keep the officers appraised of damage. They are to fly the ship's hull regularly to alert the officers to any damage below decks, or any boarding holes.
Overwatch Flights are to fly overwatch above the ships, downing dragons when they can, and keeping the ship alerted to danger.
Middy's are to act as corpsmen, pulling any wounded or dead sailors below decks, and repelling boarders.
Engineering crew are to keep the engines and guns going, giving repairs as needed. Also repel boarders.
Scout Crew are to take command of any deck crew they need who are not already on duty, and form teams to repell boarders and attack enemies at range if possible.
Deck Crew (those not on any other crew) are to repel boarders and obey all orders.
Tactical map added above. The dragons are currently 1750 ft away from the ships, each square on the map is 50 ft. The dragons can fly 200 ft per turn if advancing, or less if using ranged attacks. The larger dragons are between 50 and 100 ft long, the medium ones between 25 and 50 ft, and the small icons with multiple dragons represent shoals (10 to 25) dragons ranging from 5 to 25 ft in length.
Just to Clarify,
It'll be about 5 rounds of combat before extreme range weaponry becomes involved (cast spells or weapons), and probably 4-5 more before things progress to boarding parties.
When we get to the long range things, I'll put maps up of the deck plans, so people can position themselves on the ships.
I'll be taking this round by round, so people have a chance to react to the enemy closing in. So we're currently in round 1.
Connor is tied up in his work polishing a brass fitting that he's worked hard on repairing the last two days
Connor was about ready to manifest an Astral Construct on this fitting. So far he had managed to hide his abilities from the rest of the crew, but as soon as he cut a corner by making his own ectoplasmic tool so the original didn't get dirty, or have a construct to clean a room so he could work slower on something, Jimmy the Bosun just added more work. It was like they were counting the coppers he was hypothetically making each minute on shift, and trying to get the most work out of them each day. Connor hadn't even had Hero do a thorough walk-around of the Ashen Blade yet - he needed the heightened awareness the psicrystal brought him just to not miss an item that needed repairing. Even outside of salt water and salt air, brass and iron still rusted, because of the temperature and moisture changes the skyship went through every day.
Connor thought he heard Reaghar, up on deck. Shrugging, he continued polishing. Then the captain's voice called out. Combat positions. Connor looked at the brass in his hands, and swore. He fitted the brass piece back into the wall before some gunner Able arrived and shoved him out of the way, collecting his tools.
Sam exhales, reaching out to the ambient energies around him. His powers would not be that useful if the dragons were anywhere other than right next to the ship and he did not know how much he could really hurt them even then. Still, he reached for fire and felt the atoms in the air respond.
Reaghar curses, and moves abovedecks. Once there, he regains his psionic focus to switch his active enemy type to dragon.
Can't those overbearing lizards wait a little bit? Perhaps eight to ten hours, preferrably? Mind bolt assembling in her left hand Alys heads back up to the deck, not sure wether she should be annoyed or scared.
The Edge slows it's forward momentum, the sails fluffing and then popping as they are moved to catch air instead of wind. The Blade on the other hand, suddenly accelerates, and swoops into a sudden turn racing for the front of The Edge, the tiny stingship taking the lead rather than pacing beside her bigger sister.
The dragons fly on steadily, keeping formation. It's nearly impossible to get a good look at the ones in the back, the smaller dragons seem to be flying in formation to block line of sight of the ones in the back.
Crew scramble around the ships. The Edge's Master Gunner comes up on the deck carrying a cask of gunpowder, a big grin on his scaly face. "Alright you idgits, let's go blow some $#*$#*#$& dragons out the $@#*$$#&* sky!" The gunnery crews, who are assembly, cheer at that.
Kiana flies forward, very forward, to the tip of the forward boom. She lands atop the prominance, the Captain having taken the wheel. "Alright maggots, make your shots count. And show no mercy, they sure as hell won't!" Another ragged cheer from the crew. The First Mate pulls her bow off her back and get's ready.
On The Blade, Selven staggers out of the hold, last of those who were sleeping to get out of the room. As he heads up the stairs to the main engineering area, the Chief Gunner grabs him by the arm. "Yo, Cadet. You're on." He jerks open a closet that the crew had been banned from (the whole forward section of the second deck was off limits to all crew except the gunnery crew). He roughly shoves Selven into the closet, which has obviously been jury rigged since pipes are coming through the back wall leading to the forward section. "Sit down, shut up, strap in." He points to a gauge on the wall. "Red we're all Dead! Blue, Dragon Gonna Eat You!" The gauge's needle is currently half-way between blue and red, with about two inches on either side before encountering red or blue. "Flow control valve!" He puts Selven's left hand on a valve. "Elemental!" He points to an opal set into the pipe. Which is odd. Quartz for Air, Ruby for Fire, Sapphire for Water, and Garnet for Earth is the classic crystal arrangement for elementals. "Wear it or be deaf!" He points to a pair helmet of some odd type on the wall, it appears to be designed to clamp down around the head, completely blocking off the ears. "Strap up, strap in, don't leave!" He points to harness on the wall, then slams the door closed, leaving Selven in the little cramped closet. There are several eyebolts in the beams, obviously intended for the harness to clip to.
When Selven puts his hand on the opal, it's cold to the touch, just above freezing. "HIIAM Janga, who aaaaarrrrreeeeeee yyyyyyooooooouuuuuuu?" The crystal's voice is odd in that it's speed varies as it speaks in Selven's head. Fast like a hyperactive child one second, and then so slow that it takes seconds for the words to be formed.
On The Blade, there is a sudden escalation of noise, coming from deep in the ship. It sounds like dozens of chariots suddenly racing down the inside of the hull. There's also clangs and bangs from inside the hull. About 2/3rds of the crew on the deck look nervous. The only ones not looking nervous are the Captain, the First Mate, and the Gunnery Crew working on the forward cannon. "Steady on everyone, prepare to blow some dragons out of the sky." The captain says, her clear light voice cutting through the noise.
Begin Round 2
Round 2 of the Dragon fight
Connor ran up to get out of MG Sig'ren's way on the stairs. He found the Bosun, who was looking forward into the sky. Just as Connor was about to ask what the enemy was, Sig'ren answered with his announcement. "Dragons?" Connor repeated. He wondered what color they were. The stories said some colors were immune to various energy types. But Connor didn't remember which ones were immune to what. Then the First Mate was shouting.
Connor looked at the deck tools in the kit he held. "We're repair - so we...wait?" he asked Jimmy. Connor didn't have any weapon or power that would help at this range. He made the mental pause, getting that focal point behind his eyes. Connor chose the thunder of the storm for his energy type. He would need to armor up before the dragons got in range.
Jimmy nods at Connor. "We repair, we watch for damage, we do underflights to check the hull when they hit us, and they will. We also repel boarders. The little ones will hit first, swarm us. Then the big ones will come into breathing range and try to blow the hull. Those things of yours are fire and forget right, so feel free to summon a few to attack the swarm." The old bosun seems calm.
He's not though, he's nervous but hiding it.
The Edge shudders to a relative standstill as the sails slow it down, and then they luff as the booms are adjusted and then dropped by crew. Only the smaller positioning sails are left, to help the ship hold station.
The Blade suddenly slams it's engines into reverse, slotting itself neatly inbetween the dragons and The Edge, 100 ft ahead. It is still moving forward, but very slowly now.
The crews of the two ships keep moving, getting into positions, readying things. The gunnery crews begin loading cannons and ballista bolts.
"Forward Overflight! Retreat to mid-deck position on my order!" The Captain of The Blade calls out, and deck hands pick up the order and repeat it so the overflight can hear it.
Kiana draws an arrow and knocks it. As do several other crewmen. Still others pull out revolver rifles with large scopes on them. They kneel down by the railing at the foredeck, and begin taking aim. "Fire on my mark only..." Kiana calls out, her feet clamped tightly to the jutting bowsprit. "Hundred Gold Pieces to the first one with a confirmed kill." The strix says with a merry tone in her voice.
"C'mon, c'mon," Sam said, staring out at the swarming dragons. With the speeds they were moving, attempting to agitate the atoms of the dragons would not be effective as they would rapidly move out of his range. He would have to focus on simple blasts of energy to harm them.
Flick flies back closer from where he was, getting closer to his ship, in case he needed to land. Or, heavens forbid, crash land.
Drawing upon his inner energies, Elrohir enhances his bow to deal deadlier wounds.
Reaghar waits as tension builds, the dragons are out of his range.
(before the actual fighting starts, he will manifest Vigor and OFfensive Prescience.)
NPC attacks at Max Range.
Flick decides to hold his fire, knowing full well that he is unlikely to hit one of the dragons at this range.
Round 3
So Jimmy had been his Astral Constructs. Guess you couldn't keep anything a secret here onboard the ship. "They make better servants than fighters; the fighter-types don't last long enough." Connor told the older man.
Connor manifested Inertial Armor, feeling the psychokinetic force wrapping around him.
Round 4
As everyone around him shouted orders and acknowledgements, Connor concentrated again. A gob of goo formed in mid-air in front of him, getting larger as it took on a humanoid shape with wings.
Craft (Sculpting) check:
A result of 20 to 29 creates a construct that looks like an accurate portrayal of that creature type.
N Small construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception -
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size)
HP 15 (1d10+10)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0; Immune construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed Fly 20 ft. (Average)
Melee (only if changed; duration goes from 4 hours to 4 rounds; slam +2 (1d6+3 with Improved Slam Attack (Ex))
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 10
BAB +1, CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats -
Skills: Can perform any simple task of DC 10 or less for its' duration.
SPECIAL ABILITIES (Two options from Menu A; one option from Advanced Constructs Menu A)
Fly (Ex)
Improved Slam Attack (Ex) (in case it changes to attack)
Utility (Ex)
When Connor was done shaping it, he commanded Wait until damage from the dragons is done to the ship. Then inspect the under mid-ship hull for damage. If found, report back to me. If you are attacked by a dragon, change to attack mode and attack back until you are gone. Connor had the little construct stand by the railing.
Well Hero, Connor sent to the psicrystal around his neck, you wanted adventure. Here it comes in big scaly forms. Connor hoped the others would survive this battle.
Holding psionic focus (Energy type=Sonic); Power Points=9/11; AC=18/14/14; Active Power=Inertial Armor manifested (2 hour duration); one Astral Construct active
Round 4
The dragon's advance another 200 ft, keeping in formation. It appears they are travelling at the slowest speed amongst them, the brown wyrmlings, keeping the younger dragons as a screen in front of the older dragons.
Round 5
The ships advance another 25 ft. Range to Dragons - 650 to 750 ft
NPC attacks.
One of the brown wyrmlings go spinning out of formation, a fountain of blood marking it's flight trail. It struggles back into formation. A roar goes up from The Edge as they draw first blood. Or at least, most visible first blood.
"That's it! Give it to them!" Kiana carols back, clearly delighted.
On The Blade, Sivalla grinds her teeth. "If you lot make me loose a bottle of scotch to that winged pirate, I'll have every blasted one of you sanding the hull and re-varnishing Blade the rest of this trip!" The deminuitive captain growls out. "Prepare to retract hull plates! All hands! All Hands! Stand by for Dragon Bane! Overflight, fall back to midship position now!"
Now that the dragons are a bit closer, Flick takes aim at one, focuses his mind, and lets fly an arrow.
Round 5
Holding psionic focus (Energy type=Sonic); Power Points=8/11; AC=18/14/14 with IA; Active Power=Inertial Armor manifested (2 hour duration); two Astral Constructs active
Over the hustle and shouting, Connor manifested again, this time making an Astral Construct looking at the bow third of the ship.
Craft (Sculpting) check:
A result of 10 to 19 creates a creature that is recognizably similar to the desired creature shape.
N Small construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception -
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size)
HP 15 (1d10+10)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0; Immune construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed Fly 20 ft. (Average)
Melee (only if changed; duration goes from 4 hours to 4 rounds; slam +2 (1d6+3 with Improved Slam Attack (Ex))
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 10
BAB +1, CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats -
Skills: Can perform any simple task of DC 10 or less for its' duration.
SPECIAL ABILITIES (Two options from Menu A; one option from Advanced Constructs Menu A)
Fly (Ex)
Improved Slam Attack (Ex) (in case it changes to attack)
Utility (Ex)
Round 5 - Ballista Redub
Alys walks up to the bow of the ship and lays the barrel of her mind bolt over her right arm, aiming in the direction of the incoming dragons and waiting patiently. At this distance her shots would dissipate before reaching the creatures. They would be in range soon enough.
Round 5
The dragons move up another 200. Range : 450 to 550 (Blade), 550 to 650 (Edge)
Round 6
The ships move forward another 25 ft, The Edge swings back around, canting the port side toward the dragons.
NPC attacks.
The half-dragon kobold roars, and the cannon follows suit, matched with the sudden boom of The Blade's forward cannon firing. As the smoke clears though, the crews of both ships let out a disappointed sound, no hits.