You all manage to get a decent night sleep and recover from the fatique of the night before. When you go to leave the lower deck to start the days work. Four other crew members block your way. Sandara identified them the night before as Aretta Bansion, Fipps Chumlett, Jaundiced Jape, and Slippery Sy Lonegan. Sandara told you the night before to becareful of them.
In a Hurry? Fipps Chumlett asks with a malicious smile on his face.
"Not really" Allende flippantly replies. "But I'm sure the Captain will have our hides if we're not on time. So, if you'd mind?"
"I`ve been t' sea often, but nerehad me belongings taken away from me before. I aim t' get them aft." he tells Allende, believing he can trust him.
"Well, I've been told the quartermaster has it all. If I get any time tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can find him." Allende remarks.
Lucanorr scowls and puts his face close to his possible assailant, so Chumlett can better hear Lucanorr yell at him.
"Like most people, I like to take a piss in the mornin'. I'd planned on doing it off the stern, but I can piss on you if you like. Looks like there's enough lard on you I couldn't miss if I downed ten shots o' the rum Grok likes to serve us and spun around blindfolded a few times before lettin' loose.
You tell me, Chumlett. Am I in a hurry?"
Chumlett retreats behind Jaundiced Jape in fear. Aretta Bansion looks nervous but Jaundiced Jape and Syl Lonegan look unimpressed. The half-orc just scowls at you.
Slippery Syl Lonegan is another story.
sod this! she cries and swings at Allende.
The wild swing misses but the fight is on.
"What the hell!" Allende exclaims as he wheels back from Sly's fist. That was it. He had been shanghaied physically and metaphysicly and he had finally had enough. With a yell of rage he punches Sly.
"I'm in a hurry to get you sorry louts out of my sight!" Ashrem yells as he quickly rushes the half-orc and let's his right fist fly.
Sandara did give me my knife back, but that would escalate things. Best not use it unless your life really is on the line, Luc...
"Finally! A proper brawl!" Lucanorr feints a left punch at Jape and switches to swing an uppercut with his right fist at the last second.
Lucanorr's uppercut swings directly under Jape's jaw, lifting him up for a second with what looks like it will be a nasty bruise.
Lucanorr's uppercut heads towards Jape, but he dodges out of Lucanorr's way at the last second.
After being abducted and disrespected yesterday, Vaelor isn't in the mood for any s%%#e from the four ugly picaroons standing in his way. "That's right, tell 'em mate!" he thinks after hearing Lucanorr's comeback.
As the fight begins he says to himself "Now this be me kind o' crew!"
AS Syl finishes her unsuccessful swing at Allende, Ashrem leaps to attack.
"I'm in a hurry to get you sorry louts out of my sight!" Ashrem yells as he quickly rushes the half-orc and let's his right fist fly.
Jape reels away from Ashrem's blow only to step into an upper cut from Lucanorr that knocks him back on top of Fipps Chumlett.
Allende strikes back at his attacker, and gives her a solid blow to the jaw.
Vaelor moves in on Aretta Bansion the only pirate not already engaged in combat. Aretta and manages to stumble out of the way of his attack.
Jape facing two determined opponents that know how to handle themselves scrambles to get away. Fipps is right behind him up the ladderway. Seeing Jape, and Fipps flee, the already shaken Aretta has no desire to stay and fight and follows them as fast as she can.
Having been deserted by her "allies" and faced with fighting all four of you on her own Syl retreats after the others.
Lucanorr watches the other pirates retreat up the ladder. "Well, folks, I reckon we'd better become best mates real fast. Folks like that'll either take the message and back down for good or wait to jump you on your own. I dont know any of you from Cayden, but it looks like we are all in this together now."
Lucanorr gestures towards the ladder.
"After you,gents."
"Yeah, that seemed t' work pretty well. Nice bit o' fightin', mates! Vaelor says.
He looks the others in the eyes and says "Say, I dasn't know about ye, but I dasn't like bein' crimped an' used fer slave labor. I doubt any o' these others do either. I say let`s start t' get them on our side."
"Now I be nay lookin' t' get keelhauled, but I aint looin' t' gettin' hornswaggled either. We get enough o' th' others an' we can get that damn captain t' dance th' hempen jig!"
It is another nice day. The sky is blue and the few clouds are high and far away. There is a good fresh breeze blowing from the south-east.
Lucanorr Swab the Decks-make a DC 10 Constitution check or Strength check failing either results in being fatigued at the end of the day.
Allende Rat Catcher-requiring either a DC 10 Stealth check, Survival check,or Dexterity check to catch and kill enough rats,
cockroaches, and beetles for a good day’s work.
Ashrem luckily Fishguts is mostly sober this morning,Turtle Hunting-Hunting leatherback sea turtles with harpoons, treble hooks, and nets. A DC 10 Profession (fisherman) or Survival check provides enough food. A failed check results in a day in the bilges as punishment the following day
Allende looks around. This would have never been tolerated on a proper boat. He turns to those who helped. "What was that all about?" he asks as he comes up on deck. Spotting Master Scourge he starts to report the fight but then comes to the realization that Scourge was behind it. Whispering he asks the others "What does Scourge stand to gain by making us look bad?"
Regardless, he is surprised by his latest task. After his stellar performance of the day before he had expected to have been given the same job. Instead he was pest control, one of the lowliest jobs on the ship and a job greatly neglected on the Wormwood. He soon discovers he cannot just catch the rats so he takes the opportunity to visit the kitchen and of course just happening to stop at the quartermaster to pick up the most spoiled cheese he can find. Using it as bait he attempts to catch the rats.
The cheese just barely does the trick.
That dirty bastard... First he forces us aboard against our will, and now he's setting other pirates against us. I have about had enough of his games...
"Either we're making his lackeys look bad by doing a good job on this ship, or he's a sadistic bastard who enjoys making others miserable. I think it may be both." Ashrem whispers back.
He reports down to the galley and takes a look at what's on the menu for the evening. He's a bit surprised to see Fishguts more sober than he would have expected to be possible. Ashrem takes the opportunity to get to know the cook. If the conversation looks like it is going well, Ashrem will mention the "wake up call" from this morning and ask Fishguts if he'd mind if a few kitchen utensils go "missing" so that they would have a way to protect themselves in case next time turns ugly.
The turtle hunting goes smoothly though Ashrem feels sorry for the sea turtles. He whispers a prayer for each of the turtles he kills, thanking them for their sacrifice to provide food for the crew.
Vaelor notices that Master Scourge seems displeased that he and the others made it past the thugs. I need t' get myself ou' o' this bilge water situation! I feel like takin' that picaroon on 'bout now!
Vaelor does his daily duties, but tries to get a good layout of the ship and become familiar with the different areas.
The rank bastards stole all your gear didn't they. God's I hates this ship. He shakes his head. It’s poison, this ship, but don’t let anyone hear you say it aloud. The hull listens, see, and the cap’n hears it all. Poison the Wormwood is, though, rotten to the core. You’ll not meet a more nasty, sour piece of work than Cap’n Harrigan in all your
days at sea, and his crew’s the same, ’specially the first mate, Mr. Plugg. Vicious little sod, he is. He’d take his own mother’s liver to the butcher to make pies with, he would. But they leave me alone, mostly. They know I can’t ’arm ’em.
He sit's quietly for a few moments before sighing. Ya seem the good sort Ashrem. So, take what ya think ya need. Just leave me enough tools to work with eh. he leans over and motions for you to lean in close. when you do he whispers What ya need ta do though is to get in good with ol' Grok. She's 'as a thing for fine spirits she does. Get her a good bottle of somethin' and get her feeling all friendly like t'wards ya and she's likely to just give ya your gear back.
Lucanorr gets his second day's assignment and gets to swabbing the deck. While doing so, he tries to work especially closely with Tilly Brackett and trying to get information about Sandara and her history whilst making friends with Tilly.
"I appreciate it, Mr. Kroop. You're a good man as well, in my opinion. If there's anything I can do to repay the favor, let me know."
Later after the work for the day has been done and the men are able to have a talk without anyone overhearing, Ashrem hands out a short sword, a handaxe, and two daggers for the three men to arm themselves with. He keeps a very sharp edged butcher's knife for himself.
"Fishguts mentioned that Grok may give us our gear back if we can get on her good side. He mentioned that she likes fine spirits. I'll see if I can get a bottle of some good rum to improve her mood if you think it'll help."
Lucanorr swabs all through the day. During a trip below decks, he swings by his hiding place and grabs one of the bottles of perfume, stashing in it his breeches for later.
"Thank you Ashrem. Without you we'd be flounderin'. Sandara passed me a dagger earlier. I'll take the short sword or the handaxe for preference."
"Any of you gents have any luck making good with the other crew members?"
Lucanorr talks with the boys through dinner, but afterwards finds Sandara waiting looking off the ship's stern at the retreating ocean. Gives offers her the bottle of perfume. "I found some of this. It smells nice and I thought you might want some, for smellin' nice. Not that you smell bad! You smell great! Not that I've been smelling you. Oh argh!" Unable to find his tongue this evening, Lucanorr beats a hasty retreat back to the boys.
Lucanorr seeks out the gnome Conchy Shortstone and attempts to bring the dandy into conversation about appropriate ways to woo women.
Conchy doesn't bite. Perhaps he has designs on the head-headed vixen as well?
Early in the day's tasks, Vaelor tries to find two scarves or long rags and wraps each around one wrist. "T' keep me hands from gettin' sweaty. Better grip that a'way." he'll say if anyone gives him a curious glance. Later, when he is looking the ship over, he looks for a flat piece of steel or some sort of metal about 2"-4" long and tries to take it.
Allende takes a dagger from Ashrem, happy to finally be armed in this den of cutthroats. Thanks for the weapon. I like CutThroat, she has a sense of humor. Other than you lot, she's the only one that's freindly on this ship.
You're welcome. That red-head seemed to be pretty friendly towards Lucanorr from what I had seen before passing out drunk. And Fishguts seems to be a decent kind of man himself. I'll try talking to some of the other crew members tomorrow. We could use all the friends we can get on this ship.
There is noone up for punishment during bloody hour this evening and the crew is in a good mood. Several of them take more than their half pint ration of rum. The turtle soup prepared by Ashrem and Fishguts Kroop is good and several members of the crew show there appreciation with hearty pats on the back. After the meal several of the pirates begin gambling and arm wrestling.
Vaelor notices the stares and steps over to Ashrem, who he feels he can trust after receiving a weapon from, and makes sure that he notices the two evil men staring at them.
"Scourge and Plugg sure seem t' be lookin' this way wi' an' glowerin'. Lookin' at th' four o' us, so I guess we`re all on th' bad side now."
Lucanorr returns from his ill-advised attempt to make nice with Conchy Shortstone. He sees Vaelor and Ashrem in conversation and wanders over to them, catching the end of Vaelor's last comment. "Looks like a good number of the crew on this bucket o sticks wants to see us with knives in our backs and floating in the briny deep. I mistrust all the officers on this ship, except our friend the cook! Think they'll come for us asleep? Or maybe they like to have everybody watch punishment? Either way, I'm keeping an eye out behind me and my weapon close at hand."
"It might have been a test. See how we react if provoked. But I'm tired of being provoked. I'll keep an weather eye out for trouble"
That evening, Allende tries out a new plan. He starts cleaning around his hammock while talking with Barefoot Sammy. It's time these so called sailors see how a a bunk is supposed to be kept. He makes it shipshape and as spotless as he can.
I'm getting tired of it too. I think we should start keeping watch over each other at night.
Ashrem decides to ignore the glares of the ship's cruel officers and mingles with some of the other crew members after taking a swill of the ship's rum.
Loosened up a little bit but not nearly as sleepy as he was last time, he decides to show off his seahawk to the halfling, Rosie Cusswell, and tries striking up a friendship with her.
Later, he speaks with Cutthroat Grok. After asking her how she enjoyed the evening meal, he tells her that Fishguts had spoken well of her and asks if she could perhaps return the gear that was taken away from him and his companions. And if he thinks it'll help, Ashrem will tell her that he will do his best to try and secure her a bottle of the "good stuff" that's hidden down below.
Ashrem's right. We should set up a watch. I don't mind taking the last one and gettin' up two hours afore dawn.
Vaelor decides to forgo the rum at that night's meal. It pains him to pass it up, but the day's activities have him concerned. He agrees with the others about taking shifts to keep watch that night. "don`t matter t' me." he says when asked which shift to take.
After dinner, he spots Jack Scrimshaw working his art on a broom handle. He is impressed with the artwork Jack is capable of producing and walks up to the young lad.
"Hey, that`s some nice work thar! Shame t' waste 't on a battered old piece o' wood like that. Say, when I get me cutlass aft could I get ye t' do some fancy scrimshaw on th' knuckle bow?" Vaelor says as he squats down next to Jack to get a closer look. "Say, ye`re too talented t' be jus' a swabbie. How about I teach ye some tricks o' th' rope. Would ye like t' learn how t' do some riggin'?"
Grok is a little drunk when you talk with her. She says she isn't sure what things are yours but she would be willing to trade them for a good bottle of spirits, but that she is tired of Rum and a bottle of rum won't get you what you want.
You come on too strong with Jack and scare him off.
After Jack scampers off, Vaelor sits in hammock wondering what it'll take to win over some friends. He practices relaxing his face muscles in an attempt to remove his constant scowl, but finds the task difficult.
Ashrem is glad to hear that Grok is willing to return the stolen goods for a bottle of spirits. He returns to Rosie and asks her to list all of her missing belongings. He later asks Sandara if she is missing any gear as well. Afterwards, once everyone bunkers down for the night, he asks Vaelor, Allende, and Lucanorr what it is that they are missing as well. The next morning Ashrem will ask Fishguts if he could give Grok a bottle of the Chelish brandy in exchange for everyone's gear.
Sandara tells you that she convinced Grok that keeping her belonging would bring a curse down on her so was able to get all her things back.
Well that keeps things simple... Do you know if Mr. Scrimshaw or Mr. Shortstone are still missing anything as well? Ashrem asks Sandara.
"Ashrem, you cook up plans to get our stuff back better than you cook up that excellent stew of yers! The boat's pretty well equipped, and this axe suits me fine. I'd love to see me cutlass and longbow & arrows again. Doubt they kept me armor. I'm fine without 'em though if you can't get everything for us."
Lucanorr also pulls Vaelor aside for a quick word.
Allende is also impressed by Ashrem's plan. "Well, I've got some Lamealar Armor, a morningstar and Heavy Crossbow. But what I really miss is my fine set of carpentry tools."
The next morning dawns bright and clear. There are few clouds in the sky and those are high and far away. No one tries to stop you from going on deck this morning.
Vaellor Rigging Repair: The ship’s rigging frequently gets damaged and must be repaired, requiring DC 10 Climb checks to reach the rigging 30 feet up, followed by a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Dexterity check.
Allende Runner: Passing messages to the crew and officers of the Wormwood in all parts of the ship except officers’ cabins (areas A4 and A5), requiring a DC 10 Acrobatics check and DC 10 Constitution check. Failing the Constitution check results in the PC being fatigued at the end of the shift. A PC with the Run feat automatically succeeds at this task.
Lucanorr Man the Bilges: Vile and sweaty work cleaning out the bilges (area A11), requiring a DC 12 Strength check. The PC must also make a DC 10 Constitution check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Ashrem Fishguts is halfway sober today,Bull Session: Drinking with Ambrose Kroop and listening to his stories. The cook’s mate must drink an additional rum ration, but is able to take an additional ship action during the day.
Ashrem listens intently to the stories of Mr Kroop. Assuming the cook is in a good mood, he asks if he can take a bottle of the chelish brandy as a gift to Cut-throat Grok in exchange for the return of his and his friend's taken goods.
Vaelor is surprised that he and his group of friends weren't met on their way to their duties. "Perhaps they's changed tactics...I ortin' ta keep an eye ou' today."