The four castaways are allowed to rest for the rest of the afternoon. They join the rest of the crew for for the evening meal.
Allie spends the afternoon sitting in, then relocating to, the sunniest spot on the deck. She tries to ring the seawater from her hair, and from the pleats of her dress.
She looks around furtively at the rough men and women that make up the crew of the pirate ship, her face wearing a look of trepidation.
As night falls, her stomch begins to rumble, and she looks around for anything that resembles a meal being served.
"What passes for dinner on a pirate ship?" she wonders out loud.
The big man doesn't wait long to dry out. He finds himself a job to help with as soon as he's wrung out his sarong.
Ashrem helps bring the ship wrecked survivors up on board and introduces himself to everyone. It's fairly easy to see that the man is somewhat intoxicated, the smell of rum on his breath not helping the fact, but also naturally friendly.
"Welcome to the Wormwood. You all must starving. I'll see if Kroop or myself can get some meals prepped for you."
With that, he disappears back down to the galley and sets to work. Digging out the cookbook and trying to find a quick meal to make.
The meal certainly wasn't the best made, but it wasn't a bucket of nails either.
Connor looking around, trying to gauge the crew and the officers. Connor sticks close to the others, wanting to make sure that they are not completely separated. Eventually Connor will eat and then head below deck to rest early after a long day in the water.
Pleasure to meet you, the name is Connor. Any kind of food will be good food. You are?
"I'm Ashrem, the assistant ships cook."
When Ashrem returns with food, he sits down with Conner and points out all the different members of the crew, what he knows about them, who to watch out for, and the different rivalries and politics of the pirate ship.
Myself, Allende, Lucannor, Sandara, hell half this crew I believe has been pressganged into service within the past two weeks. Rest up well tonight if ya can, Mr Plugg will probably try working you over good just to see what you're worth. He'll still probably see you as scum no matter how well you do though."
"I don't know anything about sailing a ship," Allie replies, still looking worried. She grabs a steaming bowl of...whatever it is...and begins to eat, grateful to have something in her growling stomach.
I've been on a ship or two, but never been on one that pressganged people. Doesn't sound like a good recipe for success.
A young, heavily tanned man with a scar on his left cheek, replies to Conner. "It isn't a good recipe at all. We all damn well sank last night. I'm Allende by the way, and my job is to do whatever job the Captain decides." He introduces himself to all the new castaways. It's fairly apparent that he really doesn't act like the rest of the crew although he does his best to blend in.
The captain is desperate to build up his crew. Sandara Quinn says as she joins you. No one onboard has been with the captain more than a year. He was almost caught by the chelish navy about then but was able to escape.
"I am called Sandman." the big swarthy fellow says, shaking hands firmly with Allende. A slight bow and and a a palm to his chest as he introduced himself turned the simple greeting into something a bit more formal.
"Your rescue was most timely."
Allende's eyes widen and he quickly draws Sandman close and whispers to him. "I'd be careful about magic if I were you. I have no idea as to what the Captain or Mr. Plugg's response would be. If I had to guess, unless the magic is firmly under their control, the reaction won't be good."
Amamer watches the crew working, sitting on deck, absorbing the sun and smiling cheerfully, as if she hadn't just very nearly drowned. When food is brought, she eats with an appetite.
"Thank you," she says to Ashrem. "Thank you all for saving us."
"I've always wanted to be a pirate on a real pirate ship," she says, speaking generally to whoever is listening. "Is it usual for a captain to pressgang people?" She seems more startled that there would be a shortage of willing crew than upset by the immorality of it.
"How much pirating have you done since you were brought aboard?" Allie asks her new crewmates. "Is it like the stories? Ships smashing together, arrows flying, swords and sorcery?"
"Nothing like that yet, lass. Mostly sailing, working, and searching for a ship to plunder." Ashrem says glumly. "How did you all end up at sea?"
"Slavers." Sandman says flatly.
"I was in a tavern, eating a fine meal with a well-to-do merchant. I took a sip of my wine, and the next thing I knew, I awoke, shackled in the hold of a ship alongside these fine folk. A few more samples of Desna's humor, and here are, part of a pirate crew."
Allie blushes, as if she has spoken out of turn. She lowers her eyes and returns to eating.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I can't promise that this ship will be a better standard of living than from before you were taken, but at least you won't be sold at the next port market we come to."
"My grandfather promised he would make me a pirate, so he took me to a ship heading for Port Peril. Once we were away from the Slithering Coast, the crew locked me up below, saying we would be sold. I think my grandfather must have sent the storm to sink the ship so that you would find us." Amamer looks around her as though everything's fine, and doesn't seem to find anything terribly strange about her story. She leans towards Ashrem and smiles. "We're bound to find a ship to take soon. You'll see."
When you wake the next morning the sea is much calmer and the wind has died down considerably. There are still some clouds but they are sparse and high.
Sandman, Amamer, and Conner are assigned as riggers.
Allie is assigned as a Swab
Allende Swab the Decks: Backbreaking work mopping the decks and scrubbing them with sandstone blocks called holystones, requiring a DC 10 Strength or Constitution check. Failing either check results in the PC being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Ashrem Fishguts is drunk again Cooking: Assisting Ambrose Kroop in preparing the day’s meal. If Kroop is sober, no check is required. If Kroop is drunk, this requires a DC 10 Profession (cook) or Intelligence check.
Sandman Line Work: Hard work hoisting and lowering sails, requiring a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Dexterity check. The PC must also make a DC 10 Constitution check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Amamer Mainsail Duties: Tough work raising and lowering the mainsail, requiring a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Strength check. The PC must also make a DC 10 Constitution check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Allie "Cat" Hauling Rope and Knot Work: Tying and untying knots in the ship’s ropes and moving heavy coils of rope from one part of the ship to another, requiring a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Strength check. The PC must also make a DC 10 Constitution check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Conner Lookout: A climb to the crow’s nest 60 feet up, requiring DC 10 Climb checks followed by a DC 10 Perception check.
Sweat glistens on Allie's skin as she works the ropes. She loosen the laces on her blouse, showing a tantalizing amount of cleavage.
"I'm soooo hot," she says in a sultry voice, and fans her skirt, flashing a fair amount of thigh.
She glances around to see if anyone appears interested, and gives that person a flirtatious smile.
"Soooo," she says, with a twinkle in her eye, "can you show this new girl the ropes?"
Sandman falls into his work with practiced ease. He sings low, resonant sea chanties while he works.
Allie smiles at Fipps, and as he moves in, she knees him in the groin.
Connor easily makes his way up to the crow's nest, where he has an uneventful day looking out into the sea. Connor laughs as he watches Allie have fun with some poor sailor. maybe that will teach him Connor learned from the last ship that Allie may be tiny and innocent but she sure can handle herself.
Fipps clutches himself and falls to the deck in agony. When he recovers enough to stand he retreats to the other end of the deck where he glares at Allie with hate filled eyes.
It's rough work, but Amamer manages well, without quite wearing herself out. As she hauls on the lines, raising sail, she gives a friendly smile to Crimson Cogward.
"I can hardly believe we were rescued, and by real pirates!' she tells him as they pause for a moment to catch their breath. Her enthusiasm for everything to do with sailing seems to extend to her fellow sailors. "I've always wanted to be a pirate."
A moment later, she looks at him, apparently fascinated. "Have you seen any action yet?"
Sandman sighed when he saw the altercation between the fat crewman and Allie. That was going to be a problem if he let it become one.
Sandmans singing is decent and after a few moments later several other crewmen join in the singing.
Allende hates this particular job, but throws himself into all the same. He diligently scrubs the decks.
He ends the shift dog tired.
Ashrem spends the evening trying to be friendly with miss Medlar but wasn't having much luck after spilling some rum on her after stumbling on deck. He decides to leave her alone after that and sits at the stern of the ship gazing out at the horizon.
The next day Ashrem recovers well but Kroop is drunk again...
He manages to make decent meals for the crew though and spends the day cleaning up the galley after Kroop's mess.
Allie finishes the day's work, dog-tired. As the evening's entertainment begins, she is all-too-aware of the smelly, fat fellow, Fipps, watching her with daggers in his eyes.
As she is handed a mug of the strong rum, it occurs to her that being drunk might put her in a bad spot with some of the crew - Fipps included.
She decides to quickly dump it out while no one is watching.
She flirts with the gnome poppinjay, Conchabar Shortstone, giving him the opportunity to be outlandishly locquacious, as she listens with exaggerated rapture. As with her earlier encounter, she lets a bit of extra skin escape the cofines of her blouse, and she leans in close to the little man as she speaks, letting her soft breath tickle his ear.
After a bit of friendly flirting, Allie excuses herself, as if to use the head. She circles around through the crowd, so as not to give him the impression of a promise of more to come. She scuttles down to the hammocks and settles in for the night - feeling the dagger in her wrist sheath one last time before nodding off.
Connor enjoys the rum, and takes in his surrounds
looks like we may have problems already with this Fipps character.
Connor watches Fipps as Allie does her thing to make friends, and he keeps his distance as he is not known to be persuasive with people.
As evening rolls around, Amamer continues to chat with Crimson.
"We'll see soon enough, I hope," she says with a smile. "You certainly look like you're capable enough."
The evening meal is nothing to be excited about and some of the crew have fun telling the castaways about how bad the food was a few days before. This evenings meal is amazing by comparison. Ashrem is forced to endure a good bit of good natured harassment in the form of exagerated stories of how bad the food was. Amamer manages to win a bit of grudging respect from Crimson Cogward but he remains gruff and closed mouthed. Allie leaves Conchabar further convinced of his own irresitablity to women which immediately brings him to greif. As soon as Allie leaves him he tries to make a move on Rosie Cusswell and get a sound tonque lashing and a cup of rum dumped over his head for his trouble. the rest of the crew finds the whole thing hilariously funny.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully.
The next day dawn bright and clear. There is no sign in the wind or waves of the storm a few days before.
Allende Rat Catcher: Catching rats and other vermin belowdecks, 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 Kroop is sober today yay! 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.
Amamer Upper Rigging Work: Work in the upper rigging, 50 feet up, requiring DC 10 Climb checks, followed by a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Dexterity check.
Allie Hauling Rope and Knot Work: Tying and untying knots in the ship’s ropes and moving heavy coils of rope from one part of the ship to another, requiring a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Strength check. The PC must also make a DC 10 Constitution check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Conner Rope Work: Handling the ship’s ropes, including coiling them, stowing them, and securing them to cleats and single and double bollards, requiring a DC 10 Profession (sailor) or Dexterity check.
Sandman Lookout: A climb to the crow’s nest 60 feet up, requiring DC 10 Climb checks followed by a DC 10 Perception check.
Allie gives a long-suffering sigh, as she is once again assigned to work the ropes.
As she works, she sidles up to the tall Mwangi woman, Shivikah.
"It's sooo thick," she says to the woman, in a tone heavily-laden with innuendo. "Can ya give a girl some advice; how do you handle the big ones?" She runs her hand over a large hemp line.
Amamer starts climbing up the rigging...
+8'
+7'
oops
"I'm ok! she says, rubbing a badly bruised knee.
+8
+7
+8
+7
(taking that +4 for working diligently)
+8
+7
Amamer almost reaches her goal when a gust of wind tosses the boat and she can't hold on. She falls 45 feet to the deck and lies in a broken heap. (-8hps)
One of the other crew cries out when they see Amamer fall from the crows nest. Attracting the attention of everyone on the ship.
Connor works hard throughout the day, securing and working on the various ropes, and watching Allie's actions towards the other crew mate, plus Connor doesn't mind watching Allie either.
As the day goes Connor sees Amamer fall, but is unable to reach her to help and he lets out a howler. Connor starts to climb down, but sees others who can actually help make their way towards her. Connor decides its best to keep working and keep an eye on her.
I really hope my curse has nothing to do with that.