Round 5
I'll beat Plugg about the head and shoulders before its all said and done. Atajay tries his best to shimmy up a bit further, using the peg leg to dig in for any extra leverage...
Climb
From someplace next to use you hear another low moan. "Ooo...ooo...ooh. Yeah, Jakes Magpie." he manages to choke out before a fit of coughing takes him. "Must be one of the new recruits not to know. Grok forgot and left the store open last night...when a bunch of them were out grabbing you, I tried to slip in to see what I could lift. Took an arrow from one of the chests right in the gut. They found me when they went to put your things in there. What's your name?"
Round 5:
Ursion catches up to the halfling just before 2/3 of the climb. He nods to Gimlet, then turns his attention back to the ropes in front of him.
"Uriah, Uriah Hays. I wouldn't say I'm a recruit, more of a conscript. Some thug hit me in the head and here I am. Apparently the Captain doesn't like being talked to. Which marks him a fool."
Much like this Magpie.
"An arrow to the gut? At least it wasn't your knee right? I heard that hurts even worse. So where do they keep our stuff? And who are these clowns that call themselves pirates?"
"Thank you! I've seen this before but never tried it!"Chak'Zirrak beams at the compliment nearly falling off while prattling on.
Gimlet continues up the rigging, reaching 30 feet, but Ursion catches him right at the half-way mark to the crow's nest. Below, Atajay and Chak'Zirrak meet with continued success reaching 22-1/2 feet and Raveneau gets back on track, reaching 15 feet.
Chak'Zirrak continues to climb, starting to think he may actually be able to do this!
Another fit of coughing comes from the man, "You have no idea who the captain is, do you Uriah? You wouldn't call him a fool or his men clowns if you did. This is the Wormwood and Captain Barnabus Harrigan is the captain. I'm a new recruit too, but know this. He is one of the terrors of the Arcadian Ocean and has even raided Chelaxian shipping in the Inner Sea."
Gimlet whistles a jaunty tune as he climbs and even gives Human a wink as he catches up. "Been waiting for ya." But continues at his steady pace.
Uriah spits, the stench of the bilge filling his nose and mouth.
"Ah well, no sense rushing things then. If I live the night I will wait for my revenge. What is Bloody Hour?"
Round 6:
"Glad of the company, then." Ursion, btw, looks to be pureblooded Chelaxian, but the drawl in his accent betrays his Sargavan origins.
Gimlet boosts his speed a bit to keep it close.
Gimlet continues his steady pace up the rigging, reaching 35 feet, while Ursion finally races past to reach 37-1/2 feet. Down below, Chak'Zirrak really seems to have gotten the hang of climbing the rigging and gets to the halfway mark. Below him, Raveneau has reached 22-1/2 feet, but is still in last place.
Gimlet picks up the pace once again, reaching 45 feet. Chak'Zirrak continues his slow, steady approach, reaching 37-1/2 feet, a truly dizzying height for those that have never climbed before. Below, the ship surges through the briny seas, fortunately in fair weather.
Atajay does his best to keep up with Parrot.
Round six Climb
Round 8:
Ursion keeps to his steady pace, watching Gimlet to be ready to catch him if the halfling slips in his haste.
Realizing that he overshot his grasp, the sorcerer reaches blindly, hoping to find a piece of rigging to grab onto to halt or at least slow his descent.
Climb
Round 8
With the cry below him, Gimlet again slows and will let that pace stay for the race. Killing yourself is not, not, not the way I want to get off this tub.
Touch
Gimlet calls to his companion on the ropes, "Much better, better, better in the bilge, then up here with a pegleg. The man is crazy, or a fool." Or just scared sh*tless like the rest of us.
Gimlet continues his steady pace up the rigging, reaching 35 feet, while Ursion finally races past to reach 37-1/2 feet. Down below, Chak'Zirrak really seems to have gotten the hang of climbing the rigging and nearly gets to halfway mark when he sees Atajay slip in the corner of his eye. The sorcerer flails for purchase to no avail when suddenly a claw reaches out to grab his hand as you hear gasps elsewhere in the rigging. Chak'Zirrak feels for a moment that his arm/wing is going to be wrenched out of it's socket, but he holds on long enough for the sorcerer to regain his purchase on the rigging.
A few feet away, a handsome gnome, you recall as one of the newer pirates, exclaims, "Bravo and well-done! I guess Fishguts is right about the Tengu bringing good luck...at least for your one-legged friend." This has to be the strangest character you've seen yet. He is wearing a foppish purple hat, an eye patch, and a white silk shirt, almost as though pretending to be a pirate rather than an actual one. Hanging on with one hand, he doffs his cap and says, "I am Conchobhar Turlach Shortstone. A pleasure to meet you both."
On the deck Plugg shouts, "All right, shows over, everyone back to work! Recruits, keep climbing that rigging!"
The near disaster leaves Chak'Zirrak and Atajay together at 25 feet. Raveneau has nearly caught them and reaches 22-1/2 feet.
Just need an action for Atajay and Chak'Zirrak can decide whether to use the Round 8 Climb check.
Knowing his only choice other than trying to climb would be walking the plank, atajay grits his teeth and tries again. "Thanks, Parrot. You're good people. I owe you bigtime."
Climb
Raveneau continues his climb in relative silence, though the barbs from Plugg on the deck are leaving their mark upon his mind. Lamenting that the vessels of his homeland tended to be smaller craft without the same need for being up in the rigging, he watches as he is outpaced by all the climbers... even the cripple...
Rd 8: Climb: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11 7.5ft progress - 37.5ft total
Rd 9: Climb: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3Fail and fall
Falling damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 2, 6) = 19 aaand if it makes it to Round 9, Raveneau falls 40ft onto the deck and makes an elf shaped puddle... or does he...
Somehow Chak'Zirrak and Atajay pull themselves back together and continue on. Gimlet picks up the pace once again, reaching 45 feet and catching Ursion. Chak'Zirrak and Atajay continue a slow, steady approach, reaching 32-1/2 feet, a truly dizzying height for those that have never climbed before. Below, the ship surges through the briny seas, fortunately in fair weather. Raveneau keeps up a strong, quiet pace, reaching the halfway point just behind Chak'Zirrak and Atajay.
"You had enough, Parrot? I'm about done with this. I'm not good enough with the ropes to be this high. We might take a beating or two, but if we fall from up here, we're done, unless you can actually fly."
Atajay decides that enough was enough. As he reaches for the next hand hold, he gives a slight twist to he peg leg, and loses his balance, hopefully in a controlled fashion, sliding back down as many feet as reasonable.
Bluff
Chak will continue
Round 8 (this time for real):
Ursion nods to the halfling. "There'll be plenty for 'em to do on deck. Me, I'll take the tops over holystoning the deck."
Gimlet continues his easy climb up the rigging, ducking past a loose rope to reach 50 feet, but Ursion has picked up the pace and reaches 52-1/2 feet, just shy of the crow's nest. Above, a rat-faced halfling looks down to watch the race. Now that you're close, you see he is missing two fingers on his left hand and one on his right.
Lower in the rigging, Chak'Zirrak continues to make his way easily up reaching 40 feet. Raveneau has a little less ease, but still successfully makes his way to 37-1/2 feet. Atajay has another close call, losing his footing and falling, but catching himself at 25 feet.
Raveneau's hands and arms are now slick with sweat from the exertion and his grip slips as he lunges up to grab another handhold. Desperately he clutches at the rigging to arrest his plummet...
Climb:
Do well but not too well...too easy to loose fingers...or much, much, much more up here.
Gimlet knows he can skitter up to the top, but the idea of living in the ropes can be another's wish. "Well, you are welcome to it, if you can reach it."
With his arms screaming, Atajay chances his bluff attempt one more time. He was scared to look up, but he hoped someone was close to the goal, so this damned charade would be over.
Bluff
Ranged Touch Attack
Climb
For a moment, it looks like Raveneau might catch himself, but the ropes are too far and his hands too slick and he falls. Atajay slips again at nearly the same time, but catches himself at 17-1/2 feet, just as Raveneau comes crashing into him. Atajay manages to grab Raveneau's hand with one hand and the rigging with the other, but Raveneau's speed is too great and both fall together, landing in a sickening crunch on the deck of the ship.
Above their crumpled bodies, Plugg observes, "Well, that was spectacular. We've got a chicken cripple and a clumsy elf. Pathetic. Eggshell. Thumbs. Get your bloody asses off my deck and stand over there while we see if any of you sorry recruits can make it to the nest." He motions with the cat to a spot by the mainmast where several strands of rope are secured to the base of the mast.
You hear the sound of something clicking up near the ceiling while waiting for Magpie to respond. "Bloody Hour is when they hand out punishments. Every night at dusk. Usually lashings. They say they're going to keelhaul me. I'm scared."
In his fall Raveneau barely registers the arm that extends to save him from certain death. Still tumbling heavily into the deck he suffers a crunching body blow as he lands flatbacked on the deck. In the tangle of the fall his tunic became ripped and falls open at his chest. Standing unsteadily and with some effort, blood runs freely from a deep gash at his neck and runs down and over his tattoo.
On the clumsy elf's chest is a circle of yellow that radiates three daggers at it's edge - the points of the daggers resting near to each nipple and his navel. Raveneau then stumbles over to where Plugg indicated whispering to the pegleg "Thankyou thin-blood, but do not think that makes us kin."
He then finds a railing to lean against as labored breaths fill his tortured lungs, vivid bruising already becoming apparent on the back of his neck.
Despite the fact that he has no shot at making it, Chak'Zirrak still continues on
"I thought your people were graceful. Mere fairy tales, I'd guess, after that display," Atajay laughs, rubbing his side, where he thinks he detected a broken rib.
Round 9:
The Sargavan ranger heaves himself up to the level of the crow's nest, but doesn't climb in unless there's room and the halfling there gives some indication that he doesn't mind sharing the space with a human (even a not terribly big one).
"Just stay calm Magpie. Lie to them, tell them you wanted to make sure the treasure was safe. Promise to give up your share of the loot for a while."
Uriah casts about for the source of the clicking.
"Do you hear that?"
Ursion continues his steady pace and reaches the crow's nest. Gimlet is right behind him, reaching 55 feet. And, Chak'Zirrak makes it up to 47-1/2 feet. On the deck, Mister Plugg calls up,
While he waits for Ursion, Gimlet and Chak'Zirrak to descend, he turns back to Raveneau and Atajay. "You can't climb worth seagull dung. Can either of you cook?"
"I'll try. They told me they're pretty unforgiving about stealing if you get caught. I've been hearing that clicking since they put me down here. Even thought I felt something hairy brush against my leg right before the opened it for you."
Atajay's words get but a dismissive grunt from Raveneau, who looks up to see the man complete the climb. At Plugg orders them down, he is set with a round of racking coughs that brings up chunks of phlegm and blood to his mouth. At Plugg's request the elf takes a moment to relieve himself of the gobbet into the water before replying "No" and wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
"I'd bet I'm better at cooking than climbing. Whatever that counts for..." Atajay half heartedly volunteers, knowing while he might lose a finger to a knife, he wouldn't lose his life to a fall in the kitchen. Hopefully, that is...
"Well you didn't actually steal anything did you? Not successfully anyway. Something hairy? Hello?"