The fog works much to your benefit, despite Cieran's opinion of what it does for him, the noise and action of the attack covers your activities. The crew seems unable to discern where the enemy is, allowing you the opportunity to reach their ship before they even know you are coming over. This advantage is not quite the best way to deal with the aft crew, as Riaris looks at you like she's about to throw you over to the other ship if you don't make it over there yesterday.
Holgur looks down at the bloody chum-filled water and decides that his current location is too far away from the other ship to attempt to jump. So he runs past Ciera and Kelly and attempts to leap into the near end of the lifeboat hanging from Man's Promise.
Jump
*
The adrenaline of the engagement starting is enough to give Kelly tunnel vision, he doesn't even notice that his comrades haven't gained purchase yet, and he lunges to action.
Jumping the gap Kelly draws his weapon on the passage over to the other ship. He stabs at the first man () he sees as he pushes toward the wheel.
Damage:
if crit add
if crit add
...K17 then getting 10' of running distance and a jump landing in F17 ...
Scowling, Balsooma hauls his hook back in, and with a loud grunt of effort, hurls it towards the opposing ship.
This time is more successful, and the hook's prongs bite deep into the railing as he tugs the rope taut.
Ciera moves backward for a run-up then sprints forward toward the ship's rail. She places her foot on the ships rail and leaps forward into a tucked roll.
Jump:
Holgur lands on the enemy deck with a thud, thankfully the bow and arrow in his hands lent him some semblance of balance. Quickly he nocks the arrow and searches for a target. When he sees a poor sod unaware of that the Promise has been boarded he takes aim. . Once he thinks he has a clear shot he lets the arrow fly.
Attack
Miss chance
Damage
The targeted sailor's cry of pain tells Holgur that he struck true. As long as no one threatens him in close quarters Holgur decides to stick to his bow.
Whoops, swap to G18 instead. Then feints at the sailor in F19
Bluff:
Kelly leads the charge, ignoring the rope and grapple he tied off, and leaping from the poop deck to the rowboat hanging from the side of the Man's Promise. He brings his boarding pike to bear at the nearby Rahadoumi sailor, but the thick fog all about the deck makes his target hard to pinpoint.
Cieran soon follows, also just leaping the gap instead of wasting time with the hook. The young man lands on the stairs just in front of Kelly, and shifting his weight to one side. The sailor then prepares to get hit from that side, unaware of Cieran's true intentions.
Holgur makes his leap further aboard, drawing aim at one of the forms through the fog. His luck holds true, as his strike hits the man on the far side of the aft deck. A lound grunt of pain escapes the man's lips.
Balsooma throws his line and hook, this time making more headway than the weak lob of his last throw. He ties off the line in time to see the sailors react to the new enemies aboard.
The sailors all react with a fervor to repel the boarders, the crank and clang of crossbow bolts striking the deck and rails rings out. One of them whizzed just past Kelly, striking the rail beside him.
Round 2:
Kelly -
Holgur -
Ciera -
Balsooma -
Sailor 1 - Loads crossbow, misses Kelly
Sailor 3 - Loads crossbow, misses Ciera
Sailor 4 - Loads crossbow, misses Holgur
Sailor 5 - Feinted by Ciera. Draws short sword, misses Ciera
Sailor 6 - 6 damage, Loads crossbow, misses Holgur
The return fire from the sailor tells Holgur that his enemy is still alive. He tries to keep track of the crossbowman as he draws an arrow and fires it toward him. Once again there is the reply of a hit.
Attack
Miss Chance
Damage
Ciera steadies herself, crouches, and slashes at the sailor in front of her with both daggers...
Attack 1: ; miss chance ; damage + = 11
Attack 2: ; miss chance ; damage + = 8
Kelly thinks he sees a pair or enemy sailors across the stern-castle. He readies a small vial, pulling a small divider out of the way and giving the vial a throw at one of the silhouettes.
The the fog foils Kelly's sight, and the cramp quarters spoils his aim. The vial shatters against the railing of the stairs, a moment after the hushed crackle of shattering glass, comes a much more percussive, "FWOOOM," as the chemicals in the vial ignite briefly. The attack is however, close enough to elicit some yelp of pain and some cursing from a pair of sailors as the heat scorches them.
Balsooma, after checking that his sword is firmly secured in its back sheath, clambers out onto the rope, and hauls himself along. Looking down, he can just make out the churning red water through the haze of fog. For him to fall now would be certain death...
The pit in his stomach deepens as he nears the opposing ship, as he can hear the creak of rope over the sound of fighting. Inspired by this fear, he quickly clambers over the side, and drops down between two of the sailors.
Feel free to DMPC
Feel free to DMPC
Kelly's vial drifts off into the mist, breaking against the intervening ship that stands between him and his target. This works to his advantage as the cries of pain from more than one ring out alongside the sound of the resulting flare.
Holgur fires off into the fog, aiming back at where the last shot had come from. He hears the soft thunk, and the following thud of a body falling to the deck.
Ciera's ploy paid off, as her twin knives flash out, one of them finds flesh. The pull against the blade gives the tell-tell feel of cutting a deep gash in flesh.
Balsooma prepares himself before he makes short work of the distance across the ropes. He gets across and pulls himself onto the other deck with barely breaking a sweat, or at least doesn't let it show if he did.
The sailors act to defend their posts. The one standing near where Balsooma came over stabs out at the big man, finding a moment of clarity in the fog enough to cut a stinging wound across Balsooma's arm. It's just not quite as bad as it could be.
One of the others rushes from the fog to try and muscle Balsooma toward the rail, and into the waters below. He misjudges where the man stands in the fog, and just misses what could have been a decent shove.
From up out of the mists a bolt skitters once again across the rigging and rails around Kelly.
The sailor tricked by Cieran steps to the side, before trying to give a hearty shove to the young man. Cieran's blade springs up faster than expected, as the attacker impales himself on the knife before continuing his momentum over the side.
Round 3:
Kelly - Throws bomb, splashes #4 and #6
Holgur - Shoots, and kills, #6
Ciera - Hits #5
Balsooma - Crosses the ropes
Sailor 1 - Drops crossbow, draws short sword, Hits Balsooma for 7 damage
Sailor 3 - Bull rushes Balsooma, misses Balsooma.
Sailor 4 - 5 damage, Loads crossbow, misses Kelly
The only clear shot that would not endanger his fellows is at the sailor near the starboard stairs. Holgur sites his target as best he can and nocks an arrow. But the chaos of the battle rattles him and he takes the shot without a steady aim.
Attack
Miss Chance
Damage if it hits
Ciera grins as the sailor topples over the rail, but then remembers the sharks below and shivers at the thought of their inevitable feeding frenzy. Glancing around she sees a bolt narrowly missing Balsooma. She moves forward and up the stairs (moving to C20), jerking a bloody dagger forward at the crossbow-wielding sailor, but pulling the blow at the last minute.
Feint: (Bluff)
Kelly ducks under the incoming bolt as it then skitters off some of the wood before coming to a rest with a solid thunk, he thinks to himself that those bolts sounds way stronger than the crossbow he totes. He listens more than looks through the fog, he hears a pair of the opposing sailors close together preparing for the next stage in the melee. "Grouping together, not a good idea," he mutters as he prepares another bomb, this time when he throws however, he aims not for one of the sailors, but for a space between and behind them, hoping to blast them, unprepared toward his allies.
Winching in pain from the shallow gash in his arm, Balsooma reaches behind him, yanking his hefty blade free from its makeshift sheath. With a roar, he brings it arcing downwards, trying to cleave the man in front of him in twain.
Thrown off by the pain in his arm, and by the thick fog that obscures his sight of the man, Balsooma's swing bites not into flesh or bone, but the heavy planks of the ship's deck.
Kelly lobs another flask, just hitting the frame of the ballista behind the two sailors bunched together on the sterncastle. It sprays over one of them, but just barely singes the other.
Holgur loads and shoots again, but he clearly hits the rail the man is standing behind.
Cieran rushes into the void on the other side to face off with the lone enemy. Maybe someone in his face will halt his shots at the group. Cieran tries again to confound his foe, and though the attempt was hurried, it was just enough to distract the Rahadoumi.
The cut on Balsooma's arm stings from reaching for his blade, and pulling it around to bear. The tinge is just enough to pull his swing, causing it to swish harmlessly past the man.
The two singed sailors have a ready target, both of them swinging their swords at Balsooma. The first is off by a long shot, overconfident by his previous hit. The second, though, taking a swing after his failed attempt to push the big man overboard. His focus pays off, as he finds an opening near the man's left shoulder.
The sailor facing off against the slight-framed boy takes a swing, thinking full well that the child overextended himself with his awkward swing. He swings with purpose, but finds that the child was more aware of her actions than he had assumed.
The fog clears just enough to indicate that it was being dispersed by the wind, and still between castings. Another cloud will likely follow shortly. During the pause in the hampering mist you are able to make out Captain Harrigan and two of the Rahadoumi officers rushing madly for the doors to the captain's cabin below the aft deck, slashing and hacking as they move. The captain quickly dispatches the two, before the fog reappears.
Round 4:
Kelly - Throws bomb, splashes #1 and #3
Holgur - Shoots, and misses, #4
Ciera - Moves and feints #4
Balsooma - Attacks, and misses, #1
Sailor 1 - 2 damage, Misses Balsooma
Sailor 3 - 5 damage, hits Balsooma.
Sailor 4 - 5 damage, drops crossbow, misses Ciera
Ciera sways out of the way of the sailor's blow and, grinning, slices forward with her two daggers. One strikes the sailor, but, in her confidence she fumbles the other.
Attack 1: , Miss chance: , damage:
Attack 2: , Miss chance: , damage:
Perception:
Kelly hefts his pike in hand and prepares to hop from his perch in the launch. As he is just about to start his movement he spies the would be assassin approaching Captain Harrigan. "Holgur, press the attack, I'll be back in a few seconds," Kelly shouts above the din of combat, and at that statement, he swings his legs over the edge of the craft he's in and heads across deck to intercept the menacing man with the knife.
Kelly lets force a rather fierce sounding yell as he thrusts his pike, "We've got your back sir!" Kelly nods toward his Captain before he pulls back his pike to assess the damage his attack may have wrought.
Perception
Holgur sees the two sailors pressing in on Balsooma and rushes to his side, throwing his bow over his arm as he does. He pulls his flail out as he runs and whirls it for momentum. When he closes in on his foe,
Attack
Damage
Grimacing as the second strike slips through his guard, Balsooma steps back down the stairs. Murmuring a swift prayer to Besmara to close his wounds, he then clutches at her holy symbol hung around his neck, and utters a loud warcry: "Besmara's blessing upon all who slay these godless ones!"
Kelly rushes off into the fog, looking like he had a plan that the rest of the group wasn't quite aware of. As he approaches the Captain, his hook leading the way, Captain Harrigan gives a suspicious look. He twists away from the end, only to notice it wasn't aimed at him, stabbing the blaggard trying to sneak up behind him. He nods at Kelly in recognition before turning and finishing off the sailor with a blade to the chest.
Cieran's feint pays off, as the sailor underestimates his attack, the young boy shoves a knife into his gut, dropping him back against the rail.
Balsooma took enough cuts to decide and step back, adding a blessing to his allies in the fight, showing the Rahadoumi that without a god on their side they do not gain these kind of benefits.
Now that a space has opened up, Holgur puts away his bow and rushes into it with his other weapon drawn. By the time he gets up there he is unable to take a proper swing at either of the two men.
Seeing another one of their crew laid low by the young boy, one of the sailors rushes over to try and put the little guy down. He levels a solid swing, but the fog that Cieran cursed earlier once again does its part to keep them safe. The other sailor decides to swing at the new arrival taking the place of the big man, but his swing is off.
Suddenly there is a loud boom, and the ship shakes. The sound of the fwoosh that caused the boom is very familiar to Kelly. He easily reconizes it as the sound of a chemical explosion, and not a magical one.
Round 5:
Kelly - Attacks the man sneaking up on the Captain.
Ciera - Hits and kills #5
Balsooma - Changes judgement, casts Bless
Holgur - Puts away bow, moves up and draws flail
Sailor 1 - 2 damage, Moves to C21, misses Ciera
Sailor 3 - 5 damage, misses Holgur.
Holgur sees his chance and swings his flail against the nearest foe at hand. We are taking too long to secure our target he thinks to himself. His lack of focus costs him dearly, though, as he loses his target in the fog.
Attack
Miss
Ciera lets the sailor drop to the ground just as another moves in to take his place. She sways out of the way of the poorly-aimed strike and her knives flash forwards...
The fog that had been her savior a moment ago, now proved a hindrance and both strikes meet nothing but thin air.
Attack 1: Miss chance: , damage:
Attack 2: Miss chance: , damage:
The sound of explosives is enough to unnerve any student of chemistry. Kelly immediately starts looking, listening, and smelling for the source of the combustion, as he does he absently reaches for the vial of greenish sludge that he concocted for this endeavour, he unstoppers it and chugs the contents down quickly.
He continues to scan the deck as best he can, but his muscles respond immediately to the drink, and his legs pump quickly. As he bounds up the stairs, his muscles begin to bulge, growing bulbous and unnatural looking, like an experiment gone wrong. He bounds up behind Ciera, pike at the ready, ready to strike at those looking to harm his friends.
Balsooma steps over to the aft mask of the ship, sheathing his weapon. With a grunt, he attempts to haul himself up onto the higher deck, hoping to flank the remaining sailors.
Kelly looks around for signs of the explosion, and manages to catch what looks like the gunner's mate Kipper come stumbling up from the hold of the Man's Promise. The man is covered in burns from what looks like alchemist's fire, but he's managing to keep walking. Kelly turns back to the fight, downing one of his concoctions before moving up to give Cieran some support.
Cieran swings back at the man standing above, but his first strike is misplaced due to the swirling mists. His second swing, though, finds
Balsooma decides to circumvent the chokepoint on the stairs. He gets a lift off the side of the stairs, pushing off into a grip between the bottom of the rail above and the aft mast. Muscles flexing, he hauls himself up to grasp the top of the rail, before making his way over the top of it to the space beside the sailor facing off against Holgur.
Holgur takes a solid swing in the direction of his foe, certain to connect against the leg of the man standing above him, but his swing trashes one of the posts of the rail nearby.
Heartened by the young man's own miss, the sailor's strike is renewed, and he manages to make a solid connection. The cut on his arm was moderate, but the wound reopened the old injury inflicted by the reefclaw about a week and a half ago. The other sailor, uncertain about the two big men he faced, made a weak swing, almost losing his grip on the blade.
There is a clamor somewhere around deck. Just through some of the fog rolling off the starboard side of the ship, you see three of the Rahadoumi sailors rush to the longboat and attempt to untie it from its moorings.
Round 6:
Kelly - Drinks his Mutagen, moves behind Ciera.
Ciera - misses #1
Balsooma - Climbs to the space beside #3
Holgur - misses #3
Sailor 1 - 5 damage, hits Ciera for 5 damage
Sailor 3 - 2 damage, misses Holgur.
Sailor 4 - Rushed to the longboat on the starboard side
Sailor 5 - Rushed to the longboat on the starboard side
Sailor 6 - Rushed to the longboat on the starboard side
Ciera gasps as the sailor's blade opens her old wound but steadies herself and slashes forward with her blades. Due to her fresh injury her first strike slashes wide, however her second finds its mark, biting deep into the sailor's belly.
Attack 1: Miss chance: damage:
Attack 2: Miss chance: damage:
The objective is to secure the wheel, not prevent escapes, so Holgur decides to ignore the men at the lifeboat. He shuffles rushes the sailor in front of him and swings with all his might. In=close the fog is not thick enough to foul his attack and he strikes true.
Attack
Miss
Damage
Hearing the commotion behind him, Kelly instinctively whips around and stabs at the man behind him.
Kelly feels the meaty resistance to his spear tip, and is greeted with a cry of pain as he pulls the weapon free of his enemy. He would have stayed to gloat of his attack, but the part of his brain affected by his chemicals was already propelling him along his original plan, his legs carry him along a path dangerously close to his foe, but his training keeps him moving in irregular ways, making him a tough target to hit as he moves along. He ends up in a roll, coming to his feet on the opposite side of the man, with a knife in his hand, flashing it to let him know that he is a threat, hoping to distract the man enough for Ciera's blades to strike a vital blow.
Ciera gasps as the sailor's blade opens her old wound but steadies herself and slashes forward with her blades. Due to her fresh injury, Both strikes slash wide, missing the sailor.
Attack 1: 1d20 + 3 Miss chance: 1d100 damage: 1d4 + 1
Attack 2: 1d20 + 3 Miss chance: 1d100 damage: 1d4 + 1
Hearing a cry of pain from the young boy, and seeing Holgur hold up his own in the fight, Balsooma turns and steps around the mast, drawing his sword once more. Steeling himself for battle, he brings his sword down on the godless sailor.
Kelly stabs at one of the retreating sailors, finding a satisfying resistance at the end of his weapon. He moves afterward to lend assistance to Ciera, drawing a weak swing from the sailor he passes.
Cieran uses the added help to swing at the man, but even the blade he thinks found purchase, instead struck what ended up being nothing vital.
Balsooma, confident in Holgur's ability to do some serious damage, moves over to help the other two. He steps over and lays a nasty cut into the sailor, dropping him instantly.
Holgur soon after follows suit. He makes a heavy swing with his brutal weapon. He is satisfied to see the man crumple under his blow.
The three escaping sailors spend all their attentions on releasing the boat. Each of them handling the lines and making the appropriate preparations. The one stabbed by Kelly seems to really be focused on the task at hand, eager to get get away from the boat.
Round 7:
Kelly - Stabs #6, moves to flank with Ciera.
Ciera - Misses #1
Balsooma - Kills #1
Holgur - Kills #3
Sailor 4 - Released the rowboat
Sailor 5 - Released the rowboat
Sailor 6 - 7 damage, Released the rowboat
what stage are they at in so far as releasing it? - Are they just about to lower it into the water (how far is the drop?) - is it in the water?
Would it be possible to cut one of the lines whilst its being lowered and pitch them all into the sea?
"Eff! Get them before they drop off the side! Kelly, throw one of yer, uh, 'spoding things! Blow up the boat!"
With that, Holgur pulls his bow from his back, nocks an arrow and lets it fly. He then turns to his fellows to say more but Kelly's altered physique stops him in mid-utterance.
Attack against A 17
Miss
Kelly bounds to a spot closer to the escaping foes, readying a vial of explosives along the way. He stops shy of heading down the stairs and hurls the grenade at the center silhouette in the life boat.
His aim seems to be true, however the swirling shadows seem through off the aiming point but his momentum seems to have carried through to his throw, and his vial goes long.
Balsooma pushes past Cieran, down the stairs, and moves up towards the sailors in the rowboat. Hefting his sword, he swings it at the man in the rear of the craft.
Ciera steps forward to B19, drops her daggers, pulls out her crossbow and quickly loads it, pointing it at the sailors she yells out...
"Ye give up an' we might not 'av t' kill ye! Ye keep goin' and ye'll just be shark-bait."
Kelly launches another of his explosives, but he overshoots his target. It doesn't end up being a bad thing, as the vial breaks nearby on the dinghy, blasting the original target nonetheless and singeing the man farthest from them.
Ciera isn't able to do much more than change weapons and issue threats, but the sailors are left to decide between risking sharks or death at the hands of the attacking ship's crew.
Balsooma rushes down the steps to where he can strike the nearest target. He swings at the man with the belly wound caused by Kelly. The strike being too much for the man and sending him overboard to feed the sharks. The sailor burned by the fire grabs at the ropes previously held by the man Balsooma killed.
Holgur, dropping his flail, draws his bow and fires at the two remaining men. The man that managed to grasp the rope as his companion fell takes an arrow hard to the chest, dropping him as well.
The one remaining sailor is forced to try and cling to the last guide rope. The bottom half of the dinghy had fallen when both men attending the lines had. He clings to the rope lines, unable to raise or lower it or himself at the angle the boat now sits.
Round 8:
Kelly - throws a bomb, misses but splashes 4 and 5.
Ciera - changes weapons
Balsooma - Kills #6
Holgur - Kills #4
Sailor 5 - 2 damage tries to keep boat from falling. Makes no progress.