It's tough to see through the roiling waters and the grey sky made more grey by the pouring rain, but it's looks as if the ship may have hit something solid and bigger than it. From the angle he's at, it's hard to tell, but it may have damaged the hull. A look from the inside could possibly confirm it.
"If'n ye can't see from there, then lets go below deck and look." Holgur says as he makes his way to the main hold.
As Holgur and any others move into the main hold, it can be seen that the Man’s Promise has struck something that has caused it to be holed on the starboard side near the ship’s water barrel.
Profession (Sailor)
Holgur peers as hard as he can at the breach but the fatigue from overwork and the recent combat has reached his mind and dulled his senses as well. He stands dumbfounded and at a loss to determine what it is he is looking at.
Moving below decks to appraise the situation Kelly looks over damage.
"Blast, what the heck has Scourge run us into now. Kelly then starts to bellow out requests for supplies as he tries to surmise how best to patch the hull before Man's Promise takes on too much water.
When the word gets out about the damage, and the situation, Mr. Plugg orders that planking be dismantled from the deck to effect repairs on the hull. He orders a few to the task, and everyone else he sends to their bunks. He's going to need just about everyone in the morning to try and repair the damages caused by the storm.
Once they are below decks, Holgur voices his suspicions to the others. "It is not like Plugg to give rest, even when it is needed. He might just decided to take his favorites and go off in the lifeboats while the rest of us sink."
"Kelly, how bad does the breach look? I am not a shipwright, so my opinion is not worth much. Does it look like the 'Promise will go down soon?"
Profession (sailor):
"You might be right there Holgur."[b] Ciera whispers back to the big man. [b]"Lets see who's chosen fer the night shift."
It's actually unclear at first the manner used in the selection process, as they are some from both sides of allegiance. After closer examination the ones picked to stay up for the night work are those that seemed to not be suffering as much exhaustion as everyone else. Mr. Plugg is Cruel to be certain, but he's no dummy, as the last thing he needs with the ship in danger is people passing out during work.
As the dawn just breaks, and the grey dark of the storm is almost completely abated, the breakfast comes with a roll call. Going through the names, there are two that don't respond, and they weren't part of the night crew. Mr. Plugg calls the names a few more times before he yells out. "Alright, where the hell are Sandara and young Jack. Someone find them and get them up here now, or they are both taking turns between time in the box and feeling the cat across their backs."
After the rest, Kelly feels a bit better, however he is still groggy and sore. He only hears half of what the officers have to say, but as he realizes that some of his friends are missing, his morning fog lifts instantly. He bolts down below to look for the missing crewmen.
Two friendlies there, they warrant a hand if we can lend it Holgur tells himself. Then he falls in line behind Kelly.
Running below to find the two yields nothing, either in the hold, crew's quarters, or the bilges.
Ciera runs below with the others, searching every nook and cranny she can to see if her two friends might be hiding there. Slipping on something wet, she pales and crouches down to examine the marks and then looks up at the others. "Look here. Doesn't this look like the marks those goblin-creatures left behind? And look there, isn't that Sanadara's holy symbol?" She moves over and picks up the item, showing it to the others before securing it around her own neck.
Perception:
Perception
Survival
Holgur crouches low to the floor and examines the muddy tracks left by the crew as well as the slithering marks left by the goblin-squids. To Ciera he replies "Aye, I see it too, the slimy bastards were down here all right. How did they get below? Either there is another breach or they just slithered down from above without being seen."
"Holgur can you see where these tracks lead? At least which way they were taken off the boat?"
"Aye!" is all Holgur says in reply as he stoops down to determine where the tracks lead to.
The trail is hard to follow, being many hours old, and trampled by all the crew. Any signs that can be found lead up to the deck. It looks like they had gotten on board either right before or right after the group you had fought. It's possible the other group emboldened the second one to arrive in such numbers.
As your investigations take you back topside, Mr. Plugg sees you emerge without the others in tow. He purses his lips, certain that if anything you guys would be the ones to have ensured those two had not seen punishment. "It appears, Master Scourge, that we may have lost a few crew to the storm. Oh, well. More important things to consider."
He looks over at you guys, a look of 'happiness' in his eyes, if the man is capable of it, before adding. "Well, I've got some bad news and good news for you pukes. The bad news is we hit a coral reef, and the damage to the hull smashed the freshwater barrels. The good news, is, if you peer through the fog lifting over the bow, you can make out the island near where we ran aground. You four are going to go and get me some fresh water."
He motions as two of his men come over with an empty barrel apiece, "Now, the ship's repairs should take about a day and a half to finish, and we will sail at the first high tide afterwards. That gives you two days to get back. If you don't, we sail on to meet Captain Harrigan without you, and spend who knows how much of what is left of your miserable lives here on this worthless little island. Now go... get... me... my... water." He finishes, pointing at the cutter hanging off the side of the ship.
Without a word of reply to Plugg, Holgur hurries to get his armor from his sea-chest and returns with it in hand. The rest of his combat gear is in his other arm. He tosses everything into the boat and goes about making any necessary preparations for shoving off.
Belor makes sure to have his belongings before he heads off. He then goes to join Holgur in making the necessary preperations.
Kelly stares daggers at Plugg, and briefly contemplates shoving the business end of his pike into Plugg's guts. He then abruptly turns without a word and follow suit with Holgur and Belor and prepares to disembark.
Ciera at Plugg's harsh words. "But we can't just leave 'em" she angrily mutters. "We could try to find 'em couldn't we? Who knows what those creatures are wantin?"
The four of you climb into the cutter, loading the two empty water barrels as you do, and are soon lowered into the water. When first directed toward the island it was mostly a looming peak in the fog, but as the heavy clouds lift with the foul weather, the island can be more clearly seen.
The Man’s Promise has been holed on the edges of a coral reef surrounding a small tropical island. The waters around the isle are crystal clear, and through them you can clearly see that it appears as if the whole island is surrounded by coral reefs that run anywhere as high as the surface to thirty feet deep. A huge ridge towers over the island’s western portion. A single raised tor on the eastern point glowers across the isle at the imposing ridge, with miles of jungle lying between the two. The ship is aground on the northeastern side of the island, putting you closest to the eastern tor and where it rises up out of the jungle floor.
as they approach the island, Holgur notes its more prominent features in order to get an idea of its layout. It is best to be able to orient oneself with a few points of reference when going into unfamiliar wilderness.
"Stay sharp, men. If there is fresh water here, then there are bound to be living things walking about. Certainly something there will fancy a bit of fresh meat. Let's try not to be on its plate."
Kelly looks for the best place to put the launch aground. "It be my hope that while we are here, we can find our missing friends. As we make our way in be keepin' your eyes open for a stream emptying itself into the ocean. Or keep your eyes open for eels, if'n ye see them, they should be swimming back toward fresh water, we can hopefully follow them to the source quickly, giving more time to search."
Kelly directs Holgur and Belor to row them in, and has Ciera acting as lookout, scouting for traces of fresh water and a safe place to land. Kelly uses the rudder to guide the boat to shore so the party can disembark.
As the group rows toward the island's shore, Cieran on point notices what looks like structures on the beach. Roughly between the mountain to the west and the tor to the east. Amidst the jungle foliage, is a little cluster of small round domes. There's a hint of what could be slender pilings just barely poking up through the surface of the water.
Holgur places his hand on his bow to reassure himself that it is within easy reach. He does his best to look over Ciera's shoulder so that he can see what the lad sees. Probably cannibals he says to himself when he sees the domed structures which he takes for huts.
Belor does as Kelly instructs while trying to help guide the boat toward a safe place to disembark. He then asks the group "You think we should go ahead and tie off to these pilings up ahead?.
Ciera looks out over the prow of the small boat as they near the shore. Peering intently at the pilings and the rounded domes. "We should definitely see what they are." she says, glancing up at the big man leaning over her. "Perhaps they're something to do with those octopus-things? We should be careful."
Holgur peers hard at the pilings and at the shore-line for anything that might be a telling detail.
Perception
Knowledge (nature)
Knowledge (geography)
As you guide the cutter closer to the pylons and domes, they both become easier to discern. The domes are indeed the fairly crude huts of what has, at one point in the not too recent past, been a small fishing village. The pylons are a different story altogether. As you near, what at first looked like it may have been pylons peeking above the waves, turns out to be small, twisted “statues” made of sinew-twined, scrimshaw-covered skeletons, No two are alike; each is the product of a twisted imagination.
"Effin' lovely" Holgur mutters under his breath as the draw close enough to discern the details of the pylons. Unconsciously, his hand falls to his flail. The cold steel of the chain provides a modicum of comfort to him.
Kelly guides the craft in, gingerly, "Careful now, if those squid things be nearby, our friends may be also. Keep an eye for trouble, but keep a keener eye for friends." Kelly then grasps his pike, keeping it in one hand and gazes for any danger.
Stealth:
Assuming the huts are mostly abandoned, I'll be in one of them, taking refuge from the sun.
Belor continues to help row the boat toward the shore. Once we get closer to the shore he jumps out into the water and guides the boat up onto the beach. As they are pulling the boat up on the shore Belor tries to find good spot to keep the boat so the high tide does not pull it back to sea as well as making a point to check his surroundings.
As the craft makes landfall, Kelly starts tossing tie down lines to each as they disembark. Being the last of the craft, he also carries a line and searches for a sturdy anchor to tie off the craft. "Let's get the boat tied down and look for our friends in these here huts. Slow and careful like, lest some ne're do well on this isle attempt to visit violence upon us. So try and stay within eyesight of one another, and if ye find something, let out a shout."
As they near the skeletons Ciera gulps nervously and flexes her wrists to loosen her wrist sheathes and quickly checks her other daggers. She helps the others haul the small boat onto the sand and then turns to scan the surrounding forest and huts.
Perception:
The old village has a rundown dock, but there's no telling whether it's sturdy enough to not get pulled apart by a moored boat. Instead, the boat is easily pulled up onto the sand, within close enough distance to tie the lines to a nearby tree. Looking over the village itself, it appears to have been left unused for quite some time, possibly longer than some of your very lives.
Perception
Holgur strings his bow and nocks an arrow. Then, he gestures toward the hut with his head and looks back to his fellows.
Ciera surreptitiously glances over at the hut but, unable to anything where Holgur indicates, she shakes her head at him to indicate she hasn't spotted whatever he's looking at. Nevertheless she casually moves a little way down the beach (20ft.) stealing more glances the way of the hut when she can.
Belor is also unsure as to what Holgur is gesturing towards. None the less he grabs his crossbow, loads a bolt and starts to follow behind him.
Not anozher schtep kloser, if you please. Zhere are two
schtormbrinkers ready to light up zhe schky if necessary. Ya.
.
How abaut vee put up our arms andt talk like gentlemen.
"Bullshi@t!" Holgur replies. [/b]"But, if yer alone and ye don't try anything funny then we won't have any reason to start firin' arrows at ye."[/b]
To the rest he mutters as best he can [smaller]"If he is alive here then there must be water. I wanna know how he got here. Maybe he knows a way out of here so that we don't have to go back to the 'Promise" Although Holgur doubts that they will be so lucky.
Raising the tip of his pike so it no longer pointed toward the strange man, Kelly addresses the resident of the hovel. "Alright then, let's start with the basics. Who are you? Where are we? Why are you here? How did you get here? We are here looking for a pair of our friends who were abducted, any information you can provide regarding some tentacled goblinoids would be of great value, we also are here in search of fresh water, as most of our supply was ruined during the storm, again any information on that front would be the utmost of help."
Kelly then pauses, cocking an eyebrow indicating that his turn in the exchange is over and the move now belongs to fellow with the accent.
Lowering his morningstar...I hafve alvays s'ought konfversations shouldt be like dancink. You take a schtep, I take a schtep andt szo on, until zhe music schtops. Ya. I am Frytz Bootsmann, First Bosun's Mate of the Fvifvian's Lust, ya... at least I vas. Vhat is zhe name of your ship?
Description:
Build & Clothing & Equipment: Frytz is average size for a halfling. Clad in studded leather armor and sporting a morning star and buckler. The clothing you can see is mostly cotton in various shades of sea green. In tradition with a life at sea, he is barefoot. On close inspection, you would see a sling held in place by the strap of his bandolier.
Face: Grey eyes and reasonably tanned, Frytz keeps well groomed mutton chops that frame an easily won smile.
"The name of our ship is of little consequence if we cannot secure a supply of fresh water. My name however, is Kelly, these friends are, Holgur, Cieran, and Belor. You said that you were a mate, what happened? Where is your ship now? You have the look of having been stranded a while."
My gudt man, zhere is konsiderable power in names, ya. For instance, vord of zhe Gryaznaya Rabynya makink port is likely to kause efvery begkar in town to run for zhe hills, mach schnell, lest zhey be taken in chains, ya.
If vater is your koncern, zhen you kan rest easy. I vould be delightedt to help, vere I assuredt of my szafety, ya. My schtory is my own, undt I vill regaile you once I hafve zhe name of your ship.
While Frytz's smile widens, it completely leaves his eyes.