Doran hears the frightened sailor respond to Wyn's suggestion, and calls out grimly as he moves across the deck, "If you've got nowhere to run, then surrender! Better to be sold than have your corpse thrown to the sharks! I've been sold several times, it beats dying - usually."
Doran steps into place behind the sailor who's just tasted Ollivor's claws. The poor, terrified soul looks over his shoulder just in time to see Doran drive a dagger into his kidney and, with a quiet grunt, the man drops to the deck. Doran looks down at him briefly, then says to the Rahadoumi left standing, "Odds are stacking up against you. Throw down those weapons and get out of our way and you might live to see another dawn." His tone is not unkind, just matter-of-fact.
Vrunyar pivots his way through the fog in order to flank one of the sailors. He swings his axe at the Rahadoumi without mercy but misses as the bright, sun-lit fog swirls around him.
Three more Rahadoumi sailors armed with crossbows appear from the sterncastle. They take aim over the railing and begin firing at the attackers. Between the fog and their poor aim, the bolts slam harmlessly into the deck. The one who fired at Thorn curses, reloads, and missed him again. The one who Wyn warned turns with his sword at the ready, charging towards John. Wyn takes advantage of his back being turned to sweep her leg under his feet. He tumbles to the ground face-down, giving her the ability to spare or kill him.
|
Bloody fething hells! John snarls as a crossbow bolt streaks towards him before smacking into the deck three feet away. Hobbling towards the last crossbowman, John dodges another bolt. As he bears down on the man, raising his sword high, he watches as the mans face turns to fear. Dammit! I'll not be their bloody executioner! The marine thinks. Turning his greatsword at the last moment, the flat of the blade connects with the mans neck, dropping him to the deck like an overloaded sack of potatoes.
Vrun! John yells, pointing to the sailors that lay bleeding on the deck. The rest of us will deal with the ones on the sterncastle. See about giving what aid you can to the fallen. We are better than these bastards. Besides, it could pay to show mercy now, if we take this ship we could use a few more allies. To Johns left, the fog parts and John can seen Wyn standing over the body of one of the men that had just attempted to rush him. John yells again. We aren't like them, we still have our souls Wyn, fight with honor.
Thorn feels the vibration from the deck as the first bolt lands with a heavy and loud THUMP at his feet. Slowly bending at the knees and slightly leaning forward while lowering the elven curve blade down by his hip with his arms fully extended and the blade locked out pointing at the deck. John crumples sailor #6 before giving out orders to Vrunyar to care for the wounded. Thorn steals sailor #7 attention by yelling out "THIS ENDS NOW!" while giving a deadly and piercing stare. The sailor face flushes white as he fumbles to reload his crossbow. Thorn darts up the stairs of sterncastle towards the sailor in sharp and purposeful strides. Sailor #7 trembles as the elf closes the distance with great haste. Raising the crossbow just in time to get off one final shot TWAANNG. Fear quickly turns to sheer and absolute terror as sailor #7 eyes suddenly widen as Thorn's head dipped just under the fired bolt. Just as quickly as Thorn had dipped down, he sprang up even faster with a flash before the sailor. Thorn stared into the wide eyes of sailor #7 as the sailor who stood motionless with a fresh new vertical slit running from his lower stomach up through his forehead. The newly opened gash did not bleed immediately but soon began to blossom like a flower and the blood began to flow freely as the sailor collapsed at Thorns feet. Blade still held high in the air above the crumpled sailor Thorn calmly speaks while staring at the two remaining sailors past his extended arms "Drop your weapons or join your former shipmate. Choose now before we choose for you"
Wyn silently answers the sailor in her own mind. Away. Hide in a barrel. Jump off the ship. Survive. Or die free. While you work for slavers, you are like slave as I.
As the sailor strikes, she sweeps him to the ground, and then follows up with a blow to the back of the head, hoping to knock him out so the other pirates overlook him. She does not stay to check, and can only hope if the sailor does not pass out, that he is smart enough to play dead.
Straightening, she gives John a hard look. "I don't need reminding of who I am." She knows he means well, but she is offended he would think she would do anything otherwise.
She then moves to follow the others.
Ollivor makes his way towards his target, hoping to close the gap just enough. Sparks fly from Ollivor's outstretched claws but they go wide of his chosen foe. Despite the miss and his wounds, a part of Ollivor thrills at getting to use his powers so openly, even if his mind tries to think of a single spell that'll be of use yet NOT be lethal.
John and Thorn each cut down one of the defending sailors as they move towards taking the sterncastle, while Wyn shows mercy and knocks one of them unconscious. Ollivor launches a bolt of electricity at one of the sailors firing down with crossbows, while Doran fells yet another enemy with his sharp blades. It looks as if they will soon have total control of the sterncastle.
Suddenly, the Man's Promise rocks forward with a violent surge. The crash of wood on wood suggests that the Wormwood backed up and slammed into the prey a second time. How exactly it may have done that is a bit of a mystery, as it has no rowers and no easy ability to move like that. Of the two remaining defenders up on the sterncastle with Thorn, one of them loses his footing and collapses at the elf's feet. Doran hits the deck despite his quick and steady footing. John's peg leg - further injured by a crossbow bolt - gives out underneath him. Vrunyar's famously steady dwarven footing is tested beyond its ability; if his feet were planted firmly on stone, he would have remained upright. The other three - Wynifrid, Thorn, and Ollivor - sway but keep their balance as the ships pull away from each other again.
Doran is rocked by the impact of the Wormwood against its prize. It normally takes a great deal to catch the veteran sailor off-balance - but a sailing ship backing up against the wind is enough to do it. He tumbles to the deck, but quickly regains his feet. Looking around, he see that only a handful of crossbowmen stand between his friends and control of the helm. The stairs look crowded - and are for lubbers. Doran shifts one of his daggers to grip it in his teeth, then springs to the rail that runs along the sterncastle and hauls himself up with his free hand. A right proper pirate I must look! Now I get why they always carry a knife in the teeth, makes climbin' that much easier.
Doran drops off the rail onto the deck of the sterncastle, hoping to trap the Rahadoumi defenders between his daggers and the weapons of his friends who are coming up the stairs.
Vrunyar rolls from his side onto his stomach and pushes himself up. If that knocked me down, others are probably on the deck, he thinks trying to imagine who is likeliest to be prone. The vague shapes make it difficult to tell friend from foe. He grabs his axe and heads in the direction from where he last heard John.
”John! John! Let me help you up.”
The group of reluctant pirates has nearly taken the sterncastle. Only two of the Rahadoumi sailors remain, and the one on the deck throws aside his crossbow and begs for mercy. "Please! Please! Mercy!" The other one has nowhere to go, wedged between Thorn in his front and Doran to the back. The slaver desperately raises his crossbow to aim at Thorn, giving both the opportunity to attack him before he can let loose the bolt. The elven warrior slashes at him, but misses in the mist. Doran's blade sinks deep into the sailor's lower back. In pain and terror, the sailor fires the crossbow directly downwards into the deck.
Thorn feels the jerk of the ship causing him to catch his balance. Stunned in disbelief as the Wormwood makes an impossible sea maneuver. Almost as confusing as this event is the decision of sailor #9 to raises his crossbow to fire. Thorn respects the sailors decision to fight to the death instead of accepting a life of servitude. "I wish someone would have granted me the same wish when I too once choose to fight rather than serve". Thorn wishing to honor the man with a quick and painless death, quickly slashes at the sailor throat but the sudden change in the Wormwoods direction pulls a heavy coat of fog from the sea onto the Man's Promise sterncastle and quickly fills the void left by the previous ship. Thorns blade cuts through the fog but does not find it mark. Thorn tries to see through the rapidly swirling fog but suddenly hears a loud THUMP and wounded moan UUUuugggggaaaafrom the sailor. Thorn releases his rage and takes few quick breaths to catch his breath again. Thorn swings his blade cautiously back through the area of fog were he believed the sailor was standing but yet again his blade finds only the engulfing fog.
Seeing one refusing to go down without a fight, and attacking Thorn--it had been long since they had talked, and didn't always agree with his ways, but he had her back long ago on the Hellsmouth and she remembers that--Wyn swings her blade at the crossbow wielding sailor, cutting into him deeply enough that he falls.
She moves on, pretending the sailor begging for mercy is invisible in the fog.
|
|
John rumbles, still bleeding from his leg. Hell of a way from a casual trip on the Empty Lighthouse eh? The red haired sailor remarks before clamping a hand down on his bleeding leg. Bloody Fething Hells. Tenderly touching the thigh, John winces in pain before taking a deep breath. It hurt, hells did it hurt, but he could deal with that later. As the fog parted, John looked towards Wyn. Seconds before she had given him a stone hard look. John nodded towards the woman in silent apology to the implied offense. Words would need to be had and apologies made. Still, John had seen slaves turn on their masters before. It was often a bloody and vicious affair, and John knew that you couldn't truly know the metal of a person until they had been in combat. He was glad that the blond haired woman had lived up to his expectations. As of late it seemed that so few had. Suddenly John stopped. To his right the fog parted and Ollivor strode through the mist, his hands claws wreathed in lightning. Golden Eagle Above! John whispered to himself. I know the boy had magic, but he looks more like a dragon right now then a man what with those claws.
Nodding his thanks to Vrun, John looked at the dead and dying sailors atop the deck. No offer of quarter had been given by the Wormwood. John sighed in disgust, but expected little better from the men he had spent the last few weeks shackled to. Pushing his way through the bodies, John reached the top of the Sterncastle and hefted his two handed sword to his shoulder. Somehow he expected that the day was far from done.
___________________________________
The raiders from the Wormwood fully storm the sterncastle, seizing it as ordered. The sterncastle covers most of the aft of the ship. True to their instructions, a pair of ship's boats sway on the sides of the Man's Promise, held by a rope-and-pulley system. The ship's wheel rotates aimlessly and uncontrolled, as no one remains to steer the ship. Of the defenders, most lay dead or incapacitated. One of the crossbowmen on the sterncastle has surrendered, throwing his weapon down and hoping for mercy. The six members of the raiding party guard the stairs, looking out through the mist for anyone seeking to flee via the ship's boats.
The fog parts briefly on the main deck. From their vantage point, they can see Captain Harrigan in combat. Like a massive juggernaut, he barrels into a sailor and pulls the man down onto his driving knee. The sailor's body collapses in a heap, with an unnatural crushing indentation in his caved-in torso. He turns to engage another sailor, bringing a massive fist down upon him. When the defender goes down to the deck, the captain follows, straddling him and beating him relentlessly. He is caught in the bloodlust, unable to see as another sailor sneaks up behind him with his blade at the ready.
Since Wyn had already been heading into the sterncastle, she continues on, looking around to see if anyone is hiding in the wheelhouse.
As Doran had also slid down the railing, she remarks to him and anyone else near her, "They told us to kill everyone. I'm not going to, but we have to figure out what to do with any alive, or we will be punished and they will be killed anyway."
As he moves quickly over and lays his hands on the helm to be able to steer the ship a bit, Doran pipes up in response to Wyn’s question, ”A good knock on the head will make it a bit harder to sort them out, and less trouble for us in the moment. But I’d be surprised if Harrigan would kill a man when he could sell him as a slave – though I suppose nothing that man does should surprise me. At the very least, we can say that’s why we didn’t kill those that surrendered.”
As Doran had also slid down the railing, she remarks to him and anyone else near her, "They told us to kill everyone. I'm not going to, but we have to figure out what to do with any alive, or we will be punished and they will be killed anyway."
Ollivor nodded "Me neither... mind you, I'm not happy with the fellow who carved me in half, but I've hard worse."
As he moves quickly over and lays his hands on the helm to be able to steer the ship a bit, Doran pipes up in response to Wyn’s question, ”A good knock on the head will make it a bit harder to sort them out, and less trouble for us in the moment. But I’d be surprised if Harrigan would kill a man when he could sell him as a slave – though I suppose nothing that man does should surprise me. At the very least, we can say that’s why we didn’t kill those that surrendered.”
"They might be better off dead..." The sorcerer mutters.
The fog parts briefly on the main deck. From their vantage point, they can see Captain Harrigan in combat. Like a massive juggernaut, he barrels into a sailor and pulls the man down onto his driving knee. The sailor's body collapses in a heap, with an unnatural crushing indentation in his caved-in torso. He turns to engage another sailor, bringing a massive fist down upon him. When the defender goes down to the deck, the captain follows, straddling him and beating him relentlessly. He is caught in the bloodlust, unable to see as another sailor sneaks up behind him with his blade at the ready.
Ollivor is tempted to put bolt in the captain's back himself. But then a thought occurs to him, "Doran, warn the captain and quick about that fellow. You've been trying to get in his graces but good. Now's the time" He could do it himself, but it's Doran' who's been working up to this time to impress some officers.
Wyn nods. "I'd think so too. It's just Krine specifically told us to kill everyone. They might be testing our mettle."
Vrunyar starts bandaging his companions, starting with John and continued with Ollivor. He catches sight of the captain fighting and his jaw drops open slightly. The man’s power, aggression, and rage are astounding. ”Yeah, Doran warn him,” he whispers.
”We were able to get to the sterncastle quicker by not killing everyone,” Vrunyar says. ”Maybe that will balance out the lack of following that order. I don’t know if we did those men a kindness or not. Plugg and Krine’s actions are too malevolent for me to predict. I agree Wyn, they might be testing our mettle.”
Even as his shipmates are encouraging him to act, Doran has already made the most difficult decision yet in a series of ever-fiercer dilemmas. He knows that warning Harrigan of the man behind him may buy them all cover, potentially even support, from the evil man who holds their fates so callously in his hand. But Doran also knows that by simply speaking, he is condemning a man to death. Man's gonna die anyway, once he tries to touch Harrigan. His death might as well do some good, keep Harrigan off us for a bit. But damned if I wouldn't rather join the fool and put a knife into Harrigan's back right alongside that Rahadoumi blade.
Grimacing, as if he's just swallowed a bitter draught, Doran calls out, in a voice pitched to carry from mast-top to deck in a blowing gale, "Cap'n! Blade at your back!" The sea-weathered halfling casts a bleak glance at Vrunyar and Ollivor, hoping that they understand something of what this decision has cost him.
Captain Harrigan hears Doran's warning, turning around just as the Rahadoumi sailor lunges forward in a desperate stab. The short blade goes through Harrigan's left hand as the sailor drives it forward. Harrigan jerks his hand back and rips the sword out of the man's grip, flinging it to the side with a clatter. In front of their very eyes, the gaping hole in his hand shrinks and disappears. Harrigan grabs the sailor by the wrist, twisting at him as the man squeals in horrific pain. The captain wrenches at his wrist until a sick pop and a gruesome tear echo through the deck. The Rahadoumi sailor collapses, gripping the stump of his wrist as Harrigan throws his torn-off hand to the side. With a rage, Harrigan kicks the man to the ground, then kicks him viciously several more times in the side. When he gasps in pain, Harrigan raises his right boot high and stomps on his head. The man's head cracks open, spraying viscous blood, brain, and bone fragments in all directions.
Wyn turns around. "Dear gods." She'd seen some awful things in her life. It didn't make the scene any less pleasant to endure watching.
Not wanting to think about Harrigan's great strength or what they are up against in future, Wyn changes the subject, pointing at the wobbling wheel. "Should one of us grab that thing so it doesn't just veer off somewhere?"
Ollivor turns a bit pale as guilt overcomes him, and he shoots an apologetic look to Doran then if no one else grabs the wheel, he shall.
"What of the life boats and the like? Should we sabotage them?"
"We're supposed to keep anyone from getting to them, but I'd think the ship'd be more valuable with them intact."
She mutters, 'Or we could try to take one..." She shakes her head, knowing that would be a bad idea.
Doran's eyes close and his face pales as he sees what his warning to the captain has done. He wonders if Harrigan's rage even allows him to understand who called out, who warned him, who made it possible for him to tear the sailor to pieces with his hands - or if Doran's cynical calculus on a man's life was meaningless. Taking a breath, he opens his eyes, focusing on the fallen Rahadoumi's remains, searing the ghastly image into his memory. He then turns his eyes, full of a bloody thirst, on Harrigan, hoping the man is too blinded by fog and rage to see how much Doran wants him dead.
|
|
Bugger me... John whispers as he watches the bloody sight unfold. He had heard stories from the last ship taken before the Empty Lighthouse and of the Captains fury and near impossible might, but seeing the viciousness and bloodthirsty actions unfold in front of him, chilled John to his core. Shaking his head, John whispered a silent pray for the Rahadoumi sailor. While the man might not believe in gods, that did not mean they did not exist or that he would shortly be judged according to his actions before the throne of The Lady of Graves. Turning back to gather group on the sterncastle John gave a decisive nod towards Wyn. There's no escape for us here, no more than the rest of the poor souls on this ship. No, we hope the ship is taken as a prize and we are on the crew. We get the hell away from Harrigan and deal with whoever he placed in charge of the ship as soon as we can. Then... then we plan for the future...
Trailing off, John looks down as Vrunyar cinches the bandage around his leg with a single strong pull. Gulping down the pain, John nods in thanks before turning back to the rest of his companions on the sterncastle. Right, we got a job to do so lets focus. Doran, give me a hand and we will see about cutting down the pulleys for the Longboats so they can't be launched. Vrunyar, you got any Chloroform in that medical bag you can use to knock out the surrendered sailors humanly? Hopefully that will be enough to placate them.
Moving towards the Longboat, John hobbles his way close to Doran. I can't imagine what the last few weeks have cost you mate, getting close to Plugg and Scourge. And I know what you did just now must have cost you something. If you want a word of advice? Dig the hatred deep, hold it close. Eyes wandering though the fog, John can hear the bellowing of Plugg from somewhere on the bow of the embattled ship. There will be a time for a reckoning, sure as the wind blows. Nodding more to himself then to Doran, Johns hand closes into a fist. And that wind is going turn into one hell of a gale.
Wyn nods. "I'll keep an eye out for trouble, and help Vrunyar, if Ollivor's got the wheel."
The battle rages on the deck of the Man's Promise while the makeshift attackers quickly render the surrendered sailor unconscious. Truth be told, it was a far kinder choice than leaving him conscious, for the pirates may decide to kill or spare him. They tie him and the other survivors up quickly. The fog wanes and waxes, giving them some visibility of the deadly battle between the two crews. The crumpled body of Giffer Tibbs lays motionless on the deck gripping a stomach wound, her one eye open and staring up in the sky. Many more Rahadoumi sailors lay dead at the feet of the Wormwood's crew.
The defenders of the sterncastle hear several sets of footsteps running up the stairs. They speak Osiriani to one another in the phlegmatic tongue of their ancestors. While the crew can't tell what exactly they are saying, it seems agitated and worried. Amid the swirling fog, the Rahadoumi make it up the stairs and come face-to-face with the defenders. One of them is clearly an officer in the Rahadoumi Navy, with a bloodied and torn tunic bearing the symbol of the nation. She is a tall woman wearing a chain shirt over loose pantaloons and high leather boots. She bears an elegant rapier in one hand, already wet with blood along its point. She has an austere beauty to her, thanks to dark hair and dusky skin; despite being a member of the navy, she still wears several pieces of fine jewelry, including a filigreed gold chain on her forehead. She is flanked by three men of a lower rank, wielding short swords and crossbows just like the defenders they defeated to claim the sterncastle. She points forward with her rapier to the others and speaks in her accented Common, "Kill them! Pirates show no mercy, so show none to them!"
[spoiler=Rolls]INITIATIVE
Doran
John
Ollivor
Rahadoumi
Thorn
Vrunyar
Wynifrid
Ollivor sees the Rahadoumi Officer call for no quarter and mutters "That maybe the loveliest woman I've ever seen in my life. Damn shame she's trying to kill us all." With reluctance he speaks more clearly to his friends, "Think if we take her down, the others will be more inclined to lay down arms?"
He immediately darts behind some cover and fires the crossbow. He couldn't say it served him well before this, but maybe he'll get a lucky shot. He's sure not engaging in melee wounded as he is unless he must.
Alas, his bolt shoots past her head and merely embeds itself in the ship.
As the wretched fog begins to clear the sterncastle, Thorn sees a female officer and 3 sailors reach the top of the stairs. Wasting no time the female officer orders her sailors to charge Thorn and his companions. Thorn quickly becomes enraged and sprints to meet the sailors head on while saying to himself "We are the aggressors here and I think its time we made a statement to let them know who they are dealing with!" As Thorn quickly closes the distance between he and the sailors a bolt whisks by his head and just past the officers head wide of the target. Thorn quickly twirls the elven curve blade in his hands from one side of his body to the other causing the light to reflect off of his blade and into the eyes of the charging sailors. The rapid flashes of light act as a strobe and distract the sailors momentarily. As soon as the sailors became transfixed on the pulses of flashing light from the blade, Thorn darts to the left towards sailor #10 and snaps his blade violently across his body. "A clean cut" Thorn says to himself after hearing the thud of a body hitting the deck next to his feet and watching sailor #10's head roll along the deck of the sterncastle stopping at the female officers feet. Thorn shouts out "Kill Them All".
|
|
Wyn! John yells, pointing his greatsword to the rapier wielding officer seconds before she charges into the group. You go high, and I will go low! One of the hits is bound to land. We work as a team, same as before! Hobbling towards her, his bandaged leg beginning to stain red, John shakes his head. You got it all wrong lady. We showed mercy on your crew. They might be pirates, but we are just as screwed as you people are. Then casting his eyes towards Thorn, John grimaces. Well some of us showed mercy. And Wyn wondered why I called for quarter. Raising his sword upward, John brings it down in a slash towards the woman. Don't make me kill you woman. Just surrender dammit, there's no escape to be had here.
With one of their number having lost his head to Thorn's elven curve blade, the other two fall upon the warrior with their swords. He dodges the first attack by the space of a finger. Had he given into the rage of battle, he would not have had the mental ability to move out of the way of the thrust. The second sailor takes advantage of the dodge and stabs upwards with the sword. The blade catches Thorn in the underarm, in an area not well-protected by his leather armor. Fortunately, it draws blood and a vicious laceration, but doesn't pierce through his ribs.
The Rahadoumi officer clutches her side where John's downward stroke caught her armor. The armor may have saved her life against the vicious attack, but it still hurt desperately. She seems surprised by the speed of the defenders and caught a bit flat-footed against John's attack. She raises her rapier, showing the fine filigree that lines the pommel, and thrusts forward in the blink of an eye. At first, it seems like she missed John entirely. A moment later, blood begins to dribble from his neck. He reaches up to touch the small hole that her rapier made in his unprotected neck, only to find the deck coming up to meet him. His blade hits the ground with a heavy thump as the blood spreads around his head like a red halo. He looks up as the darkness envelops him, seeing her stand above his prone form. "I've pierced his carotid artery. He will bleed out in just a few seconds. Let me pass, or I'll let him die."
Seeing the blood grow around John’s head, the dwarf knows he only has an extremely short amount of time to help him.
”Wyn, guard me while I save John!” Vrunyar bellows. While he waits for her to get in position, he gets his healer’s kit half-open, his mind already going through the steps he’ll need to perform to give John a chance at surviving.
As he reaches John’s side, he expects a rapier to stab him at any moment. Deftly, he begins tightly wrapping John’s neck with a bandage...
Wyn steps forward between Vrunyar and the officer with a fierce scowl, readying her sword as if she is preparing to swing at the officer.
.
Wyn attempts to flick her sword, spraying blood into the officer's eyes, but only manages to make a general bloody--but ineffective--mess.
Doran concludes that the only way to take down this officer is to follow Thorn's example, and get the sailors out of the way so she can be surrounded. With a quick tumble and sideways dive, he maneuvers into position to flank one of the sailors fighting the elven swordsman. He sinks a dagger into the Rahadoumi's lower back, his blow somewhat weak but very effectively placed. Though the sailor is clearly shaken, he remains on his feet.
As Vrunyar dives towards John to staunch the bleeding from his neck, he cringes as he awaits to be pierced by the Rahadoumi officer. His steady hands deftly hold the bandage in place, keeping John's blood from flowing out freely. The female officer lunges forward to take her vengeance and to complete her threat, but Wyn's desperately slung blood distracts her for just a moment. The rapier pierces the deck, causing her to pull back into a defensive position.
The appearance of a Rahadoumi officer and her three fellow sailors tests the crew's control of the sterncastle. Their goal is to take the ship's boats in defense, and it is the duty of the crew to prevent it. Thorn rushes forward and severs the head of one; when he turns his attention to the next sailor, he is joined when Doran tumbles into position behind the target with a deft slash. John draws blood from the officer, but she retaliates with a deadly thrust from her rapier. Dying from a pierced artery, John collapses. As Vrunyar selflessly rushes forward to save John, Wynifrid tries her best to distract the officer. The distraction doesn't cause any long-term issue, but she misses Vrunyar with the rapier.
Ollivor's earlier admiration of the foreign beauty dims as she tries to extort obedience from them with the price of a friend's life. Realizing firing his crossbow at her may not work to well, he strives for something that's no doubt not much more effective but might at least startle and give her one more distraction from killing a downed and helpless man.
He stretches out a hand and a spark shoots forth from it.
Alas, the small spark of energy misses by a good half foot.
Thorn recovers from his deadly strike just in time to confront two remaining sailors. Sailor #11 makes a wild and desperate attack towards Thorn's chest but Thorn calmly steps to the side of the desparate attack by controlling his rage and his mind. Thorn suddenly feels a piercing pain under his arm. "AAAAHHHHH" Thorn rages out with anger and pain as sailor #12 takes advantage of his fortuitous opportunity. Thorn grabs at his arm to check the severity of the injury but his attention is quickly diverted as Thorn watches the officer respond to Johns damaging blow with a lightning fast counter thrust that was deathly accurate.
Thorn yells out "NOOOOOO! You will DIE SEA WHORE!" just as Doran comes rushing up from behind Thorn and sinks his daggers into Sailor #11. Doran causes a great amount of damage to the sailor. Thorn jumps away from sailor #12 as he tries to continue his success swinging excitedly but swings wide of his target after landing his first thrust. Thorn takes advantage of sailor #11s open side and runs his blade deep into the side of sailor #11. Thorn twists the blade a full 180 degrees before ripping the blade out and watching sailor #11s blood pour out over the deck.
"Son of a b~&!#!" The last remaining sailor shouts in anguish as Thorn tears his sword out of his compatriot. Tears stream down the man's weathered face. "That was my friend!" He steps forward and thrusts hard with his short sword. The blade pierces through Thorn's leather armor, piercing his torso. Wailing in rage, the sailor pushes forward to try to kill the elf. Thorn stumbles back as his blood spurts from the wound, drawing back and forcing the sailor to pull the sword out. Woozy and about to lose consciousness, Thorn feels the danger of the moment but knows that he can stay up long enough to finish the fight.
Vrunyar looks up from John for a moment to see the Rahadoumi officer making a run for it to his left. John lays motionless to his right, while Wynifrid stands protecting him just on the other side of John. He snatches up his axe from where it lays next to him, lashing out at her. He very nearly catches her on the shin with the axe, but she starts to roll out of the way at the very last moment. Catching her balance, she comes out of the roll and manuevers around Vrunyar. Instead of attacking him, she swipes at Wyn while running. The sharp rapier cuts open her left arm, deeply lacerating into the muscle. She doesn't break her run, trying to make it to one of the ship's boats. If she can make it there and cut the ropes that attach it to the pulleys, she might be able to slip away in the chaos of the battle.