As you swim through the sea of darkness and memories—memories of strongly spiced food, ringing laughter and excess—small snatches of sound or movement break through the surface, disturbing the vision around you. It all seems jumbled at first, but slowly you begin to make some of them out. The first thing you really notice is the pounding in your head, immediately followed by a sour taste in your mouth. The hard floor beneath you seems to creak and rock in rhythm with the pounding in your head.
It takes a while, but your eventually able to open your eyes. You’re in a dark room, not much is visible, you can see shapes hanging as if suspended between pillars. You are accosted by a strange scent—at once musty and salty mixing in your nostrils. You’re able to sense more than see that there are a few other people lying near you. You can hear the pounding of feet on the floor above you. Just as you’re beginning to sit up, several sets footsteps begin to come down some steps nearby.
As the steps get closer lantern light assails you. It’s hard to see anything for a moment as your eyes adjust. Finally you can see several pirates handling saps and looking down at you all. In the center of the group stands a man—his braided beard spilling down his chest—carrying a whip. An expression that could be mistaken for pain, but was clearly an attempt at a smile runs across the mans face. He cracks the whip over your heads and a harsh voice calls out, Still abed with the sun over the yardarm? On your feet, ye filthy swabs! Get up on deck and report for duty before Cap’n Harrigan flays your flesh into sausage skins and has Fishguts fry ye up for breakfast!
Bellam blinks his large eyes and lifts his head up off the planks with some difficulty. "What in the name of the Queen is going on?"
Whips and boats ... By the wind and sea, I pray it's not the same as last time
Jesal looks down at his arms, and althought the scars from the shackles from his previous slavery are there, the absence of new ones brings a slight relief.
He knucles his forehead to the man with the whip rising to his feet and dusting off his pants, "On me way, sa. Mighten dis one be knowin' ya name?"
Glancing at the others with a slight frown at Japheeth and an open-mouthed stare at Bellam, he whispers, "Methinks ya all here for da same reason Salt is ... ag'nst ya want," he thumps his thumb in his chest. "Lessa be gettin' topside 'n see whaddawe gotten inna."
The sursurrus of Meena's voice was whispering to him. She was trapped. He would not wake so she would not be free to protect him. Japheeth swam in a fog. The sounds of the sea and the ship finally began to penetrate and he woke to Meena screeching at him. Only she wasn't there. She was never there when he woke, and he almost reflexively started the summoning ritual to call her out of his body. But he wasn't in the bunkhouse he had been staying in. He was on the wooden planks of a ship, and his head felt fuzzy. The voice of others drifted down to his awareness and he sat bolt upright, his face betraying his shock.
"What... what ship be this?" he asked, looking around at the people present.
Jessamy wakes with a groan, blinking the drugged sleep from her eyes.
"Huh? Wha?"
Idiot. Way to make a first impression.
Where am I? Feels like I'm at sea but last thing I remember, I was at that bar. And sharing a drink with that cute sailor.
She gets groggily to her feet.
"Where are we?" she asks no one in particular as she looks around.
Sweet salty seas, that man's a FROG!
She edges away from Bellam.
Uhh... Alysia... Vyridia... Nathaniel... Aldger...
Anyone...?
The half-elf blinks slowly as he comes to, unused to being knocked out in such a manner, but his mind swims back quickly. That young woman, so beautiful and dangerous--and knowledgeable of piracy. She said she could show me... What was it she said? "The real thing"... Guess she wasn't lying.
Opening his eyes fully, Variziel jumps to his feet, reaching for a sword that isn't there. Glancing downward and grunting, he raises his fists. "Who are you, and why have you taken me? Do you know who I am?" The half-elf casts his gaze around, measuring his perceived captors and apparent fellow prisoners. Two dark-skinned men, a woman, and a frog-man. And I'm the elf--mixed company. Alysia will love this, assuming I get the chance to write it down.
The man stares at the milling group, his expression turning sour. I said on deck! he bellows, Ye'll learn what ya need to know there. For now, I'm the man to obey. He leans forward menace in his eyes, Quickly. The man lashes out with the whip again, catching Variziel's raised arms. Some of the men around him tense and begin pounding their saps in their free hands.
The half-elf grunts as the whip snaps against his skin, leaving a stinging promise of a welt. So this is how they play... Fighting the urge to cringe and hold his burning forearms, he steps forward with the rest of the group, though he casts a glowering glare at the whip-wielding man.
Bellam's hand flies to his hip, but finds no sword there. After quickly patting down his pockets and discovering only his holy symbol, he resigns himself to his current situation and trudges upstairs to the deck, while muttering a prayer to Besmara.
Jesal grabs Variziel by the elbow, ushering him up the steps, hissing under his breath, "Ya notta sailor, no? Dunna bring attention to ya self til ya know whosa friend and whosa not. I bein one if ya have me, but dis one here with da whip has da crew with him. Tread careful, ya know?".
Louder to the whip man, "Dis one taken a blow to da head. We get 'em up, ya see. No problems here, sa."
Variziel is about to shake free of Jesal's grip when the man whispers in his ear. "Are you a sailor, then? I'm new to this, I want to learn. If you could teach me, I'd be in your debt. Variziel Dawnshadow, great-grandson of the Free Captain Adrian Bloodsword, at your service. And your name?"
Japheeth cringes when the whip cracks. I remember that sound. I know what it means.
He follows the frog man up the ladder, being the second to rush for the deck.
Jessamy winces as the whip hits the Variziel -- wow, it's a part elf! How cool is that? -- and scrambles to get up the stairs before she's attacked next.
What the heck is going on? How did I get here?
Whispering back, "I bein Jesal, call-ed Salt, and I bein a sailor for most me life. First advice bein for ya, dunna make people think ya too important iffun jus' a sailor. Be callin ya self jus Variziel, for now. Ya bein ready ta work, I hope?", Jesal waves around referring to the others as everyone climbs up, "We shoulda bein stickin together. Ima thinkin' we all bein here for da same reason."
As the group passes, the man with the whip simply sneers at the half-elf, exposing a mouth full of gold teeth. He flicks the whip as if to strike again, but instead motions to his men. They follow the newcomers up through the middle hold and up onto the deck.
A spray of salty air hits as you come onto the deck. As you look around, you can see lot's of water surrounding the sizable ship, with the land appearing as an ochre haze many miles astern.
As you look around the ship, you notice that you are not the only newcomers. There are four others--fresh-faced and relatively clean, gathered around the mainmast all staring up at the higher deck, 15 feet above you. Two men stand up there, one a large Garundi man, dark skin exposed to his waist, and an eye patch covering most of a scar around one eye. The other is a shorter balding man. His thin beard is held together with gold rings. In his hands he holds a cat-o-nine-tails.
Once you are all on the deck, the Garundi man begins to speak, Glad you could join us at last! Welcome to the Wormwood! My thanks for ‘volunteering’ to join my crew. I’m Barnabas Harrigan. That’s Captain Barnabas Harrigan to you, not that you’ll ever need to address me. I have only one rule—don’t speak to me. I like talk, but I don’t like your talk. Follow that rule and we’ll all get along fine.
Oh, and one more thing. Even with you new recruits, we’re still short-handed, and I aim to keep what crew I have. There’ll be a keelhaulin’ for anyone caught killin’ anyone. Mr. Plugg! If you’d be so kind as to make pirates out of these landlubbers, it’ll save me having to put them in the sweatbox for a year and a day before I make pies out of ’em.
The balding man next to the captain--obviously Mr. Plugg--nods and steps forward. Captain Harrigan walks away.
Plugg smiles viciously, Alright you filthy swabs. Climb t’the crow’s nest, fast as you can. And if any of you need motivation, Mr. Scourge here can help. The whip wielding man from below deck smiles, glaring at you, and flips the end of his whip as if anticipating someone taking him up on the offer.
You can see the crow’s nest at the top of the main mast, high above you.
Jesal stares up at the mast and gulps, "Neer being good at climbin' but here goes." He nudges Variziel, "Heights not bein dis one's best, but iffun ya got the braves, makin it quick, ya should."
; uff!
Having made the one failed effort and praying the others take the attention off him, Jesal continues to look like he's trying to climb but intentionally fails not wanting to eat it the deck on a misstep at 50 feet.
"H--," Jessamy starts to greet the captain before the rest of his speech sinks in, at which point she promptly shuts her mouth.
The captain doesn't want to talk to us? That makes no sense! How do you run a ship without talking to the crew?! That's not how Capt. Venkalie did it!
The woman -- a smattering of freckles against her pert nose making her more cute than beautiful, though the figure revealed by her tight black leather breeches and white cotton shirt reveal she is in fact a woman, even if clearly barely out of maidenhood -- looks around, her gray eyes wide as her auburn hair flies in the sea breeze.
Still despite her obvious lack of age, she seems immediately at home on the ship, bare feet grasping the wet planks as she easily balances against the motion of the waves with a wide stance.
The impression is further cemented as Plugg gives her orders and she scrambles up the mast to the crow's nest, seemingly becoming more confident as she climbs higher. Her white teeth show clearly against her lightly tanned skin as she looks down from the top, grinning widely.
Bellam narrows his eyes at the man with the whip, then scampers swiftly up the mast, well ahead of all of his fellow abductees. He grumbles under his breath all the way, "Big man with a whip, huh? Just hand me a sword and we'll see who is still standing when it's done."
Japheeth eyes the captain with a tinge of fear. He looks back at the vanishing land behind the ship and feels a touch of helplessness.
Japheeth is a Mwangi man with dark skin, but not very muscular. In fact he seems to have a slightly sickly look with a distended belly. He has scars on his cheeks.
He wears flowing clothes that are now rippling in the wind, and he stands barefoot. At the challenge offered by Plugg, he moves to comply with all the speed he can without endangering himself.
He proves completely useless at climbing, unable to make any progress at all.
Jessamy, realizing she's alone with the frog man, edges as far away from it -- is it a him? Did I hear it talking? -- as she can at the top of the mast.
Variziel gives a tiny nod to Jesal as the man continues to give advice. "I can't say I'm used to sailing, but I am used to work." He nods to the other captives as well.
The half-elf runs his tongue against his teeth, not really disliking the taste, but disliking that it's there and he has no recollection of how it got there.
On deck, Variziel stands tall, but not totally straight, not wanting to look too important or special. He shakes his head, trying to get some of his hair to cover his ears, but it doesn't really work. Well, at least now I'm getting an idea of how things work... Punishment for failure, whether to meet expectations or just to follow orders. Already, it's harder than I thought.
With a small sigh, Variziel moves to the mast. He watches in some wonder as the frog-man climbs easily, and as the woman also clambers up the wood. Beside him, Variziel notices Jesal having a bit of trouble, as well as the other dark-skinned man. The half-elf tries his own hand at climbing...
...and has about as much luck as the other men. Hells, now would be a good time to have muscles like Nathan's...
He gives it a go again quickly, not wanting to taste the Scourge's sting again.
Variziel starts to climb and makes it 10 feet before falling to the deck below. Master Scourge and a few sailors around him burst into laughter.
The two Mwangi men try to climb, but do not manage to make it more than a couple feet off the ground. Master Plugg watches the contest for a moment. He looks at one of the dark skinned man, a suspicious cast begins to cross his face, but before he can act on it, the humanoid frog reaches the top. Mr. Plugg's mouth drops open for a moment, and he speaks quietly to himself. Finally he yells out to the only other one who's made it any distance at all, Jessamy, I got me my new rigger. Come on down the rest of you. Ye'r too slow anyhow.
As everyone gathers on the deck again, Mr. Plugg asks them all one by one, excepting Bellam, if they can cook.
Jessamy looks blankly at the man. "Cook? Not really. My mother once said I could burn water..."
Bellam takes the opportunity while in the crow's nest to survey the ship, looking for where his sword and other gear may have been stashed.
Perception:
"I'm not much of a cook either," Variziel says, rubbing his arm, which took most of the fall. Hopefully I don't die before my first day as a pirate is out.
"Ya, I can cook well enough." Japheeth says, raising a hand. He was stung by his utter uselessness at the previous task, but his eyes regain some of their light when he realizes he might be useful after all.
I could probably fool them into believing I can cook. Be nice, stay out of the hard deck work, purify the food ...
Jesal begins to ponder stepping forward when Japheeth does, and he forgoes it.
The freedom-killer can cook? That's interesting. Let's see what's next
Mr. Plugg eyes Japheeth. Finally he nods, You can only make things better. Fishguts’ll be yer master. Congratulations, you’re the new cook’s mate. You three, he points to Jessamy, Variziel and Salt, are all swabs. Ye’ll be working under Master Scourges careful eye. Finally the climber. Ye’re workin’ for me as me new rigger. Come now Mr. Plugg motions for Bellam to follow him.
As Mr. Plugg begins to move off, Mr. Scourge takes over with commands. He smiles maliciously at the half-elf, Ye’ll be manning the bilges today. You other two, I need you to start hauling rope. Get to work ye lazy bilge rats. He points to several strands of rope, I need these coils up on the poop deck. I’ll take these other two landlubbers to their jobs, but I’ll be back to keep me eye on you.
Mr. Scourge leads Variziel and Japheeth down to the middle hold. He points to a door on the other end of the ship. That’s the galley. That’ll be where you and Fishguts work out the meals. He stops and looks menacingly at Japheeth, They better be good meals. I’m not eating his bilge water soups anymore.
Mr. Scourge then leads Variziel down again to where you woke up. He walks over to a trapdoor just behind the mainmast. He lifts it and a foul odor rises from the door. Ye’ll be working the bilge pumps. Get down there, and no slacking. Or ye’ll have me to answer to. He waits just long enough for Variziel to climb down the ladder and then moves off.
Work Diligently: Gain a +4 bonus on any one check for a job’s daily task
Influence: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and attempt to influence a single NPC
Sneak: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and briefly explore one area of the ship (the PC can make a single Perception check or other skill check with no chance of detection)
Shop: Take a –2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task and visit the quartermaster’s store
Shirk: Take a –2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task and take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 10 on a single Perception check or other skill check, but must make a check to avoid being discovered.
Each of your jobs will have a skill check involved with it. Yours is listed in your spoiler below, as well as an initial description. Decide on your actions and describe anything you want to, I will add in more details once I get all of that info.
[ooc]You are manning the bilges. You need a Strength check to succeed. I also need a Constitution check from you.
Variziel sighs as the man leaves him climbing down the ladder. This ought to be fun... Can't be much worse than Ordant's drills, though.
Variziel decides to talk while he works, speaking to the chained man. "What's your name?" If the man responds, Variziel has some more questions (listed below); if not, the half-elf chatters to himself, passing the time and talking about what he'll put in his journal (once he finds it, or gets a new one).
Other Questions
What do you do on ship?
Why are you down here?
How long have you been here, how long will you stay?
Who on ship is fair or otherwise "good"?
Who on ship is cruel, who should I look out for?
Where do they put new recruits' belongings?
How often does the ship take on new recruits?
Profession (sailor):
Constitution:
Bellam gets to work on the rigging, all the while keeping an eye out for something he could use as a weapon.
Perception:
He sidles up to the Rahadoumi man and asks in a low voice: "Are you a prisoner as well?"
Frustrated that he's working without being asked, Jesal works fervently, feeling comfort in the monotony of familiar tasks.
In his spare time, he attempts to make nice with the red-headed woman.
Time to make some friends
"This being a strange place for dis one to see a woman of ya beauty, no? Whatta bring you to dis ship, da Wormwood, it is?
Jessamy begins hauling ropes, falling easily into the familiar rhythms of life at sea, though she's still a bit confused at why she's here.
Wouldn't it make more sense to just recruit some sailors? I'd have signed up if they'd just asked!
She smiles at the handful of people around her, greeting them as she works. "Well met," she says with her usual smile. "I'm Jessamy, Jessamy Pierce."
Seeing the Mwangi man talking to the redhead, she'll try to figure out what the gnome is doing with the stones.
"You don't usually see too many stones on a ship," she says with a laugh, despite her increasing fatigue.
I think I might've spent too much time on shore; don't remember this being so hard. Or maybe it was whatever I drank last night, since I don't remember too much of what happened.
Jesal will approach Jessamy while they work together, "Ya bein a parta press gang ta, I see? Didya have any gear on ya when they took ya? Ima seem to bein missing mine."
Belatedly he adds, "Dis one bein called Salt."
Japheeth steps into the galley with a look back at Variziel as he descends into the bilges. Looking about him in the galley, he is initially overwhelmed, but Fishguts' question snaps him out of it as he closes the door behind him. "Japheeth. Japheeth Embenda." he says. "Ya, I been sent down to be your mate. I guess I need to be helping you with the meals. Scourge said he didn't want your bilge water soup again."
"Salt?" Jessamy giggles for a moment. "Why'd your parents name you Salt?"
"I'm Jessamy, Jessamy Pierce. I had a couple blades, and my bow and armor, a few other things. I don't know what happened to them though."
Bellam reels back from the verbal abuse, and decides to try his luck with the gnome, who looks friendlier. "Tell me, friend, have you been long on the crew?"
Diplomacy:
Jessamy scrunches up her faces at the gnome's words. "I hate mopping the deck. I'd much rather be up in the sails ... stupid frog-man," she mutters glancing over at the grippli.
"How long have you been doing this?" she asks, turning her attention back to the gnome. "Oh, and I'm Jessamy, by the way, Jessamy Pierce."
Realizing the big Mwangi man is still nearby, she turns her attention to him. "What about you? Have you been at sea before?"
Responding to Jessamy, "Me parents, dead now, name dis one Jesal, but me water-friends name dis one Salt. I being spending some time in da water, as ya can see." Jesal waves at his salt-encrusted and seaweed-tangled hair and beard.
His face turns dark a bit as he glances down at his wrists, long-scarred from shackle-wear. "I spend some time on da sea, ya. I being there not of me own will most of da time. Scooped up by da same raiders that being destroyin' me village and killin' me parents. Men like da ones runnin this ship, methinks."
------------------
Jesal takes Sandara's hand and shakes it briefly, "Ya bein on da ship long? Ya ... likin it here? It seemin a bit ... rough, ya know?"
Japheeth does as Ambrose instructs and tends to the task of peeling potatoes, something that he obviously has had experience with, though he starts off being much more vigorous with them, to which he explains, "The tubers I used ta peel back in me home village were a lot rougher than these." he says as he adjusts his grip on the knife. "I can't say as I like dis ship yet. I didn't exactly sign up to be on her crew. I don't know what kind of a future I can expect being press ganged onto a... dis is a pirate ship, yes? It ain't no slaver, that's for certain."
"Oh, sorry about your parents. I guess I can see why they call you Salt, though."
"I hope these people won't just be killing villagers! I don't think I could do that. I think I'd rather be like Capt. Sparrow, just taking money from people who don't deserve it!"
You continue the day, helping Ambrose with this or that. The mess makes things hard for you, but whenever it’s something Ambrose’s asked for, he can point you right to it. After the evening meal is served, Ambrose motions for you to follow him to the deck.
The gnome sneers down at you, but he responds. Though it is obvious he’s annoyed at the interruption. Can’t you tell? He motions to his clean clothes, I’m rather new myself. Though so new as to chance making Plugg angry. With that he climbs back into the rigging. The day continues about the same. Work goes well, but occasionally the Rahdoumi man curses in your direction, spouting off some suggestions on where to stick your “Frog lovin’ head.” Eventually the days work is done, and a pleasant tiredness settles into your arms and legs.
You continue throughout the day, and are able to work hard. By the end you feel like you could continue forever.
As the days shift ends, the crew moves up to the deck, where dinner is served out. The fish is not too bad. Has a good spice to it and the potatoes provide a good balance. Once the meal is done the pirates mill around on the deck for a little bit as if waiting for something.